Does cognitive flexibility moderate the relationship between disgust sensitivity and contamination fear?

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S202-S202
Author(s):  
E. Powell
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Flexibility ◽  
Clinical Population ◽  
Sample Population ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Contamination Fear ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
The Relationship

High disgust sensitivity and poor cognitive flexibility have been independently identified as contributing factors in the aetiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder. This study looks at the relationship between contamination fear and disgust sensitivity in a non-clinical population. In particular, at whether two moderating factors, cognitive flexibility and emotional reappraisal, have a buffering influence. One hundred participants from an undergraduate population completed a battery of questionnaires which rated their disgust and level of contamination fear. They also completed a set-shifting task to assess cognitive flexibility and an emotion regulation questionnaire. The mean age of the sample was 21.4 years with 62% of the sample population being female. SPSS 16 was used to correlate the main variables using Pearson's correlation and moderated regression, using MODPROBE, was used for analysis. Results confirmed previous findings that high disgust sensitivity is significantly associated with contamination fear (P < 0.01). In addition to this, both cognitive flexibility and emotional reappraisal reduced the influence that disgust has on an individual's contamination fear. Cognitive flexibility and emotion reappraisal were not found to be significantly correlated to each other (P = 0.511), which suggest that these variables moderate the relationship between disgust and contamination fear independently of each other. Individuals with poor cognitive flexibility and/or poor emotional reappraisal were found to have high levels of contamination fear, which suggests that these two variables may attenuate the relationship between disgust and contamination fear. Future implications of these findings have been discussed although further research is needed to confirm these conclusions in a clinical population.Disclosure of interestThe author has not supplied his/her declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Assessment of virtual reality as an anxiety and disgust provoking tool: The use of VR exposure in individuals with high contamination fear

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mujgan Inozu ◽  
Ufuk Çelikcan ◽  
Ezgi Trak ◽  
Elif Üzümcü ◽  
Hüseyin Nergiz
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Emotional Responses ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Contamination Fear ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
Mediator Role ◽  
The Relationship

Preliminary studies have provided promising results on the feasibility of virtual reality (VR) interventions for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The present study investigated whether VR scenarios that were developed for contamination concerns evoke anxiety, disgust, and the urge to wash in individuals with high (n = 33) and low (n = 33) contamination fear. In addition, the feasibility of VR exposure in inducing disgust was examined through testing the mediator role of disgust in the relationship between contamination anxiety and the urge to wash. Participants were immersed in virtual scenarios with varying degrees of dirtiness and rated their level of anxiety, disgust, and the urge to wash after performing the virtual tasks. Data were collected between September and December 2019. The participants with high contamination fear reported higher contamination-related ratings than those with low contamination fear. The significant main effect of dirtiness indicated that anxiety and disgust levels increased with increasing overall dirtiness of the virtual scenarios in both high and low contamination fear groups. Moreover, disgust elicited by VR mediated the relationship between contamination fear and the urge to wash. The findings demonstrated the feasibility of VR in eliciting emotional responses that are necessary for conducting exposure in individuals with high contamination fear. In conclusion, VR can be used as an alternative exposure tool in the treatment of contamination-based OCD.

scholarly journals The Mediating Roles of Disgust Sensitivity and Danger Expectancy in Relation to Hand Washing Behaviour

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan J. Thorpe ◽  
Julie Barnett ◽  
Katy Friend ◽  
Kate Nottingham
Keyword(s):  
Health Anxiety ◽  
Experimental Methodology ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Cognitive Measures ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Questionnaire Measure ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Further Development

Background: Recent interest in the role of vulnerability factors in obsessional washing has suggested that disgust sensitivity, danger expectancy and health anxiety may be of interest. Aims: This study explores the differential impact of these factors on both behavioural and cognitive measures of washing behaviour and is based on a replication of the Jones and Menzies (1997) experiment, during which participants immersed their hands in a noxious compound while rating themselves on a range of measures: the time they subsequently took to wash their hands was measured and danger expectancies were found to be the best predictor of this. Method: The present study added measures of disgust sensitivity and health anxiety to this experimental methodology while removing factors they found to be of little import to compulsive washing. Thirty non-clinical participants took part. Results: Results confirmed that disgust sensitivity was related to the behavioural measure of washing time, but that this relationship was almost entirely mediated by the danger expectancy concerning judgements of severity of consequent disease. However, a different pattern emerged when the outcome measure was questionnaire based: danger expectancy was not at all related to this. Disgust sensitivity mediated the relationship between health anxiety and scores on a questionnaire measure of washing compulsions. Interestingly, these scores were not related to the behavioural measure of washing time. Conclusions: The implications of these relationships to the further development of subtypes of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are discussed.

