Does religiosity ameliorate the negative impact of obsessive-compulsive disorder on self-esteem?

ABSTRACTA core issue in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fear of losing control. Religion may help individuals with OCD to maintain their self-esteem despite the challenge of coping with the unpredictability of life. Data of N = 200 OCD outpatients were assessed via questionnaires at five government hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan. As predicted, high OCD significantly correlated with low self-esteem (r = −.20), and high religiosity was associated with high self-esteem (r = .18). Against the hypothesis, mediation analyses did not reveal an indirect effect of OCD on self-esteem via religiosity (b = −.02, p > .01), and OCD was associated with lowered religiosity (r = −.20). Sample char…