The relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and psychological resilience and quality of life in patients diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to examine the relationship between intolerance to uncertainty and psychological resilience levels and quality of life in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Materials and Methods: This thesis is a cross-sectional study consisting of 72 obsessive compulsive disorder patients and 72 healthy controls without any mental illness. Sociodemographic Data Form, Uncertainty Scale, Adult Resilience Scale, Quality of Life Scale (SF-36), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HADS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDDS), and Yale-Brown Obsession Compulsion Scale (Y-BOCS) measurement tools were used. Individuals in the healthy control group were selected considering that the patient group had the same distribution in terms of age and gender variables. Results: When the obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and healthy control groups were compared, it was found that the OCD group had higher scores in the total score of the intolerance to uncertainty scale and in all sub-dimensions compared to the control group. Comparing the scores of the obsessive-compulsive disorder group and the control group on the resilience scales, it was concluded that the patient group had lower scores in the total score and in all subscales except the structural style subscale. When both groups were compared according to their quality of life scale scores, the OCD group had lower scores than the control group in all areas of quality of life. When the relationship between quality of life and intolerance to uncertainty levels in the obsessive compulsive disorder group was examined, a negative correlation was found between the all of quality of life scales and intolerance to uncertainty total scores and each of its sub-dimensions. When the relationship between quality of life and resilience levels in obsessive compulsive disorder patients was examined, a positive correlation was found between all quality of life scales and total psychological resilience score. Linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of sociodemographic variables, Y-BOCS score, intolerance to uncertainty, and resilience levels on mental health-related domains of quality of life. Resilience level, Y-BOCS score, and disease duration were found to be the strongest predictors of general health and social functionality, which belong to quality of life. It has been concluded that the most effective factors on mental health are the level of resilience and the Y-BOCS score. It was concluded that only the Y-BOCS score was effective on the emotional limitation area and the only effective factor on the energy area was the level of intolerance to uncertainty. Discussion: According to the data obtained from our study, it was concluded that the quality of life in OCD patients was significantly affected compared to healthy individuals, and that these effects were related to the severity of the disease, the duration of the disease, the level of intolerance to uncertainty and psychological resilience in various areas of the quality of life. In the light of the findings obtained, it can be thought that it would be useful to focus on the related factors during the therapeutic approaches to increase the quality of life of the OCD patients. Keywords: Obsessive compulsive disorder, intolerance of uncertainty, psychological resilience, quality of life.