Y-BOCS
Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale
Ten-item clinician-administered severity measure for OCD — the gold-standard outcome measure.
What it measures
Five items each on obsession and compulsion severity: time spent, interference, distress, resistance, and control. Time and interference items typically carry the most weight in treatment-tracking.
Scoring and bands
Cutoffs
Clinical OCD typically scored ≥16. Treatment response often defined as ≥35% reduction; remission as <12 plus minimal interference.
How to talk about the score
Y-BOCS is detailed — share cluster scores (obsession vs. compulsion subtotals) and the time-spent item separately. Many clients are struck by seeing the daily time-cost quantified.
Limitations
- Clinician-administered (more burden than self-report)
- Requires familiarity with OCD presentations to score accurately
- Self-report versions exist (Y-BOCS-SR) but are less standardized
- Doesn't capture all OCD subtypes equally well (e.g., mental compulsions can be under-detected)
Best used for
- OCD severity assessment
- ERP treatment outcome tracking
- Research and trial standardization
FAQ
Can clients fill out the self-report version themselves?
Yes — the Y-BOCS-SR is available and reasonable for tracking. The clinician version is preferred for diagnosis and initial assessment because clarifying questions matter.
What's a meaningful change?
≥35% reduction in total score is the typical treatment-response benchmark in ERP trials.