Perceived Decision-Making Styles Among Individuals With Obsessive-Compulsive And Hoarding Disorders

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2019

Published In

Journal Of Obsessive-Compulsive And Related Disorders

Abstract

Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and hoarding disorder (HD) struggle with decision-making. One potentially important aspect of decision-making that has yet to be studied in relation to OCD and HD is decision-making style, a trait-like pattern of responding that is relatively stable across a variety of decision-making situations. The aim of the present study was to investigate the extent to which people with OCD and/or HD report specific decision-making styles and low levels of decisional self-esteem. Participants who self-identified as having OCD (n = 30), HD (n = 19), both OCD and HD (n = 33), or neither (n = 78) completed a measure of how they make important decisions, as well as symptom measures. Compared to controls, individuals with OCD and/or HD perceived themselves to be less confident and respected decision-makers, avoid decision-making and brood about making bad decisions more, and rely less on intuition when making decisions. Compared to those with HD, individuals with OCD reported being more anxious and dependent on others and less spontaneous when making decisions. Future research should examine whether these decision-making styles lead to maladaptive decision-making outcomes, their role vis-à-vis the maintenance of symptoms, and the mechanisms for these tendencies.

Keywords

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Hoarding disorder, Decision-making, Indecisiveness

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