An examination of the role of intolerance of distress and uncertainty in hoarding symptoms.
Hoarding disorder (HD) is a common and debilitating disorder characterized by an accumulation of and failure to discard one's possessions. The identification and examination of underlying factors that may contribute to hoarding symptoms are needed to elucidate the nature of the disorder and refine existing treatments. Two transdiagnostic vulnerability factors that have been associated with hoarding symptoms are distress intolerance (DI) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU).



This study examined the relationships between DI, IU, and symptoms of hoarding in two samples consisting of outpatients and individuals recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk. We hypothesized that DI and IU would show unique and interactive associations with hoarding symptoms.



Across both samples, DI and IU were significantly associated with hoarding symptoms. However, DI and IU did not interact in their prediction of symptoms, and only IU remained a significant predictor, when accounting for relevant covariates.



Results suggest that IU is a robust predictor of hoarding symptoms and may be a promising and novel treatment target for HD.
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Brittany M
BM
Mathes
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Mary E
ME
Oglesby
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Nicole A
NA
Short
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Amberly K
AK
Portero
Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, 3500 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Amanda M
AM
Raines
Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 1107 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, USA. Electronic address: schmidt@psy.fsu.edu.
Norman B
NB
Schmidt
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D060845:Hoarding / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D000067836:Hoarding Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult