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Shame in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders

  • Anxiety Disorders (A Pelissolo, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Studies on the relations between shame and anxiety and obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs) are reviewed, with a focus on recent work.

Recent Findings

Medium-sized positive correlations have been consistently found across anxiety disorders and OCRDs, suggesting that this relation is transdiagnostic. Most studies focused on shame-proneness and found similar relations across multiple types (e.g. internal, external) and domains (e.g. bodily, characterological, behavioural) of shame, with little variation between clinical and non-clinical populations and different age categories. However, most studies are cross-sectional and correlational and by separately studying clinical and non-clinical populations, they do not give a unitary dimensional view of the relation between shame and symptoms. Emerging findings suggest that shame may be a marker of the response to treatment in these disorders, and its relation with symptoms may be bidirectional.

Summary

The consistent but medium-sized associations between shame and symptoms of anxiety and OCRDs warrant the future search for mediators and moderators.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research, CNCS–UEFISCDI, grant number PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0864.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar & Diana-Mirela Nechita

  2. The Institute for Research, Development and Innovation in Applied Natural Sciences, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar

  3. International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Diana-Mirela Nechita

  4. Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Andrei C. Miu

  5. Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Andrei C. Miu

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  1. Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar
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Correspondence to Aurora Szentágotai-Tătar.

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Szentágotai-Tătar, A., Nechita, DM. & Miu, A.C. Shame in Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders. Curr Psychiatry Rep 22, 16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-020-1142-9

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