The bidirectional effects of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and difficulties in emotion regulation in Chinese adults during the COVID-19 pandemic—a dynamic structural equation model

BACKGROUND: With the accumulation of negative emotions brought by COVID-19-related dysfunctional beliefs, individuals adopted obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms (e.g., over-checking the wearing of masks) and formed difficulties in emotion regulation (DER). This study focused on the temporal dynamics of the bidirectional relation between OC symptoms and DER, which had a devastating effect on the individual's mental health. As an extension, we further explored whether OC and DER and their relationship affect sleep problems. METHODS: In February 2020, a 14-day (twice a day, of 28 measurement intervals) online questionnaire survey was conducted on 122 Chinese adults (aged 18–55 years; 63 females). Subsequently, this research applied a dynamic structural equation model with a cross-lagged relationship and a time series. Health anxiety, anxiety, and depression were controlled as covariates. RESULTS: Both OC symptoms and DER had a significant autoregressive and cross-lagged effect. Comparatively speaking, DER was a stronger predictor of OC symptoms than OC’s prediction of DER. Moreover, both higher levels of OC symptoms and DER were related to the severity of sleep problems. CONCLUSIONS: More guidance on intervening in OC symptoms and identifying emotion regulation should be added to reduce the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public mental health. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-022-00841-5.