Child Abuse and Neglect and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Traits: Effects of Attachment, Intolerance of Uncertainty, and Metacognition

Overview

Journal J Child Adolesc Trauma

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2024 Dec 17

PMID 39686931

Authors

Emily Gray

Naomi Sweller

Simon Boag

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Child Abuse and Neglect (CAN) is extensively implicated as a risk factor preceding the development of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Traits (OCPT). Nevertheless, the majority of individuals with a history of CAN do not go on to develop OCPT. To date, little research has investigated potential model networks that may help contribute to explaining why CAN sometimes leads to OCPT and not at other times. Thus, this study aimed to investigate whether attachment-anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and metacognition have indirect effects in the association between CAN and OCPT in various network models. Undergraduate psychology students ( = 291) participated in an anonymous 30-min online survey consisting of a series of self-report questionnaires regarding child abuse and neglect, attachment, intolerance of uncertainty, metacognition, OCPT, and depression. Bootstrapped serial mediation revealed attachment-anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty had a serial-mediation effect in the association between CAN and OCPT. Serial mediation was not found for metacognition and attachment-anxiety. However, metacognition alone mediated between child emotional abuse and OCPT. These findings expand our currently limited knowledge regarding the etiology of OCPT and suggest that attachment-anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and metacognition may be important contributors for understanding the development of OCPT following CAN exposure. The potential clinical utility for both assessment and treatment are discussed.

References

McEvoy P . Metacognitive Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: a Review of Recent Advances and Future Research Directions. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2019; 21(5):29. DOI: 10.1007/s11920-019-1014-3. View

Petruccelli K, Davis J, Berman T . Adverse childhood experiences and associated health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Child Abuse Negl. 2019; 97:104127. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104127. View

Grover K, Carpenter L, Price L, Gagne G, Mello A, Mello M . The relationship between childhood abuse and adult personality disorder symptoms. J Pers Disord. 2007; 21(4):442-7. PMC: 4467781. DOI: 10.1521/pedi.2007.21.4.442. View

Veale D . Classification and treatment of obsessional slowness. Br J Psychiatry. 1993; 162:198-203. DOI: 10.1192/bjp.162.2.198. View

Bowen R, Rahman H, Dong L, Khalaj S, Baetz M, Peters E . Suicidality in People With Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms or Personality Traits. Front Psychiatry. 2019; 9:747. PMC: 6339952. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00747. View

Morreale M, Holingue C, Samuels J, Nestadt G . Long-term physical health outcomes of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder traits. J Clin Psychol. 2021; 77(11):2626-2637. PMC: 9310666. DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23207. View

Carlson E . A prospective longitudinal study of attachment disorganization/disorientation. Child Dev. 1998; 69(4):1107-28. View

Kwok S, Gu M, Cheung A . A longitudinal study on the relationship among childhood emotional abuse, gratitude, and suicidal ideation of Chinese adolescents. Child Abuse Negl. 2019; 94:104031. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.104031. View

Hall-Jones M, Liggett J, Sellbom M . Validation of the Five-Factor Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory in a Mental Health Sample. Assessment. 2020; 28(4):1147-1158. DOI: 10.1177/1073191120976860. View

10.

Mallinger A . The obsessive's myth of control. J Am Acad Psychoanal. 1984; 12(2):148-65. View

11.

Wells A, Cartwright-Hatton S . A short form of the metacognitions questionnaire: properties of the MCQ-30. Behav Res Ther. 2004; 42(4):385-96. DOI: 10.1016/S0005-7967(03)00147-5. View

12.

Tyrka A, Wyche M, Kelly M, Price L, Carpenter L . Childhood maltreatment and adult personality disorder symptoms: influence of maltreatment type. Psychiatry Res. 2009; 165(3):281-7. PMC: 2671800. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2007.10.017. View

13.

Bernstein D, Stein J, Handelsman L . Predicting personality pathology among adult patients with substance use disorders: effects of childhood maltreatment. Addict Behav. 1998; 23(6):855-68. DOI: 10.1016/s0306-4603(98)00072-0. View

14.

Carleton R, Mulvogue M, Thibodeau M, McCabe R, Antony M, Asmundson G . Increasingly certain about uncertainty: Intolerance of uncertainty across anxiety and depression. J Anxiety Disord. 2012; 26(3):468-79. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.01.011. View

15.

Buhr K, Dugas M . The Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale: psychometric properties of the English version. Behav Res Ther. 2002; 40(8):931-45. DOI: 10.1016/s0005-7967(01)00092-4. View

16.

Wheaton M, Ward H . Intolerance of uncertainty and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Personal Disord. 2020; 11(5):357-364. DOI: 10.1037/per0000396. View

17.

Widom C, Czaja S, Kozakowski S, Chauhan P . Does adult attachment style mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and mental and physical health outcomes?. Child Abuse Negl. 2017; 76:533-545. PMC: 5685930. DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.05.002. View

18.

Olatunji B, Williams N, Tolin D, Abramowitz J, Sawchuk C, Lohr J . The Disgust Scale: item analysis, factor structure, and suggestions for refinement. Psychol Assess. 2007; 19(3):281-97. DOI: 10.1037/1040-3590.19.3.281. View

19.

Wolf E, Harrington K, Clark S, Miller M . Sample Size Requirements for Structural Equation Models: An Evaluation of Power, Bias, and Solution Propriety. Educ Psychol Meas. 2015; 76(6):913-934. PMC: 4334479. DOI: 10.1177/0013164413495237. View

20.

Buhr K, Dugas M . Investigating the construct validity of intolerance of uncertainty and its unique relationship with worry. J Anxiety Disord. 2006; 20(2):222-36. DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2004.12.004. View