Associations of Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms and Beliefs with Depression: Testing Mediation by Shame and Guilt

Abstract

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) presents with high rates of comorbid major depressive disorder (MDD). Compared to OCD alone, individuals with both disorders tend to have poorer functioning and treatment outcomes. The present study investigated the link between OCD and depression among 263 undergraduates, 22% of whom endorsed clinical levels of self-reported OCD symptoms. Aim 1 was to determine whether distorted obsessive compulsive (OC) beliefs predicted depression severity while controlling for OC symptom severity. Both OC beliefs and OC symptom severity accounted for unique variance in depressive symptoms. Aim 2 was to examine shame and guilt as simultaneous mediators of these associations. Shame is associated with withdrawal behaviors, whereas guilt is associated with reaching out and making amends. Thus, we hypothesized that shame, but not guilt, would be a mediator. Consistent with hypotheses, shame partially mediated the positive relationship between OC beliefs (but not symptoms) and depression,...