Insight in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder

The present study examined the clinical correlates of insight among adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). One hundred and thirty treatment-seeking adults with a primary diagnosis of OCD, aged 18 to 68 years (mean 31.4 years) participated. Measures of clinical severity, obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and ability to resist and control OCD symptoms were obtained. Results indicated that poor insight was positively related to greater OCD symptom severity and poorer ability to resist and control OCD symptoms; this pattern of associations held when insight was examined continuously and categorically (i.e., high versus low insight). Insight was generally not associated with other clinical characteristics, except for a relationship with mental neutralizing behaviors. Insight did not mediate the relationship between the ability to resist and control OCD symptoms and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity. Overall, this study provides further information into the nature and role of insight in adults with OCD.