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OCD, death anxiety, and attachment: what’s love got to do with it?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2021

Rachel E. Verin Open the ORCID record for Rachel E. Verin [Opens in a new window] ,
Rachel E. Menzies Open the ORCID record for Rachel E. Menzies [Opens in a new window]  and
Ross G. Menzies
Rachel E. Verin
Affiliation:
The University of Technology
Rachel E. Menzies*
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Ross G. Menzies
Affiliation:
The University of Technology
*
*Corresponding author. Email: rmen9233@uni.sydney.edu.au
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Abstract

Background:

Death anxiety has been empirically implicated in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Research has shown that secure attachments appear to protect against fear of death, and are also associated with reduced risk of mental illness. However, few studies have investigated the moderating effect of attachment style in the relationship between death anxiety and OCD.

Aims:

The present study sought to explore whether attachment style moderates the relationship between death anxiety and OCD symptoms among a treatment-seeking sample of individuals diagnosed with OCD.

Method:

Following a structured diagnostic interview, a number of measures were administered to 48 participants. These included the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale, Vancouver Obsessive Compulsive Inventory, and Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised.

Results:

As expected, death anxiety was a strong predictor of OCD severity, and other markers of psychopathology. However, contrary to hypotheses, neither anxious nor avoidant attachment style moderated the association between fear of death and OCD severity.

Conclusions:

The current findings add further support to the role of death anxiety in OCD. Given the absence of a moderating effect of attachment between death fears and OCD severity, it is possible that this proposed buffer against death anxiety may potentially be insufficient in the presence of this disorder. Further research is needed to clarify whether attachment style may moderate the relationship between death anxiety and symptom severity in other disorders.

Keywords

attachmentdeath anxietyobsessive compulsive disorderterror management theory

Information

Type
Main
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , March 2022 , pp. 131 - 141
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies

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