Anxiety and age, but not OCD diagnosis, predict infection-preventive behaviours in adolescents during COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose To examine whether obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) diagnosis was associated with greater infection‐preventive behaviour and altered inhibitory‐control performance in adolescents during the early COVID‐19 lockdown in Türkiye while considering the roles of age and anxiety. Methods Seventy‐two adolescents aged 12–18 years, including 22 with OCD and 50 without OCD, completed a COVID‐19 preventive behaviour questionnaire and the child and parent versions of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale. Participants also completed an online go/no‐go task. Ordinary least squares models were used to test whether age, anxiety, OCD diagnosis and their interactions were associated with behavioural change and mean Go‐trial reaction time. Results The model predicting infection‐preventive behavioural change was significant, F (7,64) = 2.54, p = 0.023, R 2 = 0.218. OCD diagnosis did not predict behavioural change. In contrast, younger age and higher anxiety were associated with greater increases in infection‐preventive behaviour, and the age‐by‐anxiety interaction indicated that anxiety‐related increases were more pronounced among younger adolescents. The model predicting mean Go‐trial reaction time was also significant, F (7,58) = 3.07, p = 0.008, R 2 = 0.27. Adolescents with OCD showed slower Go‐trial reaction times than comparison participants, and the diagnosis‐by‐age interaction suggested weaker age‐related differences in response speed in the clinical group. Conclusions During the early lockdown phase of COVID‐19, developmental and affective factors were more closely associated with adolescents' infection‐preventive behaviour than OCD diagnosis. In contrast, OCD diagnosis was more strongly associated with reduced response efficiency on the inhibitory‐control task. These findings support the importance of considering developmental stage and anxiety, alongside diagnosis, in understanding adolescents' behavioural adaptation during public‐health crises.