Body dissatisfaction among pre-adolescent girls is predicted by their involvement in aesthetic sports and by personal characteristics of their mothers.

Empirical evidence indicates that the dissatisfaction with one's body is widely present in the general population even at very early ages, and that it is predictive of future eating disorders. The family seem particularly influent for the development of body dissatisfaction while sports practice is associated to a higher prevalence of disordered eating. However the role of sports practice in the development of body dissatisfaction is still under debate and only few studies have evaluated together the influences of family and sport practice on body dissatisfaction. The present study aimed at evaluating both the singular and conjoint role of the type of sport and maternal influences in young female children. The sport influence was assessed comparing aesthetic and non-aesthetic disciplines; the mother's influence was evaluated considering her personal characteristics and her desire to have a thinner child. Results evidence that children involved in aesthetic sports, although thinner than those involved in non-aesthetic sports, report higher desire to be much thinner and have mothers who pressure them toward a greater thinness. Furthermore, children's body dissatisfaction in the sport groups is predicted by maternal characteristic like her habit to restrict her own eating and her perfectionism.

Hoarding and emotional reactivity: the link between negative emotional reactions and hoarding symptomatology.

Hoarding disorder (HD) is characterized by difficulty discarding, clutter, and frequently excessive acquiring. Theories have pointed to intense negative emotional reactions (e.g., sadness) as one factor that may play a critical role in HD's etiology. Preliminary work with an analogue sample indicated that more intense negative emotions following emotional films were linked with greater hoarding symptoms. Symptom provocation imaging studies with HD patients have also found evidence for excessive activation in brain regions implicated in processing emotions. The current study utilized a sample with self-reported serious hoarding difficulties to examine how hoarding symptoms related to both general and hoarding-related emotional reactivity, taking into account the specificity of these relationships. We also examined how two cognitive factors, fear of decision-making and confidence in memory, modified this relationship. 628 participants with self-identified hoarding difficulties completed questionnaires about general emotional reactivity, depression, anxiety, decision-making, and confidence in memory. To assess hoarding-related emotional reactivity, participants reported their emotional reactions when imagining discarding various items. Heightened general emotional reactivity and more intense emotional reactions to imagined discarding were associated with both difficulty discarding and acquisition, but not clutter, controlling for age, gender, and co-occurring mood and anxiety symptoms. Fear of decision-making and confidence in memory interacted with general emotional reactivity to predict hoarding symptoms. These findings provide support for cognitive-behavioral models of hoarding. Experimental research should be conducted to discover whether emotional reactivity increases vulnerability for HD. Future work should also examine whether emotional reactivity should be targeted in interventions for hoarding.

A cognitive-behavioral model of compulsive hoarding.

Compulsive hoarding is a little studied phenomenon within the research literature. The information available on compulsive hoarding is diverse and not well integrated. In the present article we propose a tentative cognitive-behavioral model of compulsive hoarding. The purpose of such a model is to provide a framework for the development and testing of hypotheses about compulsive hoarding. In this model hoarding is conceptualized as a multifaceted problem stemming from: (1) information processing deficits; (2) problems in forming emotional attachments; (3) behavioral avoidance; and (4) erroneous beliefs about the nature of possessions. Specific hypotheses about each of these are discussed.

Perfectionism in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients.

Considerable theory and anecdotal evidence has suggested that patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are more perfectionistic. Evidence with non-clinical populations supports this hypothesis. However, no data are available on levels of perfectionism among patients diagnosed with OCD. The present study extends findings on perfectionism and OCD by comparing perfectionism levels of OCD-diagnosed patients with those of non-patients and a group of patients diagnosed with panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA). As predicted, patients with OCD had significantly elevated scores on Total Perfectionism, Concern Over Mistakes, and Doubts About Actions compared to non-patients controls. However, they did not differ from patients with PDA on Total Perfectionism or Concern Over Mistakes. Patients with OCD did have higher Doubts Actions scores than those with PDA. The implications for role of perfectionism in OCD and other anxiety disorders are discussed.

