The role of intolerance of uncertainty, trait anxiety, and OCD symptoms in checking behaviour and its associated concomitants

ABSTRACChecking behaviours are used to reduce uncertainty and prevent feared outcomes. It remains unclear how traits such as Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) and Trait Anxiety (TA), alongside Obessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms, influence checking behaviour under varying levels of threat and uncertainty. In this study (n = 208), threat (performance score, performance-contingent electric stimulation) and uncertainty (feedback, no feedback) were manipulated during a visual discrimination and checking task. On each trial, participants identified whether two shapes were identical or different. Measures included self-reported urge to check, distress, checking frequency, task accuracy, and corrugator supercilii muscle activity. Lower TA was associated with more checking under high versus low threat, whereas higher TA showed no checking behaviour differences based on threat. Lower TA was unrelated to reaction time, whereas higher TA was linked to slower reactions in low-threat conditions with feedback. Higher IU predicted stronger urges to check and greater distress. Elevated OCD symptoms were associated with similar corrugator responses regardless of feedback availability, whereas lower OCD symptoms showed greater activity when feedback was unavailable. These findings suggest IU, TA, and OCD symptoms relate to different aspects of checking behaviour, though conceptual replication using more reliable and ecologically valid paradigms is needed.