UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA SYMPTOMATOLOGY AND OCD: SHARED COGNITIVE ERRORS AND EMOTIONS

Abstract

Although there is a well-documented link between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), there is much that remains unknown about this relationship. Comorbid PTSD and OCD are linked to particularly poor outcomes, and individuals with these disorders are impacted across several areas of life. The present study takes a closer look at characteristics that are common among both disorders, including thought-action fusion (TAF), magical thinking, guilt, and shame. Additionally, the author explores the unique impact of each previously identified symptom dimension of OCD (i.e., contamination, responsibility for harm, unacceptable thoughts, and order/symmetry) on trauma symptomatology. The present study hypothesized that symptoms of OCD will positively predict symptoms of PTSD, and that out of the identified symptom dimensions of OCD, symptoms related to fear of causing harm to others will explain a greater proportion of the variance in this relationship than the other symptom dimensions. Furthermore, the author hypothesized that magical thinking, TAF, guilt, and shame would positively predict trauma symptomatology. Data was primarily collected via online recruitment and was analyzed using linear regression. Results indicate that OCD symptom severity and shame predict trauma symptomatology, even when controlling for traumatic experiences; however, magical thinking, TAF, and guilt do not. Contrary to the authors hypothesis that symptoms related to fear of causing harm to others would explain a greater proportion of the variance in the relationship between OCD and trauma symptomatology, it was found that symptoms related to unacceptable thoughts did and that symptoms related to this dimension were the only ones that predicted trauma symptomatology. The author suggests the relationship between OCD and trauma symptomatology could be explained by one of several factors or even a combination of these factors. These findings are relevant to current clinical practice, as well as point to several areas for future research.