The hoarding of possessions.

Three studies of nonfood hoarding are reported. Findings support the reliability and validity of a Hoarding Scale. Furthermore, the findings indicate a number of features of hoarding behavior. Hoarding was associated with indecisiveness, perfectionism (especially maladaptive evaluative concern) and obsessive compulsive symptoms among college students and community volunteers. Hoarders tended to buy extra things in order not to be caught without a needed item, and they carried more 'just-in-case' items in purses, pockets and cars. Onset of hoarding was childhood and adolescence. Hoarders had more first degree relatives who engaged in excessive saving than nonhoarders, and hoarders were less likely to be married. There was no evidence to suggest that hoarding was related to material deprivation. A model was suggested which conceptualizes hoarding as an avoidance behavior tied to indecisiveness and perfectionism. Saving allows the hoarder to avoid the decision required to throw something away, and the worry which accompanies that decision (worry that a mistake has been made). Also, it allows hoarders to avoid emotional reactions which accompany parting with cherished possessions, and results in increased perception of control.

Checking behavior in a threatening situation.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether compulsive checking was associated with greater checking behavior and slower performance in a personally relevant and potentially threatening task. Students in an abnormal psychology class completed the Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory and the Everyday Checking Behavior Scale early in the semester. One month later during the first examination they were asked to record the number of times they went over (checked) each exam question after first answering it. The amount of time taken by subjects to complete this and the final exam was also recorded. The MOCI-check subscale and ECBS were correlated with the number of answer checks. MOCI-check scores were also correlated with the time taken to complete each exam. It was suggested that the characteristic of indecisiveness may be responsible for these relationships.

The nature and measurement of compulsive indecisiveness.

Indecisiveness is an often mentioned symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder and obsessive compulsive personality disorder, yet very little research has been done examining its nature and measurement. Three studies are presented here which examine the nature of compulsive indecisiveness using a newly developed scale. In study 1 the Indecisiveness Scale was correlated with measures of obsessionality and compulsive checking among normal S s. It was also correlated with the maladaptive evaluative concern dimensions of perfectionism and with compulsive hoarding. In study 2 indecisive S s (as measured by the Indecisiveness Scale) were found to score higher on measures of procrastination and general psychopathology. In addition, they reported problems in making decisions in a variety of life domains (social, academic, family and everyday). In study 3 S s who scored high on the Indecisiveness Scale were found to have longer latencies on an experimental decision-making task. The implications of these findings for the nature of indecisiveness were discussed.

Cognitive-behavioral treatment of compulsive hoarding: a multiple baseline experimental case study.

The present case study describes a cognitive-behavioral intervention directed at helping a 53 year old female suffering from compulsive hoarding decrease clutter and improve decision-making and sorting techniques. The intervention focused on decision-making training, exposure and response prevention, and cognitive restructuring. Ratios of cluttered space to overall space were calculated for floor and furniture tops for each of five rooms over a period of 17 months. Clutter decreased substantially in each of the rooms targeted for intervention, while clutter ratios remained stable for a room used as a baseline control (no intervention). In addition, D.'s scores on self-report measures of obsessive-compulsive symptomatology decreased after 9 months of intervention suggesting that the treatment protocol affected symptoms of hoarding distress, as well as clutter. Despite previously reported difficulties in the treatment of compulsive hoarding, our results provide preliminary evidence that a cognitive-behavioral intervention can be successful in reducing hoarding symptoms. Suggestions for future research include streamlining the treatment program and testing its efficacy on large clinical samples.

Mood, personality disorder symptoms and disability in obsessive compulsive hoarders: a comparison with clinical and nonclinical controls.

