The perceived long-term impact of COVID-19 on OCD symptomology

Danielle Dennis; Eleanor McGlinchey; Michael G Wheaton

doi:10.1016/j.jocrd.2023.100812

The perceived long-term impact of COVID-19 on OCD symptomology

J Obsessive Compuls Relat Disord. 2023 Jul:38:100812. doi: 10.1016/j.jocrd.2023.100812. Epub 2023 Jun 3.

Authors

Danielle Dennis^{1

2}, Eleanor McGlinchey¹, Michael G Wheaton²

Affiliations

¹ Fairleigh Dickinson University, United States.
² Barnard College of Columbia University, United States.

Abstract

A pandemic outbreak can lead to excessive, maladaptive levels of anxiety, particularly among individuals who already suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) provided a novel opportunity to examine the possibility that individuals with OCD, compared to those without OCD, might experience greater distress from this common stressor. The present study examined the lasting effects of COVID-19 in the year after the outbreak. Additionally, there is limited research regarding the stability of OCD dimensions; therefore, this study examined whether the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the stability of OCD dimensions. One hundred and forty-three adults who reported they had been diagnosed with OCD and ninety-eight adults without OCD, completed an online survey assessing the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on symptoms of OCD in the year after the initial outbreak. The OCD group showed greater concern about the pandemic and greater concern about future pandemics compared to the comparison group. In addition, COVID-19 related distress differentially related to OCD symptoms dimensions, showing the strongest association with the contamination dimension. Lastly, results showed that many individuals reported that their OCD dimension shifted to obsessions about COVID-19 from their pre-existing OCD dimension.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; Compulsions; OCD Symptomology; Obsessions.