Exploring emotion regulation in OCD: A focus on intrapersonal and interpersonal strategies across OCD, relationship and partner focused OCD

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms, with a specific emphasis on Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (ROCD), which refers to a subtype of OCD characterized by intrusive doubts and compulsions related to romantic relationships. ROCD includes two primary symptom dimensions: relationship-centered (RC-OC), involving obsessive doubts about the relationship itself, and partner-focused (PF-OC), involving preoccupations with the partner's characteristics or perceived flaws. Drawing on Gross's process model of emotion regulation and Hofmann's model of interpersonal emotion regulation (IER), the study examined how both intrapersonal strategies (cognitive reappraisal, expressive suppression) and interpersonal strategies (soothing, social modeling, perspective taking, and enhancing positive affect) relate to symptoms of ROCD and OCD. A total of 752 participants completed self-report measures assessing obsessive-compulsive symptoms and emotion regulation strategies. The instruments included the Demographic Information Form, the Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (ROCI), the Partner-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Inventory (PROCSI), the Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory–Revised (OCI-R), the Interpersonal Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (IERQ), and the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ). Group comparisons were conducted based on symptom severity, and multiple regression analyses were used to evaluate the predictive role of emotion regulation strategies across OCD and ROCD symptoms. Findings indicated that individuals with high OCD and ROCD symptoms reported significantly greater use of expressive suppression and interpersonal emotion regulation strategies compared to those with lower symptom levels. Suppression emerged as the strongest predictor of symptom severity across all models, while cognitive reappraisal showed limited value. Interpersonal strategies, particularly soothing and social modeling, were significant predictors of ROCD symptoms but played a weaker role in OCD. These results suggest that both maladaptive intrapersonal and context-dependent interpersonal regulation patterns contribute to the experience of ROCD and OCD symptoms. The findings offer preliminary evidence for the importance of targeting emotion regulation strategies, especially suppression and interpersonal regulation tendencies in future clinical interventions for ROCD. As an exploratory effort, the study contributes to the growing literature on ROCD and fills a gap in understanding the role of interpersonal and intrapersonal emotion regulation in obsessive-compulsive symptoms more broadly. These findings suggest that future empirical work should consider emotional regulation strategies when addressing OCD-related difficulties.