Do you believe in magical thinking? Examining magical thinking as a mediator between obsessive-compulsive belief domains and symptoms

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 454-462
Author(s):  
Robert E. Fite ◽  
Sarah L. Adut ◽  
Joshua C. Magee
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Magical Thinking ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
And Control ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

AbstractBackground:Despite substantial research attention on obsessive beliefs, more research is needed to understand how these beliefs serve as aetiological or maintaining factors for obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Magical thinking may allow individuals to gain a sense of control when experiencing intrusive thoughts and corresponding obsessive beliefs, potentially accounting for why OC belief domains are often related to OC symptoms.Aims:This study examines magical thinking as a mediating variable in the relationship between OC belief domains and symptoms.Method:Undergraduate students (n = 284) reported their obsessive beliefs, magical thinking, and OC symptoms.Results:As expected, there were significant indirect effects for the belief domain of inflated responsibility and over-estimation of threat on OC symptoms via magical thinking. There was also an indirect effect for the belief domain of importance and control of thoughts on OC symptoms via magical thinking. Unexpectedly, there was no indirect effect involving the belief domain of perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty.Conclusions:Magical thinking may be one mechanism through which certain OC beliefs lead to OC symptoms. It may be that magical thinking serves as a coping mechanism in response to elevated beliefs. Future studies should extend these findings across time and clinical samples.

scholarly journals Cognitive and Clinical Characteristics of Sexual and Religious Obsessions

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 167-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jedidiah Siev ◽  
Gail Steketee ◽  
Jeanne M. Fama ◽  
Sabine Wilhelm
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Cognitive Styles ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Schizotypal Personality ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
Maladaptive Beliefs ◽  
And Control ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

Sexual and religious obsessions are often grouped together as unacceptable thoughts, symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) hypothesized to be maintained by maladaptive beliefs about the importance and control of thoughts. Although there is empirical justification for this typology, there are several reasons to suspect that sexual and religious obsessions may differ with respect to associated obsessional beliefs and personality traits. In this study, we examined the associations between sexual and religious obsessions (separately) and (a) putatively obsessional cognitive styles, especially beliefs about the importance and control of thoughts, and responsibility; (b) obsessive-compulsive personality traits; and (c) schizotypal personality traits. Whereas sexual obsessions were predicted only by increased beliefs about the importance and control of thoughts, and contamination obsessions were predicted only by inflated responsibility appraisals and threat estimation, religious obsessions were independently predicted by both of these constructs. In addition, only religious obsessions were related to self-reported obsessive-compulsive personality traits. Researchers and clinicians should be cognizant of potentially important distinctions between sexual and religious obsessions, and the possibility that scrupulous OCD shares processes with both autogenous and reactive presentations.

Factor Structure and Further Validation of the 20-Item Short Form of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire

Assessment ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Fergus ◽  
Shawn J. Latendresse ◽  
Kevin D. Wu
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Bifactor Model ◽  
General Factor ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Best Fitting ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Symptom ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

A 44-item version of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-44) put forward by the Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group remains the most widely used version of the OBQ, despite research casting doubt on its factorial validity and the existence of a short form (i.e., OBQ-20). In a large sample of undergraduate students ( n = 1,210), a bifactor model of the OBQ-20, consisting of a general factor and four specific factors (threat, responsibility, importance/control of thoughts, perfectionism/certainty), was supported as the best-fitting model. None of the examined OBQ-44 models provided adequate fit. The bifactor model of the OBQ-20 was retained in two independent samples ( n = 1,342 community adults, n = 319 undergraduate students). The incremental validity of the specific factors of the OBQ-20 beyond the general factor was evidenced across multiple criterion indices, including obsessive–compulsive symptom measures and reactions to a thought-induction task. Results further support use of the OBQ-20.

