Melanie Aubut and Claude Belanger
Different studies conducted among obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients explain the relevance of investigating social adjustment impairments due to its pervasiveness in a patient’s occupational, recreational and/or interpersonal functioning. Upon careful examination of the social adjustment contributing factors, both personal control and social problem-solving were identified as variables that influence the adjustment capacities in different clinical groups. Nevertheless, few studies have examined these variables among OCD patients. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the aforementioned factors in an OCD sample group (n=128) and a control group (n=235). The results showed that OCD patients exhibited more of an external locus of control than did the control group. OCD patients also demonstrated a significant impairment in overall social problem-solving skills compared to their control counterparts. Moreover, a negative problem orientation itself has been found to mediate the relationship between the locus of control and social adjustment. Overall, these results convey the importance of social problem-solving in understanding altered social functioning among OCD patients.