Hypersensitive children could develop Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) later in life, scientists from Tel Aviv University said Tuesday.

Their study, which appears in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, suggests that when kids experience heightened levels of sensitivity, they develop ritualistic behaviours to better cope with their environment. They say this is one potential pathway to OCD.

Prof. Reuven Dar of the university's department of psychology, said he first suspected the link while working with OCD patients who reported sensitivity to touch and taste as children. He and his fellow researchers claim they have established a direct correlation between sensory processing -- the way the nervous system manages incoming sensory information -- and ritualistic and obsessive-compulsive behaviours.

The team says it devised two studies to map the connection between sensory processing, rituals and OCD.

In the first, parents of kindergarten children were asked to complete three questionnaires on their child's behaviour: their level of ritualism, such as the need to repeat certain acts or to order objects in a particular way; their level of anxiety, with questions relating to reaction to strangers, worrying about outcomes of events, and attachment to family members; and last, their reactions to everyday sensory events such as being touched or exposed to unusual tastes or smells.

In the second study, the researchers asked 314 adult participants to answer surveys online in relation to their OCD tendencies, their anxiety levels and their past and current sensitivity to oral and tactile stimulation.

Results from both studies indicated a strong connection between compulsive tendencies and hypersensitivity, the scientists said, adding that in children, hypersensitivity was an indicator of ritualism, whereas in adults it was related to OCD symptoms.

When children are extremely sensitive to certain types of touch or smell, they can feel that they are being attacked, or that the environment is threatening them, Prof. Dar believes. Ritualism could develop as a defence mechanism, helping these children to regain a sense of control, which is also a symptom of adults with OCD.