TY - JOUR
T1 - Obsessive-compulsive symptoms are related to reduced awareness of emotional valence
AU - Lazarov, Amit
AU - Friedman, Aharon
AU - Comay, Omri
AU - Liberman, Nira
AU - Dar, Reuven
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/7/1
Y1 - 2020/7/1
N2 - Background: The Seeking Proxies for Internal States (SPIS) model of OCD asserts that obsessive-compulsive (OC) tendencies are associated with attenuated access to internal states. Here we explore the implications of this model for awareness of emotional valence. Methods: In Study 1, participants with high and low OC tendencies (n = 30 in each group) rated how they felt while viewing different pictures with positive, neutral, or negative valence taken from the International Affective Picture System. Study 2 replicated Study 1 among non-selected participants (n = 99) that rated positive and negative pictures chosen from the recently developed Basic-Emotions Nencki Affective Picture System. In both studies, mean deviation from norm ratings (of each picture system) served as the primary outcome measure. Results: Study 1 showed that high OC participants’ mean deviation score was significantly higher, compared with low OC participants, across positive, neutral, and negative pictures (p=.01). Follow-up analyses revealed that while no group difference emerged for mean valence rating (p=.16), groups differed on the mean standard deviation of ratings within each valence category (p=.002). In Study 2, only OC tendencies, not depressive or anxiety symptoms, were positively correlated with mean deviation from norm ratings (p=.026). Dividing the sample to high and low OC groups based on an OC cutoff score yielded similar group differences to those observed in Study 1 (p<.001). Limitations: Analog samples and a relative small sample size (Study 1). Conclusions: This study suggests that OC symptoms are associated with reduced awareness of emotional valence, possibly emanating from a noisier emotional perception.
AB - Background: The Seeking Proxies for Internal States (SPIS) model of OCD asserts that obsessive-compulsive (OC) tendencies are associated with attenuated access to internal states. Here we explore the implications of this model for awareness of emotional valence. Methods: In Study 1, participants with high and low OC tendencies (n = 30 in each group) rated how they felt while viewing different pictures with positive, neutral, or negative valence taken from the International Affective Picture System. Study 2 replicated Study 1 among non-selected participants (n = 99) that rated positive and negative pictures chosen from the recently developed Basic-Emotions Nencki Affective Picture System. In both studies, mean deviation from norm ratings (of each picture system) served as the primary outcome measure. Results: Study 1 showed that high OC participants’ mean deviation score was significantly higher, compared with low OC participants, across positive, neutral, and negative pictures (p=.01). Follow-up analyses revealed that while no group difference emerged for mean valence rating (p=.16), groups differed on the mean standard deviation of ratings within each valence category (p=.002). In Study 2, only OC tendencies, not depressive or anxiety symptoms, were positively correlated with mean deviation from norm ratings (p=.026). Dividing the sample to high and low OC groups based on an OC cutoff score yielded similar group differences to those observed in Study 1 (p<.001). Limitations: Analog samples and a relative small sample size (Study 1). Conclusions: This study suggests that OC symptoms are associated with reduced awareness of emotional valence, possibly emanating from a noisier emotional perception.
KW - Emotional awareness
KW - Emotional valence
KW - Internal states
KW - Obsessive-compulsive disorder
KW - Obsessive-compulsive symptoms
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85084057026&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.129
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2020.03.129
M3 - ???researchoutput.researchoutputtypes.contributiontojournal.article???
C2 - 32379617
AN - SCOPUS:85084057026
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 272
SP - 28
EP - 37
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -