Do OCPD Symptoms and Intolerance of Uncertainty Predict Emotions?

Julean Bender*, Kelsey Evey, Cierra Edwards, and Shari Steinman

Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Behavioral & Social Sciences (Poster Presentation #87)

Student’s Major: Psychology

Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the intense discomfort or inability to handle uncertain situations, is a transdiagnostic factor across multiple forms of psychopathology. Heightened levels of IU have been found in individuals with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and have been found to significantly predict OCPD traits, such as emotional difficulties. However, no study to date has looked at the relationship between IU and experienced emotions in OCPD. The proposed study will assess at what level specific emotions occur in an unselected OCPD sample and if intolerance of uncertainty predicts emotions beyond what OCPD predicts. In order to examine this relationship, at least 72 participants from Amazon’s MTurk will read and imagine themselves in hypothetical scenarios modeled after OCPD criterion. Questionnaires following each scenario will assess to what degree the participants experienced specific emotions when imagining themselves in the situation. A series of three hierarchical regressions will be conducted to determine the extent to which intolerance of uncertainty (IUS-12) predicts experienced emotions (hostility, fear, general positive affect) above and beyond what OCPD (POPS) predicts. It is hypothesized that OCPD will predict measured emotions. Additionally, it is hypothesized that IU will predict these emotions beyond what OCPD predicts.

Funding: EXCEL Program

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: a WVU 497-level course