Associations between aberrant salience and hoarding severity in a community sample.

Introduction

Aberrant salience has been extensively studied in relation to various psychopathologies, such as psychosis. However, its role in hoarding is yet to be explored, despite evidence of associations between the development of hoarding and dysregulation in dopaminergic systems. Thus, the aim of this pre-registered study was to examine associations between self-reported experiences of aberrant salience and hoarding severity in a community sample.

Methods

A correlational, cross-sectional design was employed. We presented an online survey to 214 adults (Mean age = 25.47, SD = 6.55), where they completed the negative subscale of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, the Aberrant Salience Inventory (ASI), and the Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R).

Results

ASI scores were significantly positively correlated with SI-R scores (r = 0.35, p < .001). In a regression analysis, ASI scores were also found to be a significant predictor of SI-R scores, independent of demographic factors and mood.

Conclusions

This study serves as the first evidence of an association between aberrant salience and hoarding. Replication of these findings in a clinical sample could have significant implications for therapeutic interventions for hoarding. Open materials and open data are available at https://doi.org/10.17605/osf.io/zr9wy.