A Brief Interview for Assessing Compulsive Hoarding: The Hoarding Rating Scale-Interview

Authors

David F. Tolin, Institute of Living
Randy O. Frost, Smith CollegeFollow
Gail Steketee, Boston University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-30-2010

Publication Title

Psychiatry Research

Abstract

This article describes the development and validation of the Hoarding Rating Scale-Interview (HRS-I), a brief (5-10 min) five-item semi-structured interview that assesses the features of compulsive hoarding (clutter, difficulty discarding, acquisition, distress and impairment). Trained interviewers administered the HRS-I to 136 adults (73 compulsive hoarding, 19 OCD, 44 non-clinical controls) along with a battery of self-report measures. An initial assessment was conducted in the clinic, and a second assessment was conducted in participants' homes. The HRS-I showed high internal consistency and reliability across time and context. The HRS-I clearly differentiated hoarding and non-hoarding participants, and was strongly associated with other measures of hoarding. It is concluded that the HRS-I is a promising measure for determining the presence and severity of compulsive hoarding.

Keywords

Assessment, Clutter, Hoarding, Obsessive-compulsive disorder

Volume

178

Issue

1

First Page

147

Last Page

152

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2009.05.001

ISSN

01651781

Rights

© the authors

Comments

Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.

Recommended Citation

Tolin, David F.; Frost, Randy O.; and Steketee, Gail, "A Brief Interview for Assessing Compulsive Hoarding: The Hoarding Rating Scale-Interview" (2010). Psychology: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/psy_facpubs/52