Hoarding is a symptom of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), as well as a diagnostic criterion for obsessive compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). One recent study suggests that people who suffer from compulsive hoarding report more general psychopathology than people who do not [Frost, R.O., Krause, M.S., & Steketee, G. (1996). Hoarding and obsessive compulsive symptoms. Behavior Modification, 20, 116-132]. The present study addressed whether persons with OCD hoarding exhibit more depression, anxiety, OCD and personality disorders symptoms than community controls, OCD nonhoarders, or other anxiety disorder patients. Disability was also examined. Hoarding subjects were older than the other three groups, but age did not account for any of the differences observed among the groups. Compared to controls, OCD hoarding, nonhoarding OCD and anxiety disorder patients showed elevated YBOCS scores, as well as higher scores on depression, anxiety, family and social disability. Compared to nonhoarding OCD and anxiety disorder patients, OCD hoarding patients scored higher on anxiety, depression, family and social disability. Hoarding subjects had greater personality disorder symptoms than controls. However, OCD hoarding subjects differed from OCD nonhoarding and anxiety disorder subjects only on dependent and schizotypal personality disorder symptoms. The findings suggest that hoarding is associated with significant comorbidity and impairment compared to nonhoarding OCD and other anxiety disorders.

Personality traits in subclinical and non-obsessive-compulsive volunteers and their parents.

Theorists from a variety of perspectives have asserted that obsessive compulsives are more risk-aversive, perfectionistic and guilt-ridden than non-obsessive compulsives, and that these characteristics are central features of the disorder. Furthermore, several have hypothesized that the parents of obsessive compulsives are characterized by risk-aversion, perfectionism, and high levels of criticism. Little research exists which corroborates these hypotheses, however. The present investigation examined these hypotheses among subclinical obsessive compulsives. In two different samples, subclinical obsessive compulsives were found to be more risk-aversive, perfectionistic, and guilt-ridden. Subclinical obsessive compulsives also perceived their parents to be more overprotective. The findings regarding other parental traits were less clear. There was some support for the hypothesis that the parents of subclinical obsessive compulsives are more risk-aversive, and that fathers are more critical and perfectionistic.

The value of possessions in compulsive hoarding: patterns of use and attachment.

Hoarding behavior, patterns of use of possessions, and emotional attachment to possessions were examined among a sample of female undergraduates and a sample of community volunteers. Hoarding behavior was associated with a decreased frequency of use of possessions and excessive concern about maintaining control over possessions. Furthermore, high scores on the hoarding scale were associated with higher levels of perceived responsibility for: (1) being prepared; and (2) the well-being of the possession. Hoarding was also associated with greater emotional attachment to possessions and to the reliance on possessions for emotional comfort. The implications of these findings for the definition of hoarding are discussed.

Memory deficits in compulsive checkers: replication and extension in a clinical sample.

Thirteen checkers and twelve noncheckers, identified on the basis of their responses to the checking subscale of the Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI; Rachman and Hodgson, 1980), were recruited from a sample of 99 consecutive admissions to the outpatient department of a community mental health center. Consistent with our previous research with nonclinical samples of college students (Sher et al., 1983, 1984), checkers were found to show deficits in memory, especially recall for recently completed actions, compared to noncheckers. This result demonstrates the replicability of our previous findings across different types of samples and implicates deficits in memory for actions as a potentially important determinant of checking behavior. Assessment of spontaneous imagery associated with the anamnestic process suggested that checkers utilized less imagery, especially visual imagery, when recalling biographical information. Additional measures collected at the time of testing indicated that checkers were more neurotic and reported more psychological distress than noncheckers.

Hoarding, compulsive buying and reasons for saving.

Two studies examined hypotheses about compulsive hoarding, compulsive buying and beliefs about saving and discarding derived from the cognitive-behavioral model of compulsive hoarding [Frost, R. O. and Hartl, T. (1996). A cognitive behavioral model of compulsive hoarding. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 341-350.]. Study 1 examined the hypotheses in a college student population, while study 2 compared members of a support group for hoarding and clutter-related problems with a nonclinical control. Across studies the hypotheses were supported. Compulsive hoarding was associated with compulsive buying and the frequency of acquisition of possessions discarded by others, suggesting that compulsive acquisition may be a broader construct than compulsive buying among people with hoarding problems. Regarding its association with OCD symptoms, hoarding was most closely associated with the impaired mental control features of OCD. Finally, offa hoarding-related task, hoarding was associated with a greater frequency of reasons to save, but was not associated with fewer reasons to discard a target possession.

