State and Trait Risk and Resilience Factors Associated with COVID-19 Impact and Obsessive–Compulsive Symptom Trajectories

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic may exacerbate common symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder, such as fears of contamination or causing harm to others. To investigate the potential impact of COVID-19 on obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms, we utilized a frequent sampling prospective design to assess changes in OC symptoms between April 2020 and January 2021. We examined in a broad clinical and non-clinical sample whether baseline risk (e.g., emotion dysregulation, anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty) and protective (e.g., resilience) factors would predict OC symptom changes, and whether coping strategies would mediate week-to-week changes in COVID-19 impact and OC symptoms. Emotion dysregulation was associated with greater likelihood of OC symptom worsening, whereas resilience was associated with lower likelihood. Longitudinal mediation analyses revealed that coping strategies were not significant mediators; however, changes in adaptive coping were associated with subsequent-week OC symptom reductions. Regardless of perceived COVID-19 impact, implementing adaptive coping strategies may prospectively reduce OC symptoms. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41811-021-00128-4.

COVID-19 and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a large multi-site college sample

“…This 14-item self-report measure assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological health. We modified a previous version of this questionnaire ( Fang, Berman, Hoeppner, Wolfe, & Wilhelm, 2021 ) to be relevant for college students. Respondents rated the impact of COVID-19 on their everyday lives (e.g., “I found it hard to concentrate on work and/or leisure activities because I was preoccupied with thoughts about COVID-19”) on a Likert scale from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly Agree”), with higher scores reflecting greater impact.…”