(PS3-C69) The Relationship Between Contrast Avoidance and Obsessive-compulsive Symptom Dimensions

The Contrast Avoidance (CA) model posits that some individuals perceive sudden negative emotional shifts to be uncomfortable. Thus, these individuals frequently engage in repetitive thought patterns (e.g., worry, rumination) to maintain negative emotional states and avoid sudden negative emotional shifts. A growing body of evidence supports the CA model as an explanatory model for the role of repetitive negative thinking for anxiety and depressive symptoms; therefore, it may also contribute to our understanding of other repetitive negative thinking patterns, such as obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. This hypothesized relationship may be particularly salient for obsessions relating to responsibility for harm, as these obsessions arguably have the highest perceived potential for sudden negative outcomes resulting in sudden emotional shifts. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CA and OC symptom dimensions.  

Participants were 350 undergraduate psychology students who completed online questionnaires consisting of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Contrast Avoidance Questionnaire-General Emotion (CAQ-GE), and Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS). Correlations were computed to assess bivariate relationships among variables. Hierarchical linear regressions were performed with the DOCS subscales (Contamination, Responsibility for Harm, Unacceptable Thoughts, and Symmetry) as the dependent variables. DASS subscales scores were entered in Step 1, and CAQ total scores were entered in Step 2. Data collection is still in progress, thus preliminary analyses are presented for data collected to date (N = 162)   

CAQ scores were significantly correlated with all DOCS symptom dimensions (r = .27-.44) and DASS subscales (r = .60-.65). The overall regression predicting DOCS-Contamination was significant (R² = .10, p = .004) although no individual predictors emerged as significant and CAQ scores did not significantly increase the variance explained by the model (ΔR² = .02, p = .081). The regression predicting DOCS-Responsibility for Harm was significant (R² = .26, p < .001), with CAQ scores emerging as the only significant individual predictor (β = .25, p = .012) and accounting for a significance increase in explained variance (ΔR² = .03, p = .012). The regression predicting DOCS-Unacceptable Thoughts was significant (R² = .27, p < .001), with no significant individual predictors and CAQ scores not significantly increasing the explained variance (ΔR² = .01, p = .293). Finally, the regression predicting DOCS-Symmetry was also significant (R² = .17, p < .001), with CAQ (β = .22, p = .037) and DASS-Anxiety (β = .28, p = .024) scores emerging as significant individual predictors and CAQ scores significantly increased the explained variance (ΔR² = .02, p = .037).

These results suggest that CA is differentially related to OC symptom dimensions, and thus may hold unique importance for OC symptoms related to Responsibility for Harm and Symmetry. Future research should seek to further assess how the CA model may expand to include OC symptoms.