Difficulties in emotion regulation and symptom dimensions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

The present research aimed to investigate the difficulties in emotion regulation (DER) among patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to predict obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptom dimensions based on DER dimensions. Eighty outpatients with OCD and 80 normal controls completed the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). OCD patients revealed significantly higher scores on DER dimensions including lack of emotional clarity, limited access to emotion regulation strategies and non-acceptance of emotional responses than healthy controls. Partial correlations indicated significant associations between OC dimensions such as checking/doubting, obsessing, mental neutralizing, and ordering with non-acceptance of emotional responses, checking/doubting with lack of emotional awareness, and ordering with limited access to emotion regulation strategies. Results indicated that non-acceptance of emotional responses was a significant predictor of checking/doubting, obsessing, mental neutralizing and ordering. These findings revealed that DER, especially non-acceptance of emotional responses, may constitute evidence to improve our understanding of OCD.