Embitterment and metacognition in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Paraskevi Mavrogiorgou1, Sarah Becker1, Sie-In Lee-Grimm
1Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Preventive Medicine, LWL-University Hospital of Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany.
BMC Psychiatry
|March 8, 2023
Summary
Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience significantly higher levels of embitterment compared to healthy individuals. This persistent emotion is linked to metacognitive distortions and clinical impairment in OCD patients, suggesting a need for targeted screening.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Clinical Psychology
Background:
- Embitterment is a persistent emotional response to injustice or being let down, often leading to helplessness.
- Psychiatric disorders can manifest as reactive embitterment, a response to the illness itself.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the prevalence of embitterment in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
- To compare embitterment levels in OCD patients versus healthy volunteers.
- To investigate the relationship between embitterment, metacognitions, and clinical characteristics in OCD.
Main Methods:
- A semi-structured diagnostic interview was conducted.
- 31 patients with OCD and 31 healthy volunteers were assessed.
- Measures included the Post-Traumatic Embitterment Disorder questionnaire (PTEDq), Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ-30), Beck Depression Inventory, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
Main Results:
- OCD patients reported significantly higher embitterment scores (mean=2.0) than healthy participants (mean=0.6) on the PTEDq (p < 0.001).
- Clinically relevant embitterment disorder (cut-off < 2.5) was not reached in either group.
- Embitterment significantly correlated with metacognitive distortions (MCQ-30) and overall clinical impairment in OCD patients.
Conclusions:
- Embitterment is a significant factor in OCD, associated with metacognitive distortions and self-image issues.
- Findings highlight the importance of screening OCD patients for embitterment, in addition to depression.
- Early identification of embitterment can inform appropriate psychotherapeutic interventions for OCD.
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