Adult attachment and OCD symptoms: the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty and beliefs about losing control

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Attachment orientation has been argued to play a role in the development and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, but this relationship has yet to be fully understood. Attachment orientation may also contribute to appraisals of uncertainty such as threatening and negative beliefs about the consequences of loss of control, constructs which may also be associated with OCD. The present study aimed to investigate whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and negative beliefs about losing control (BALC) mediate the relationship between attachment and OCD symptoms.

Method

Two hundred and five participants were recruited from the general community to undertake a cross-sectional online survey which included the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised, the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale – 12 item, the Beliefs About Losing Control Inventory, and the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised.

Results

Attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, IU, and BALC were positively correlated with OCD symptoms. Both attachment dimensions were associated with IU and BALC. IU and BALC were found to be serial multiple mediators in the relationship between both attachment dimensions and OCD symptoms, though only the relationship between attachment anxiety and OCD remained significant when controlling for the corresponding attachment dimension.

Conclusion

The results suggest that IU and BALC may play a key role in the relationship between attachment and OCD symptoms.

Key Points

What is already known about this topic:

1. Attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance have been demonstrated to be associated with symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

2. Both attachment dimensions have been demonstrated to be associated with intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and may be hypothesised to lead to negative beliefs about the consequences of loss of control.

3. No research has investigated the potential mediating role of IU and beliefs about losing control on the relationship between attachment and OCD symptoms.

What this topic adds:

1. Attachment anxiety and avoidance were found to be associated with beliefs about losing control and IU, and all variables were associated with OCD symptoms.

2. IU and beliefs about losing control were found to be serial-multiple mediators in the relationship between attachment dimensions and OCD symptoms.

3. Attachment orientation, IU and beliefs about losing control may all be important variables to understand as potential contributors to the experience of OCD symptoms.

KEYWORDS:

• Attachment
• anxiety
• intolerance of uncertainty
• beliefs
• control
• OCD

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, GIC, upon reasonable request.