The Association Between Self-Control and Hoarding: A Case Report

Effects of a brief anxiety sensitivity reduction intervention on obsessive compulsive spectrum symptoms in a young adult sample

OBJECTIVE

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) has been identified as a transdiagnostic cognitive risk factor for a wide range of affective disorders, including conditions within the obsessive compulsive (OC) spectrum. A growing body of research has demonstrated that directly reducing AS leads to subsequent reductions of other psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, worry, and mood. To date, no study has examined the efficacy of a brief AS intervention on reducing OC and hoarding symptoms.

METHOD

Non-treatment seeking young adults (N = 104; 83.7% female; 81.7% Caucasian) were selected for having elevated levels of AS, and were then randomized into a single-session, computer-assisted AS intervention or a control condition. OC and hoarding symptoms were assessed at post-treatment, as well as at one week and one month follow-ups.

RESULTS

Results revealed that the intervention, but not the control condition, reduced OC symptoms across the post-intervention follow-up period. Mediation analysis demonstrated that changes in AS mediated changes in OC symptoms due to the intervention. In contrast, the intervention did not have a specific effect on reducing hoarding symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings have important ramifications for understanding the relationship between AS and OC spectrum symptoms, and raise interesting treatment and prevention implications.

Effects of clutter on information processing deficits in individuals with hoarding disorder

BACKGROUND

Current cognitive behavioral models of hoarding view hoarding as a multifaceted problem stemming from various information processing deficits. However, there is also reason to suspect that the consequences of hoarding may in turn impact or modulate deficits in information processing. The current study sought to expand upon the existing literature by manipulating clutter to examine whether the presence of a cluttered environment affects information processing.

METHODS

Participants included 34 individuals with hoarding disorder. Participants were randomized into a clutter or non-clutter condition and asked to complete various neuropsychological tasks of memory and attention.

RESULTS

Results revealed that hoarding severity was associated with difficulties in sustained attention. However, individuals in the clutter condition relative to the non-clutter condition did not experience greater deficits in information processing.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations include the cross-sectional design and small sample size.

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings add considerably to a growing body of literature on the relationships between information processing deficits and hoarding behaviors. Research of this type is integral to understanding the etiology and maintenance of hoarding.