Experiential avoidance and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in University students.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Mental Health

Background:

• Experiential avoidance, the unwillingness to engage with distressing internal experiences, is a key diagnostic dimension.
• Obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) are frequently linked with anxiety and avoidant behaviors.
• The specific relationship between individual obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions and experiential avoidance remains under-explored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between dimensions of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and experiential avoidance.
• To examine these relationships within a sample of undergraduate college students.

Main Methods:

• Utilized online surveys administered to 390 undergraduate students.
• Assessed obsessive-compulsive symptoms using the DYBOC-short version.
• Measured experiential avoidance with the Brief Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire (BEAQ), anxiety with the GAD-7, and depression with PHQ-9.

Main Results:

• A significant positive correlation was observed between experiential avoidance and overall obsessive-compulsive symptom scores.
• Experiential avoidance was also significantly correlated with depression scores.
• These correlations were found within a non-clinical college student sample.

Conclusions:

• Experiential avoidance is significantly associated with obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions and depressive symptoms in college students.
• Findings suggest that experiential avoidance may be a relevant factor in understanding the broader spectrum of obsessive-compulsive disorder and related distress.
• Further research is warranted to explore the clinical implications of these associations for intervention strategies.