An initial examination of emotion regulation and obsessive compulsive symptoms

• Published in: Journal of obsessive-compulsive and related disorders 2014-04, Vol.3 (2), p.109-114
• Main Authors: Stern, Max R, Nota, Jacob A, Heimberg, Richard G, Holaway, Robert M, Coles, Meredith E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Emotion regulation; Mood repair; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Psychiatry
• ISSN: 2211-3649; 2211-3657
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jocrd.2014.02.005

Abstract Emotion regulation deficits may contribute to the maintenance of anxiety and distress for individuals with generalized anxiety disorder and other emotional disorders. Recent work suggests a similar model for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); however, the associations between obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and emotion regulation deficits require further empirical support. The present study examined whether understanding of emotion, attention to emotion, negative reactivity (i.e., fear) to emotion, and ability to repair mood states were related to distress associated with OC symptoms. Analyses were conducted using self-report data collected from an undergraduate sample ( N =170). Consistent with expectations, OC symptom distress was significantly related to poor understanding of emotions and fear of emotions including both negative (anxiety, anger, and depressed mood) and, unexpectedly, positive emotions. However, excessive attention to emotions and deficits in mood repair were not significantly related to OC symptoms. Comparison of an analog OCD group to controls revealed significantly poorer understanding of emotions and greater fear of emotions in the analog OCD group. Future research on emotion regulation deficits in relation to OC symptoms and OCD appears warranted.