Work

Hoarding and aggression: Using the voodoo doll task to tease apart associations with direct and displaced aggression

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: Hoarding disorder is a debilitating and severe psychiatric condition. Research has implicated interpersonal factors as contributing to the development and maintenance of the disorder. Emerging evidence has suggested that aggression and anger-related concepts may contribute to these interpersonal difficulties, but aggression has only been measured thus far through self-report, which is limited by responding biases. METHODS: In the present study, we examined the associations between self-reported hoarding symptoms and two forms of aggression using both questionnaire measures and a novel behavioural task of aggression. Participants included 466 participants from the community recruited through an online crowdsourcing platform, who completed an anger-induction task followed by a voodoo doll task as a measure of direct and displaced aggression. RESULTS: Results revealed that hoarding symptoms were associated with greater aggression in both self-report and in the behavioural task. Self-report results also indicated that the relationship with displaced aggression may be modestly stronger than that of direct aggression, accounting for covariation. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that aggression may be relevant in understanding interpersonal difficulties in hoarding and may have clinical and theoretical relevance for the disorder.

Source: British Journal of Clinical Psychology

DOI: 10.1111/bjc.12552

Authors: Wenting Chen, Phaedra Fuller, Jessica R. Grisham, Thomas F. Denson, Kiara R. Timpano

Institutions: UNSW Sydney, University of Miami

Language: English

Topic: Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,760