Child obsessive-compulsive disorder presenting with catatonic-like features: Case presentation

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S446-S446
Author(s):  
V. Kodra ◽  
V. Alikaj ◽  
B. Allkoja ◽  
B. Zenelaj ◽  
D. Sanxhaku
Keyword(s):  
Case Reports ◽  
Brain Mri ◽  
Food Contamination ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Case Presentation ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
The Relationship

IntroductionAlthough catatonia was conceptualized as a subtype of schizophrenia, it is now recognized to occur most commonly in the course of other psychiatric disorders, in drug-induced disorders [1] or neurologic conditions [2]. Catatonia is rarely seen together with OCD and there are a limited number of case reports in the literature [3,4].ObjectiveWe describe the case of a 12 year boy who presented in our clinic with mutism, negativism, immobility, social withdrawn, rigid posture, refusal to eat.MethodWe performed a thorough psychiatric diagnostic assessment of the child as well as laboratory tests and MRI of the brain.ResultsThe child's first symptoms appeared 2 years ago: initially the child became socially withdrawn, spent most of time at his room, and became preoccupied with rituals of hand washing, walking back and forth, preoccupations with food contamination, became aggressive if someone would interrupt what he was doing, stopped going at school, and stopped calling his parents “mother” or “father”. Brain MRI showed lateral ventricular asymmetry and suboccipital cyst.ConclusionsThe child was put on therapy with lorazepam and sertraline. His obsessive-compulsive symptoms improved, and the apparent catatonic like features resolved and did not return over follow-up.DiscussionCatatonia is not uncommon among children and adolescents, and the relationship between OCD and catatonia is still misunderstood, but it may be an indicator of the severity of the OCD.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Thought-action fusion and inflated responsibility in psychopathology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kirsty Jane Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Thought Action Fusion

<p>The aim of the current research was to investigate the presence and roles of inflated responsibility and thought-action fusion in psychopathology. The three underlying research themes were to examine the relationship between thought-action fusion and inflated responsibility, the roles that they play in psychopathology, and the possible etiology of these types of beliefs. It is proposed that these responsibility beliefs are not specific to obsessive compulsive disorder, as commonly assumed, and that they play important roles in the maintenance of a range of psychological symptoms. This thesis presents the results of four studies. The first study was designed to investigate the presence of Thought-Action Fusion (TAF) and Inflated Responsibility (IR) alongside symptoms of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, with thought suppression playing an intermediary role. Study 2 examined the interaction between responsibility beliefs and locus of control on obsessive-compulsive symptoms with non-clinical and clinical participants. The third study focussed on the etiology of responsibility beliefs, taking Salkovskis, Shafran, Rachman, and Freeston’s (1999) theory of Pathways to Inflated Responsibility and empirically testing this with both clinical and non-clinical samples. Study 4 focussed on the relationship between responsibility beliefs and religiosity, using participants of Protestant Christian beliefs and Atheists. These studies collectively show that Thought-Action Fusion and Inflated Responsibility are both important and contributing factors in psychopathology, especially playing a part in the maintenance of symptoms and feelings of distress. Results indicated that while TAF tends to be specific to obsessive compulsive symptoms, IR is more of a general cognitive bias. Results also indicate that critical experiences in one’s life can lead to biases in responsibility beliefs. Additionally, results show that these biases are not always indicative of psychopathology when they are acceptable within a particular set of morals, for example religion. These findings are of both theoretical and clinical significance because they add to the growing understanding of TAF and IR in psychopathology. The current research was conducted with observational, self-report measures; further research using longitudinal studies is needed for more clarity on causality.</p>

scholarly journals Thought-action fusion and inflated responsibility in psychopathology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Kirsty Jane Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Thought Action Fusion

<p>The aim of the current research was to investigate the presence and roles of inflated responsibility and thought-action fusion in psychopathology. The three underlying research themes were to examine the relationship between thought-action fusion and inflated responsibility, the roles that they play in psychopathology, and the possible etiology of these types of beliefs. It is proposed that these responsibility beliefs are not specific to obsessive compulsive disorder, as commonly assumed, and that they play important roles in the maintenance of a range of psychological symptoms. This thesis presents the results of four studies. The first study was designed to investigate the presence of Thought-Action Fusion (TAF) and Inflated Responsibility (IR) alongside symptoms of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, with thought suppression playing an intermediary role. Study 2 examined the interaction between responsibility beliefs and locus of control on obsessive-compulsive symptoms with non-clinical and clinical participants. The third study focussed on the etiology of responsibility beliefs, taking Salkovskis, Shafran, Rachman, and Freeston’s (1999) theory of Pathways to Inflated Responsibility and empirically testing this with both clinical and non-clinical samples. Study 4 focussed on the relationship between responsibility beliefs and religiosity, using participants of Protestant Christian beliefs and Atheists. These studies collectively show that Thought-Action Fusion and Inflated Responsibility are both important and contributing factors in psychopathology, especially playing a part in the maintenance of symptoms and feelings of distress. Results indicated that while TAF tends to be specific to obsessive compulsive symptoms, IR is more of a general cognitive bias. Results also indicate that critical experiences in one’s life can lead to biases in responsibility beliefs. Additionally, results show that these biases are not always indicative of psychopathology when they are acceptable within a particular set of morals, for example religion. These findings are of both theoretical and clinical significance because they add to the growing understanding of TAF and IR in psychopathology. The current research was conducted with observational, self-report measures; further research using longitudinal studies is needed for more clarity on causality.</p>

The Price of Love: An Investigation into the Relationship between Romantic Love and the Expression of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

CNS Spectrums ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
James McLauchlan ◽  
Emma M. Thompson ◽  
Ygor A. Ferrão ◽  
Euripedes C. Miguel ◽  
Lucy Albertella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Romantic Love ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
The Relationship
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