Do Responsibility Beliefs Mediate the Relationship Between Attachment and Parenting Styles and Obsessive Compulsive Symptons?

Despite numerous theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) there remains a lack of empirical research exploring the developmental origins of OCD. This study therefore sought to build on the recent convergence of cognitive and psychodynamic approaches to further investigate OCD. Specifically this study explored whether responsibility beliefs, as hypothesised by Salkovskis et al. (1999) mediated the relationship between a) perceived parenting and symptoms of OCD and b) current attachment style and symptoms of OCD. A cross-sectional questionnaire design was used with 223 non-clinical participants recruited from a population of undergraduate and postgraduate students. Participants completed the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (21) as a measure of mood, the Padua Inventory Washington State University Revision as a measure of OCD symptoms, the Parental Bonding Instrument to assess recollections of parental rearing styles, the Emotions in Close Relationships-Revised as a measure of attachment style in current relationships and the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-Responsibility-Threat subscale as a measure of responsibility. Those who reported higher levels of OCD symptoms were found to report recollections of reduced maternal care and increased maternal overprotection, and higher levels of attachment anxiety, but not attachment avoidance. Responsibility beliefs were found to significantly mediate the relationship between perceived maternal parenting and OCD symptoms and also between anxious attachment and OCD symptoms. Consequently, the findings from this study provides support for parenting style and current attachment contributing to and reinforcing sensitivity to responsibility which may find expression in obsessive compulsive symptoms