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Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders

The Relationship Between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Eating Disorders, and Magical Thinking

(PS2-92) The Relationship Between Obsessive-compulsive Disorder, Eating Disorders, and Magical Thinking

Friday, November 15, 2024

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST

Location: Franklin Hall, Level 4, Marriott Downtown

Author(s)

ED

Elizabeth M. Daugherty, N/A, None

Student
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Saint Leonard, Maryland, United States

Co-Author(s)

Anandi C. Ehman, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Psychology
St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, Maryland, United States

Abstract Text: Past research has found that as many as 20-60% of patients with eating disorders (EDs) have a lifetime history of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) (Bang et al., 2020), and 38.5% of patients with restrictive anorexia and 28.6% of patients with binge/purge anorexia have a comorbid diagnosis of OCD (Aragona & Vella, 1998). While OCD and EDs are commonly comorbid, little is known about why this may be the case. One possible explanation involves magical thinking, otherwise known as holding beliefs that defy culturally accepted laws of causality, as a way to achieve their ideal level of control over certain situations in their life (Einstein & Menzies, 2004). Those with obsessive-compulsive disorder have been found to engage in magical thinking and since eating disorders are often a product of desiring control over one’s life, magical thinking may also be a process that those with eating disorders engage in regularly (Sassaroli et al., 2008). As such, the authors sought to examine the links between symptoms of OCD, EDs, and magical thinking. We hypothesized: 1) that magical thinking tendencies would be positively associated with both symptoms of OCD and EDs, 2) the presence of magical thinking would predict the presence of symptoms of OCD and EDs, 3) symptoms of OCD would be positively associated with symptoms of EDs, and 4) gender would serve as a moderator on this relationship. In order to assess these hypotheses, data is currently being collected from two samples, a small undergraduate institution in the eastern US and from Prolific, an online research participation platform. All participants are adults located in the United States who must be at least 18 years old and fluent in English. Participants will complete an online survey via Qualtrics which includes the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) to rate the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, the Eating Disorder Diagnostic Scale (EDDS) to assess symptoms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, the Illusory Beliefs Inventory (IBI) to assess magical thinking, and demographics questions. Planned data analysis will involve a Pearson correlation to assess the relationship between symptoms of OCD, EDs, and magical thinking, a Pearson correlation to assess if symptoms of OCD are associated with symptoms of EDs, a multivariable regression to test if magical thinking predicts the presence of symptoms of OCD and EDs, and a moderation analysis to test if gender serves as a moderator on the relationship between magical thinking, OCD, and EDs. Findings and implications, particularly for individuals who identify as a gender minority, will be discussed.