Does nonacceptance of emotions and the fear of guilt influence the association between trait guilt and obsessive-compulsive symptoms? A moderation analysis in a non-clinical sample

Abstract

Objective: Although cognitive-behavioural theory suggests a link between guilt and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the evidence is mixed. Given that how we relate to our emotions can determine behavioural responses, it is possible that high fear of guilt and a nonacceptance of emotions might increase the effects of guilt on OCD, and therefore explain mixed findings in previous research. Method: We investigated whether fear of guilt and nonacceptance of emotions moderated the association between trait guilt and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a non-clinical online MTurk sample (n = 231) recruited from cloudresearch.com. Participants completed measures of OCD, trait guilt, fear of guilt, nonacceptance of emotions, depression, and anxiety. Results: We found that fear of guilt and nonacceptance of emotions, but not trait guilt, significantly predicted obsessive-compulsive symptoms even after controlling for depression and anxiety. Nonacceptance of emotions moderated the relationship between trait guilt and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, however fear of guilt did not. Simple slopes analyses showed a significant positive association between trait guilt and obsessive-compulsive symptoms for individuals with high nonacceptance of emotions. Conclusion: Results support findings that nonacceptance of emotions, and to a lesser extent fear of guilt, play important roles in subclinical OCD. Furthermore, they suggest that a stronger acceptance of emotions may be linked to more adaptive experiences of guilt and reductions in obsessive-compulsive behaviour.