Online reassurance-seeking and relationships with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, shame, and fear of self

Abstract

Theory and research on reassurance-seeking in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has generally focused on interpersonal forms. Interpersonal reassurance-seeking presents social and emotional risks, which individuals with OCD report awareness of and a desire to minimize. Additionally, OCD symptoms—particularly “unacceptable thoughts”—are associated with shame and fear of self, each of which may motivate avoidance of interpersonal disclosure and pursuit of alternate reassurance sources. This paper presents an initial exploration of non-interactive online reassurance-seeking, which has not yet received comprehensive research attention. The frequencies of interpersonal and online reassurance-seeking, and their respective relationships to obsessive-compulsive symptoms, shame, and fear of self, were examined in two non-clinical samples (N = 239; N = 220). In both samples, online reassurance-seeking was endorsed at least as frequently as its interpersonal counterpart, had stronger partial relationships with total obsessive-compulsive symptoms, and was uniquely predicted by unacceptable thoughts. The latter relationship was accounted for by fear of self in Study 1, and by shame in Study 2. In Study 2, shame also predicted less frequent interpersonal reassurance-seeking. Conceptual and clinical implications are discussed.