Self-Ambivalence Is Indirectly Associated With Obsessive-Compulsive and Eating Disorder Symptoms Through Different Feared Self-Themes

Objectives

Uncertainty regarding the self and fear of self have been independently identified as relevant to both obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and eating disorders (EDs). The present study aimed to examine self-ambivalence (an indicator of uncertainty regarding the self often characterized by conflicting self-beliefs) as a potential transdiagnostic factor associated with both OCD and EDs and to determine whether differences in the thematic content of the feared self may be linked to the experience of symptoms of one disorder over another despite common co-occurrence and shared processes.

Methods

Undergraduate and community women (N = 138) completed a battery of questionnaires, which included measures of self-ambivalence, fear of self (assessing three feared self-themes: feared corrupted self, feared culpable self, and feared unattractive self), and OCD and ED symptoms.

Results

A path analysis revealed that self-ambivalence was directly associated with OCD and ED symptoms. Self-ambivalence was also indirectly associated with OCD symptoms via the feared corrupted self and with ED symptoms via the feared unattractive self. There was no indirect path through the feared culpable self.

Conclusion

Self-ambivalence warrants additional investigation as a factor associated with multiple forms of psychopathology, representing a potentially valuable target for both intervention and prevention efforts. Differences in the content of the feared self may contribute to our understanding of divergent trajectories (why one individual may develop an ED while another develops OCD). Overall, research of this kind contributes to the development and improvement of transdiagnostic models of psychopathology integrating the self.