Validation of the German Relationship‐Obsessive Compulsive Inventory: Testing the Factorial Structure, Measurement Invariance, and External Validity

ABSTRACT Objectives Relationship obsessive compulsive disorder (ROCD) describes intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors (e.g., reassurance seeking, monitoring feelings) regarding one's romantic relationship. The Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (ROCI) is the standard instrument to assess ROCD expressions. In our study, we tested the reliability and validity of the German ROCI. Methods We analyzed data from two independent nonclinical samples comprising 409 and 248 partnered individuals to expand the knowledge of the psychometric properties, factorial structure, and external validity of the German‐language ROCI. Results Factor analyses supported the 3‐factor model, but we did not find evidence for models assuming a total score (unidimensional, bifactor‐, and second‐order models). Further, we found scalar measurement invariance between men and women. The reliabilities are satisfying (0.77–0.88). Finally, we localized the ROCI into systems of romantic attachment, personality pathology, and relationship satisfaction and found that ROCD is characterized by insecure attachment, low satisfaction, and inclinations to negative affectivity. The ROCI showed incremental validity when predicting relationship satisfaction beyond attachment. Conclusions The German ROCI is psychometrically sound, and we recommend its application to assess expressions of ROCD in German‐speaking samples, and, thus, to study the prevalence and consequences of ROCD in German‐speaking countries and regarding cross‐cultural comparisons. We discuss limitations (e.g., lack of longitudinal data) and future directions (e.g., dyadic studies).

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Journal of Clinical Psychology

• Publication date

  2025-08-08

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1002/jclp.70024PMID 40778786PMCID 12501827
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Deontological Guilt Mediates the Effects of Personality on the Symptoms of Romantic Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (ROCD)

  2024cited by this paper
• The Network Structure of Relationship Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder Presentations: The Interplay between ROCD Symptoms with Maladaptive and Non-Maladaptive Personality Traits

  2024cited by this paper
• Promoting couples’ resilience to relationship obsessive compulsive disorder (ROCD) symptoms using a CBT-based mobile application: A randomized controlled trial

  2023cited by this paper
• It's time to replace the personality disorders with the interpersonal disorders.

  2022cited by this paper
• Testing the Associations between Dispositions Toward Ridicule and Being Laughed at with Romantic Jealousy in Couples: An APIM Analysis.

  2021cited by this paper
• Feared self and dimensions of obsessive compulsive symptoms: Sexual orientation-obsessions, relationship obsessions, and general OCD symptoms

  2021cited by this paper
• Obsession and relationship satisfaction through the lens of jealousy and rumination

  2021influential reference
• Gelotophobia in romantic life: Replicating associations with attachment styles and their mediating role for relationship status

  2020cited by this paper
• Reaching reliable change using short, daily, cognitive training exercises delivered on a mobile application: The case of Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (ROCD) symptoms and cognitions in a subclinical cohort.

  2020cited by this paper
• Personality inventory for DSM-5, brief form: Factor structure, reliability, and coefficient of congruence.

  2019cited by this paper
• Attachment in Adulthood: Recent Developments, Emerging Debates, and Future Directions.

  2019influential reference
• Evaluating Effect Size in Psychological Research: Sense and Nonsense

  2019influential reference
• Testing Factorial Invariance With Unbalanced Samples

  2018cited by this paper
• Short Versus Long Scales in Clinical Assessment: Exploring the Trade-Off Between Resources Saved and Psychometric Quality Lost Using Two Measures of Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms

  2018cited by this paper
• Utility of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5–Brief Form (PID-5-BF) in the Measurement of Maladaptive Personality and Psychopathology

  2018cited by this paper
• ITC Guidelines for Translating and Adapting Tests (Second Edition)

  2018cited by this paper
• Item-Score Reliability in Empirical-Data Sets and Its Relationship With Other Item Indices

  2017influential reference
• A New Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Type: The Psychometric Properties of The Turkish forms of Relationship Obsessions and Compulsions Inventory and Partner-Related Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms Inventory

  2017cited by this paper
• Incremental validity of the PID‐5 in relation to the five factor model and traditional polythetic personality criteria of the DSM‐5

  2017cited by this paper
• Letting it linger: Exploring the longitudinal effects of relationship-related obsessive-compulsive phenomena

  2016cited by this paper
• Relationship Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Interference, Symptoms, and Maladaptive Beliefs

  2016cited by this paper
• Assessment and Treatment of Relationship-Related OCD Symptoms (ROCD): A Modular Approach

  2015influential reference
• The structure and correlates of self-reported DSM-5 maladaptive personality traits: findings from two German-speaking samples.

  2014cited by this paper
• From alpha to omega: a practical solution to the pervasive problem of internal consistency estimation.

  2014cited by this paper
• Sample Size Requirements of the Robust Weighted Least Squares Estimator

  2014influential reference
• Relationship obsessive compulsive disorder (ROCD): A conceptual framework

  2014cited by this paper
• Tainted love: Exploring relationship-centered obsessive compulsive symptoms in two non-clinical cohorts

  2012influential reference
• Invited Paper: The Rediscovery of Bifactor Measurement Models.

  2012cited by this paper
• The Rediscovery of Bifactor Measurement Models

  2012cited by this paper
• Flaws and all: Exploring partner-focused obsessive-compulsive symptoms

  2012influential reference
• Initial construction of a maladaptive personality trait model and inventory for DSM-5

  2011influential reference
• Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses

  2009influential reference
• The Actor–Partner Interdependence Model: A model of bidirectional effects in developmental studies

  2005cited by this paper
• Adult romantic attachment and couple relationships

  1999cited by this paper
• Self-report measurement of adult attachment: An integrative overview.

  1998cited by this paper
• Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process.

  1987cited by this paper
• Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix.

  1959cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.