Attenuated Access to Emotions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Issue 1 (January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lazarov, Amit; Oren, Ela; Liberman, Nira; Gur, Shay; Hermesh, Haggai; Dar, Reuven
• Is Part Of: Behavior therapy. Volume 53:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 10
• Publication Date: 2022-01
• Subjects: obsessive-compulsive disorder -- internal states -- emotions -- emotional intelligence; Behavior therapy -- Periodicals; 616.8914205
• DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2021.04.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0005-7894

Abstract

Highlights: We compared OCD, anxious and healthy participants on emotional intelligence (EI). Compared to both control groups, OCD patients performed worse on Experiential EI. The three groups did not differ on Strategic EI. Anxious and healthy control participants did not differ on any of the EI measures. Findings were specific to OCD and not attributable to anxiety or depression levels. Abstract: The Seeking Proxies for Internal States (SPIS) model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posits that OCD is associated with attenuated access to internal states. Here we explored the implications of this model in the realm of emotions. Participants with OCD, anxiety disorders, and nonclinical control participants completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), assessing two domains of emotional intelligence: Experiential emotional intelligence (EI), reflecting the ability to perceive and feel emotions accurately, and Strategic EI, reflecting the ability to understand and manage emotions correctly. As only Experiential EI requires accurate perception of one's emotions for adequate performance, we predicted an interaction between group and EI area. Specifically, we predicted that compared to both anxiety disorders and healthy control participants, OCD participants would show a larger deficit in Experiential area of the MSCEIT relative to the Strategic area. Results were fully in line with this prediction. Moreover, supporting the specificity of the hypothesized deficit to OCD, participants with anxiety disorders did not differ from nonclinical control participants in their performance, and findings were not attributable to anxiety or depression levels. These results replicate and extend previous findings obtained with analogue samples and suggest that OCD is associated with attenuated access to emotional states, which may be partially compensated for by reliance on semantic knowledge of emotion.