The relationship of parentification, partner contingent self worth, obsessive beliefs and obsessive distrust with partner focused obsessive compulsive symptoms

One of the sub-fields of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) which has a heterogeneous appearance, is partner-oriented obsessive-compulsive symptoms observed in romantic relationships. It is accepted that factors related to parents and self, and maladaptive beliefs play a role in the development of OCD. In the first phase of the research, the Obsessive Distrust Inventory (ODIS), which was developed to investigate the severity of obsessive distrust symptoms, was adapted into Turkish by examining its psychometric properties. Accordingly, 316 adult participants who stated that they were in an ongoing romantic relationship completed the ODIS, the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-9 (OBQ-9), Relationship Obsessions and Compulsion Inventory (ROCI) and the Partner-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Inventory (PROCSI) via the internet. In the second stage, the mediator roles of obsessive beliefs and partner-contingent self-worth in the relationship between parentification and partner-oriented obsessive-compulsive symptoms were investigated. Furthermore, the moderator role of obsessive distrust in the relationship between the mediators (partner-related self-worth and obsessive beliefs) and partner-focused symptoms was examined. For this stage of the study, 524 adult participants who declared that they have had a romantic relationship were recruited. Participants completed the Parentification Inventory (PI), the Partner Contingent SelfWorth Scale (PCSW), OBQ-9, ODIS, and PROCSI online. The results of the first stage showed that the Turkish version of the ODIS had a factor structure consistent with the original scale. Moreover, it was concluded that the scale had construct and discriminant validity, high level of internal consistency and split-half test reliability. In the second phase, it was observed that the partner-related self-worth mediated the link between parent-oriented and sibling-oriented parentification and partner-focused symptoms. This relationship was more robust in individuals with high obsessive distrust levels. The significance, limitations and clinical outcomes of the study and recommendations were discussed in line with the literature. Keywords OCD, partner focused obsessive-compulsive symptoms, self-worth, obsessive distrust, obsessive beliefs, parentification