Do Obsessive Beliefs Moderate the Relationship Between Obsessive-Compulsive and Depressive Symptoms?
Date of Award
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Dr. Laura Knouse
Abstract
There has been limited research investigating potential mechanisms that drive the association between obsessive-compulsive (OC) and depressive symptoms. Obsessive beliefs are implicated in the etiology and maintenance of OC symptoms and have been shown to correlate with depressive symptoms amongst OCD patients. I assessed whether obsessive beliefs moderate the relation between obsessive compulsive and depressive symptoms to replicate analyses from a study conducted by Teller et al. (2017). Forty-six participants with elevated OC symptoms were recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Each participant completed the obsessing subscale of the Revised Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI-R), Dimensional Obsessive Compulsive Scale (DOCS), the Revised Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-44), and the 7- item depression subscale of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Obsessive- compulsive symptoms were not a significant predictor of depressive symptoms (B = 1.20, p =
.28). Additionally, obsessive beliefs (B = .00, p = .85), and the interaction between obsessive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (B = .01, p = .53), were not significant predictors of depressive symptoms. In exploratory analyses, obsessive-compulsive symptoms were a significant predictor of overall distress (B = 6.91, p ≤ .01). However, obsessive beliefs (B = .00, p = .93), and the interaction between obsessive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (B =
.04, p = .41), were not significant predictors of distress. In exploratory post-hoc probing, the influence of OC symptoms on distress was greater when obsessive beliefs were high (+1 SD [t = 2.85, p ≤ .01]) compared to average obsessive beliefs (Mean [t = 2.72, p ≤ .01)]) or when obsessive beliefs were low (-1 SD [t = 1.56, p = .13]). This was particularly true with respect to the relationship between responsibility/threat related OC symptoms and beliefs about the need to control thoughts.
Recommended Citation
Teller, Joanthan A., "Do Obsessive Beliefs Moderate the Relationship Between Obsessive-Compulsive and Depressive Symptoms?" (2017). Honors Theses. 1004.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/honors-theses/1004