Behavioral and experiential avoidance in patients with hoarding disorder.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined the relationship between experiential and behavioral avoidance and hoarding symptom severity, controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms, in 66 adult individuals (M age = 61.41; SD = 9.03) with HD.


METHODS
Hierarchical regression was used to test the associations between hoarding severity, as defined by the Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R) total and its three subscales, and avoidance, as defined by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire II (AAQ-II) and two scales from the Brief COPE (Self-Distraction and Behavioral Disengagement) when controlling for anxiety and depression symptoms.


RESULTS
Experiential avoidance (AAQ-II) and behavioral avoidance (Brief COPE subscales Self-Distraction and Behavioral Disengagement) uniquely accounted for aspects of hoarding severity (SI-R) in regression models. Behavioral avoidance contributed significant additional variance to the SI-R Clutter subscale, whereas experiential avoidance was uniquely predictive of additional variance in the SI-R Difficulty Discarding and the SI-R Acquisition subscales.


CONCLUSIONS
Future research should examine the effect of experiential avoidance on hoarding behaviors experimentally.


CONCLUSIONS
Given that the AAQ-II and Self-Distraction and Behavioral Disengagement subscales were not correlated, these findings suggest that experiential and behavioral avoidance are two distinct processes contributing to the severity of specific HD. Results support the utility of avoidance in the cognitive-behavioral model for HD.
Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, United States; Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, United States. Electronic address: cayers@ucsd.edu.
Catherine R
CR
Ayers
Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, United States.
Natalie
N
Castriotta
Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, United States; San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, United States.
Mary E
ME
Dozier
Psychology Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, United States.
Emmanuel P
EP
Espejo
Department of Psychology, University of Houston, United States.
Ben
B
Porter
D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001519:Behavior; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D000067836:Hoarding Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Avoidance; Compulsive hoarding; Exposure