Experiential avoidance and emotion regulation difficulties in hoarding disorder

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Psychopathology

Background:

• Experiential avoidance involves avoiding unwanted internal experiences.
• Pathological hoarding may align with an experiential avoidant model.
• Emotion regulation difficulties are often comorbid with psychopathology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate experiential avoidance and emotion regulation in hoarding disorder (HD).
• To compare these difficulties in HD with and without comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• To examine the relationship between these factors and symptom severity.

Main Methods:

• Eighty participants were divided into four groups: HD without OCD, HD with OCD, non-hoarding OCD, and healthy controls.
• Measures of experiential avoidance and emotion regulation difficulties were administered.
• Correlation analyses assessed associations with symptom severity.

Main Results:

• Hoarding individuals reported higher experiential avoidance and emotion regulation difficulties than healthy controls.
• These difficulties were more prominent in HD with comorbid OCD compared to HD alone.
• Experiential avoidance and emotion regulation were associated with OCD symptoms, not hoarding symptoms.

Conclusions:

• Experiential avoidance and emotion regulation difficulties are not specific to HD but are relevant to a wider range of psychopathologies.
• Despite lack of specificity, findings offer potential clinical implications for HD treatment.
• Further research may explore the role of these factors in diverse mental health conditions.