Excessive checking for non-anxiogenic stimuli in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Repetitive checking in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) would serve to relieve obsession-related anxiety and/or to compensate memory deficit, but experimental literature on this subject is inconsistent. The main objective is to test the influence of obsession-related anxiety and memory on repetitive checking in OCD.

Twenty-three OCD checkers, 17 OCD non-checkers and 41 controls performed a delayed-matching-to-sample task with an unrestricted checking option. Some stimuli were obsession-related in order to measure the influence of anxiety on checking. A version of the task without checking possibility was used to assess memory abilities.

OCD checkers had similar memory performances but checked more than the other groups when presented with non-anxiogenic stimuli. Level of anxiety associated to the stimulus did not influence the number of checks.

Increased checking in OCD checkers, being independent of memory abilities and primary obsession-related anxiety, would, therefore, be closer to an automated behaviour than a coping strategy.