Experiential avoidance in symptom dimensions of OCD

Experiential avoidance (EA) involves an unwillingness to remain in contact or experience unpleasant private events through attempts to avoid or escape from these experiences. EA is hypothesized to play a role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); however, previous studies have not found a significant relationship between EA and OCD severity. The present study examined the relationship between EA and OCD severity as measured by an updated measure of EA, an established measure of OCD severity (i.e., the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised [OCI-R]), and a new measure of OCD symptom dimension severity, the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS). A sample of 83 nonreferred individuals meeting criteria for OCD completed the measures. Correlations between EA and the OCI-R corroborated previous findings; however, EA was significantly correlated with the DOCS. There were differences across the symptom dimensions, with EA significantly correlated with unacceptable thoughts, responsibility for harm, and symmetry, but not with contamination.