HOARDING, COMPULSIVE BUYING AND REASONS FOR SAVING

Two studies examined hypotheses about compulsive hoarding, compulsive buying and beliefs about saving and discarding derived from the cognit ive-behavioral model of compulsive hoarding [Frost, R. O. and Hartl, T . (1996). A cognitive behavioral model of compulsive hoarding. Behavio ur Research and Therapy, 34, 341-350.]. Study 1 examined the hypothese s in a college student population, while study 2 compared members of a support group for hoarding and clutter-related problems with a noncli nical control. Across studies the hypotheses were supported. Compulsiv e hoarding was associated with compulsive buying and the frequency of acquisition of possessions discarded by others, suggesting that compul sive acquisition may be a broader construct than compulsive buying amo ng people with hoarding problems. Regarding its association with OCD s ymptoms, hoarding was most closely associated with the impaired mental control features of OCD. Finally, in a hoarding-related task, hoardin g was associated with a greater frequency of reasons to save, but was not associated with fewer reasons to discard a target possession. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.