title: Partner-focused obsessions and self-esteem: An experimental investigation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Relationship-related obsessive-compulsive phenomena (ROCD) are encountered frequently in the clinic, and involve severe consequences to personal and relational well-being. One common presentation of ROCD involves disabling preoccupation and doubts focusing on intimate partner's flaws (partner-focused obsessions). It was previously suggested that individuals perceiving their partner's failures or flaws as reflecting on their own self-worth may be more sensitive to intrusive thoughts pertaining to their partner's qualities and characteristics. In the current studies, we assessed the link between partner-focused OC symptoms and self-esteem contingent on partner-value.
  
  
  METHODS
  In two studies we assessed the impact of experimentally induced partner-focused intrusions on self-esteem. In Study 1, we assessed individuals' self-esteem after one of three primes: (a) intrusion about one's partner comparing unfavorably with others of the same sex (i.e., alternative partners), (b) intrusion about one's partner comparing unfavorably to oneself, (c) and a neutral prime. In study 2, we tried to replicate Study 1 using a pre-post design and also examine whether favorable intrusions of one's partner would have an opposite effect on self-esteem than unfavorable intrusions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the other groups, participants who were primed with intrusions of their partner being unfavorably compared to others reported lower self-esteem, but only if they had high levels of partner-focused symptoms. Favorable intrusions of partner to others did not have a positive effect on self-esteem among individuals with high levels of partner-focused symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Partner-value self-sensitivity may be one of the perpetuating mechanisms involved in partner-focused OC phenomena.
authors.affiliation: Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel. Electronic address: gdoron@idc.ac.il.
authors.forename: Guy
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Doron
authors.affiliation: Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Israel.
authors.forename: Ohad
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Szepsenwol
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012649:Self Concept; D012919:Social Behavior; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: OCD; Obsessive-compulsive symptoms; Partner-focused symptoms; ROCD; Relationships; Self