A contribution to the Italian validation of the Overcontrol in Youth Checklist (OCYC)

Overcontrol is a behavioural phenotype characterized by excessive control, perfectionism, inflexibility, social comparison, and performance monitoring, which represents a transdiagnostic factor associated with various psychological disorders. This study validated the Italian version of The Overcontrol in Youth Checklist (OCYC), a parent-report screening tool to assess overcontrol in childhood. Following a blinded forward-backward translation procedure, the Italian version of OCYC was administered to 196 parents of children aged 4 to 6 years (M age = 5.14; SD age = 0.85; 54.6% girls). Seventeen items were retained in the final version of the scale. Factorial analyses indicated the presence of two correlated factors assessing inflexibility/frustration (Factor 1, Inflexibility) and perfectionism/social concern (Factor 2, Perfectionism). Good psychometric properties of reliability and criterion validity emerged. Normative scores are provided. The OCYC resulted to be a valid and reliable tool to assess overcontrol in Italian children.