Emotion Regulation in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Emotion dysregulation is a central process implicated in the genesis and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, past research on OCD has examined emotion regulation with a trait-level approach, thereby neglecting important situational and temporal dynamics. The present study is the first one to examine moment-to-moment emotion regulation in individuals with OCD. A 6-day ecological momentary assessment was used to assess affect, emotion regulation strategies, perceived effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies, and acceptance of emotional experiences in n = 72 individuals with OCD and n = 54 psychologically healthy controls. As expected, individuals with OCD reported more negative and less positive affect. Group differences in positive (but not negative) affect did remain significant when controlling for baseline depression. Furthermore, the OCD group reported to use a higher momentary number of avoidance-oriented regulation strategies and less perceived effectiveness of emotion regulation, even when controlling for current symptoms and negative affect or baseline depression scores. Further, irrespective of group, more momentary negative affect amplified use of avoidance-oriented strategies and diminished perceived effectiveness and emotional acceptance. Contrary to expectations, these effects were not more pronounced in the OCD group. Possible explanations for unexpected findings and implications for future research, particularly regarding more holistic emotion regulation treatments, are discussed.