Deficiency in Self-Control: Unraveling Psychological and Behavioral Risk Factors for Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) presents treatment challenges.
• Research on psychological and behavioral triggers for obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) is limited.
• Self-Control Theory posits that self-control deficits underlie psychiatric symptoms.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate factors influencing OCS in college students.
• Examine the relationship between self-control, procrastination, anxiety, and OCS.
• Test the mediating roles of procrastination and anxiety in the link between self-control and OCS.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 5599 non-clinical Chinese college students.
• Administered the Self-Control Scale, Aitken Procrastination Inventory, and Symptom Checklist-90.
• Utilized Pearson's correlation analyses and the bootstrap method.

Main Results:

• Significant correlations found among self-control, procrastination, anxiety, and OCS.
• Self-control was a significant negative predictor of OCS, even after controlling for age and sex.
• Procrastination and anxiety, individually and sequentially, mediated the relationship between self-control and OCS.

Conclusions:

• Self-control deficiencies are significant in OCS.
• Findings offer insights into psychological and behavioral risk factors for OCS.
• Highlights practical implications for early intervention strategies in OCD.