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Lifetime Exposure to Adverse Events and Reinforcement Sensitivity in Obsessive–Compulsive Prone Individuals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2012

Grazia Ceschi ,
Melissa Hearn ,
Joël Billieux  and
Martial Van der Linden
Grazia Ceschi*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland. [email protected]
Melissa Hearn
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Joël Billieux
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Martial Van der Linden
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Switzerland; Cognitive Psychopathology Unit, University of Liège, Belgium.
*
*Address for correspondence: Grazia Ceschi, Department of Psychology, FPSE, University of Geneva, 40 Bd du Pont d'Arve, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland.
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Abstract

A diathesis-stress perspective of obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCS) predicts that exposure to adverse events and personality dispositions jointly influence OCS. Gray and McNaughton's (2000) model of personality posits that, faced with challenging circumstances, individuals with a high sensitivity to punishment (SP) will be more prone to OCS because they cannot avoid the downward spiral into anxiety. The current study investigates OCS severity in relation to lifetime exposure to adverse events (AE), SP, and sensitivity to reward (SR) in 122 nonclinical adults. The results indicate that OCS severity is predicted by AE, SP and SR. Interestingly, the impact of adverse experiences is moderated by SR and not SP. These findings suggest that: (1) exposure to adverse events and SP are independent OCS risk factors, and (2) exposure to adverse events is more critical for reward dependent people. This is discussed in light of responsibility and ‘not just right experiences’ in OCS, along with the role of impulsivity in the obsessive-compulsive disorder spectrum.

Keywords

negative life eventsobsessive–compulsive disorderanxietyimpulsivityreward drivediathesis-stress model
Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , 01 June 2011 , pp. 75 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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