Compulsivity and superstitiousness.

The relationship between superstitious beliefs and behaviors, and measures of obsessive-compulsive experiences was examined in this study. Both superstitious beliefs and superstitious behaviors were correlated with measures of compulsivity and obsessionality. Compulsive checking, but not compulsive cleaning (from the MOCI and the CAC-R) were correlated with superstitiousness. Both subscales from the Obsessional Thoughts Questionnaire were correlated with superstitiousness. The implications of these findings for the role of perceived control in obsessive-compulsive phenomena were discussed.

Beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Several types of beliefs have been hypothesized to be associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), including responsibility for harm, need to control thoughts, overestimates of threat, intolerance of uncertainty, and beliefs about the consequences of anxiety and capacity to cope. The present study compared 62 subjects with OCD, 45 with other anxiety disorders (AD) and 34 controls, using 3 measures of OCD-related beliefs. OCD subjects scored higher than AD and control samples on 2 general belief measures. A closer analysis of specific belief domains indicated that OCD subjects scored higher than AD and control subjects on all 6 specific belief domains (responsibility, control, estimation of threat, tolerance of uncertainty, beliefs about the consequences of anxiety, and the capacity to cope). Four of the 6 domains showed reasonable convergent and discriminant validity with measures of OCD symptoms compared to other psychopathology; anxiety and coping beliefs were the exceptions. In regression analyses, cognitive measures contributed significant explanatory power beyond mood state and worry with uncertainty predicting severity of OCD symptoms above all other belief domains. Further research on OCD-relevant belief domains in etiology, maintenance and treatment is warranted.

Use of psychophysical scaling procedures in the assessment of phobias: a case example.

This paper reports on the utility of a psychophysical scaling procedure (magnitude estimation) for the measurement of treatment effectiveness among phobics. Pre- and post-treatment heart rate and magnitude estimates of fear in a snake phobic subject were examined. Magnitude estimates and heart rate both revealed treatment effects. The results suggest that magnitude estimates may be a more sensitive measure of fear. The usefulness of magnitude estimates as an assessment strategy is discussed.

The effects of viewing distance on fear of snakes.

Phobic subjects made magnitude estimations of the intensity of fear felt when viewing a snake at distances from 2.5 to 15.0 ft. Heart rate, skin conductance, and respiration were also measured throughout each 20 sec viewing period. A control group of nonphobic subjects made magnitude estimates of perceived nearness for the empty Plexiglas snake box at the same test distances. Judged fear was inversely proportional to distance. Thus, the fear-distance relation obeys Stevens' psychophysical power law with an exponent of -1.0. Examination of previous studies reporting such a finding revealed systematic departures from a power relation similar in form to the results of the perceived nearness control group, and to the expected outcome when category judgements of fear are made instead of magnitude estimates. The physiological measures varied in outcome. Measures of respiration showed no reliable effects. But heart rate and skin conductance decreased significantly for phobics as viewing distance increased.

Hoarding and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

The present study attempts to extend recent research on the relation between hoarding and obsessive-compulsive experiences. In both college student and community samples, hoarding was associated with higher scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (YBOCS). The relationship was stronger among the community sample, in which there was a greater range of compulsive symptoms and hoarding behavior. Hoarding was also associated with higher levels of general psychopathology as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory but not by the Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder subscale from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II or by a measure of ordinary risk taking. Among a sample of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 31% reported hoarding obsessions and 26% reported hoarding compulsions on the YBOCS symptom checklist. These frequencies are similar to those found elsewhere and suggest that, although not as frequent as the classical symptoms of OCD, hoarding is a common symptom among OCD patients.