Predicting psychological distress tolerance in individuals with obsessive-compulsive symptoms based on disgust sensitivity and anxiety sensitivity.

Abstract

Background and Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder is recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the main causes of disability. Distress tolerance, anxiety sensitivity, and disgust sensitivity are important variables associated with this disorder. The present study aimed to predict distress tolerance in people with obsessive-compulsive symptoms based on anxiety sensitivity and disgust sensitivity.
Method: The present study was a descriptive-correlational study of predictive type. The statistical population consisted of people with obsessive-compulsive symptoms who were selected through an accessible method. The Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Rachman and Hodgson), Anxiety Sensitivity Questionnaire (Reese and McNally), Disgust Sensitivity Scale (Haidt et al.), and Distress Tolerance Scale (Simmons and Gahr) were used to collect data. Data analysis was performed with SPSS software version 22 using Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression.
Findings: The results showed that there is a significant negative relationship between psychological distress tolerance and anxiety sensitivity (p<0.01) and disgust sensitivity (p<0.01). Also, regression analysis showed that the two variables anxiety sensitivity and disgust sensitivity explain a total of 42% of the variance in psychological distress tolerance. The contribution of anxiety sensitivity in predicting distress tolerance was greater than disgust sensitivity. Conclusion: Based on the findings, anxiety sensitivity and disgust sensitivity have the ability to significantly predict psychological distress tolerance in people with obsessive-compulsive symptoms. This finding has important implications for the design of interventions based on reducing anxiety sensitivity and disgust in order to increase distress tolerance in these people.