An experimental investigation of contamination-related reassurance seeking: Familiar versus unfamiliar others

• Reassurance seeking (RS) behaviour in OCD is heightened by ambiguous feedback.
• Research suggests that the interpersonal context can impact symptom expression.
• We examined how familiarity with an interactional partner impacts RS.
• Individuals sought more reassurance from familiar versus unfamiliar others.
• Individuals seeking and providing reassurance perceived the behaviour differently.

Background and objectivesRepeated reassurance seeking (RS) is a hallmark feature of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Research in related areas of psychopathology suggests that familiarity with a partner can influence symptom expression. We hypothesized that participants in the company of a familiar (vs. unfamiliar) partner would seek more reassurance following an ambiguous task involving contamination-related threat.MethodsParticipants completed an ambiguous dishwashing task in the company of a familiar or unfamiliar other, and were subsequently given an opportunity to seek reassurance. Participants and their assigned partners completed a measure of RS wherein they reported the number of times the participant sought reassurance; actual reassurance seeking was coded based on a recording of the interaction.ResultsResults demonstrated that participants sought more reassurance from familiar (vs. unfamiliar) others F(3, 86) = 9.20, p < .001, partial η2 = .24); this effect was robust when partner-reported (F(1, 88) = 27.04, p < .001, partial η2 = .24), a trend when participant-reported (F(1, 88) = 2.72, p = .10, partial η2 = .03), but not significant when using objectively-coded data (F(1, 88) = 0.14, p = .71, partial η2 = .00).LimitationsAs this experiment was a preliminary attempt to examine RS in an interpersonal context, the study may not have captured compulsive or excessive RS.ConclusionsOverall, results suggest that RS may be perceived as more excessive by familiar (versus unfamiliar) others, which may contribute to the distress experienced by carers of individuals with OCD.