Obsessive Beliefs in Youth With OCD and Their Mothers

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 187-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley S. Pietrefesa ◽  
Casey A. Schofield ◽  
Stephen P. Whiteside ◽  
Ingrid Sochting ◽  
Meredith E. Coles
Keyword(s):  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Pediatric Ocd ◽  
Compulsive Behaviors ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
Genetic And Environmental Factors ◽  
And Control ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

The current study builds from mounting support for a role of OCD-related beliefs in pediatric OCD and evidence suggesting a role of both genetic and environmental factors in conferring risk for obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Specifically, data are presented examining the correspondence in OCD-related beliefs in 28 youth with OCD and their mothers. Findings showed a significant, moderate, positive correlation between youth and their mothers’ beliefs regarding inflated perceptions of personal responsibility and the likelihood of threat. However, perfectionism and certainty beliefs were not significantly correlated across generations, and beliefs regarding the importance and control of thoughts were negatively correlated in youth with OCD and their mothers. These initial findings are consistent with previous studies from unselected adolescents and adults with OCD and their relatives in suggesting that familial loading may be particularly strong for responsibility and threat beliefs.

Cognitive Treatment for OCD

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen L. Whittal ◽  
Melisa Robichaud
Keyword(s):  
Term Treatment ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Cognitive Treatment ◽  
Long Term Treatment ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

The cornerstone of cognitive treatment (CT) for OCD is based upon the knowledge that unwanted intrusions are essentially a universal experience. As such, it is not the presence of the intrusion that is problematic but rather the associated meaning or interpretation. Treatment is flexible, depending upon the nature of the appraisals and beliefs, but can include strategies focused on inflated responsibility and overestimation of threat, importance and control of thoughts, and the need for perfectionism and certainty. The role of concealment and the relationship to personal values are important maintaining and etiological factors. The short-term and long-term treatment outcome is reviewed, along with predictors of treatment response and mechanisms of action, and the chapter concludes with future directions regarding CT for OCD.

scholarly journals The event-specific benefits of writing about a difficult life experience

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69
Author(s):  
Charles Matthew Stapleton ◽  
Hui Zhang ◽  
Jeffrey Scott Berman
Keyword(s):  
Life Events ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Life Experience ◽  
Negative Emotions ◽  
Cognitive Avoidance ◽  
Control Groups ◽  
Life Event ◽  
General Distress ◽  
And Control

Previous research demonstrates that writing about life’s difficult moments benefits the writer cognitively and emotionally. However, it is unclear whether the benefits of writing are specific to the event written about or whether the benefits are global. This study was designed to address this issue. Participants were 120 undergraduate students who had experienced at least two difficult life events. Participants were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups. Experimental participants wrote about one of these difficult events and control participants wrote about an interesting life event of their choosing. Experimental participants reported their positive and negative emotions as well as their cognitive avoidance and intrusion concerning the event written about and another event not written about. Control participants reported their emotions and cognitions concerning two difficult life events. All participants also reported their general distress. These assessments were done immediately after writing and one week later. The results indicated that experimental participants were emotionally stronger, less upset, and less cognitively avoidant about the particular difficult life event they wrote about compared to an event they did not write about. Similar comparisons between ratings of a written-about and a not-written-about event were not significant for passion, fear, and cognitive intrusion. There was evidence for a possible indirect effect of writing on general distress through changes in event-specific cognitions and emotions. Discussion of these results focuses on how writing may specifically help change a writer’s feelings and thoughts about a particular situation.

A Preliminary Investigation of Pathways to Inflated Responsibility Beliefs in Children with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey M. Collins ◽  
Meredith E. Coles
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Symptom Severity ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Negative Life Event ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Childhood Experiences ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
Initial Support

Background: Cognitive theorists posit that inflated responsibility beliefs contribute to the development of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Salkovskis et al. (1999) proposed that experiencing heightened responsibility, overprotective parents and rigid rules, and thinking one influenced or caused a negative life event act as ‘pathways’ to the development of inflated responsibility beliefs, thereby increasing risk for OCD. Studies in adults with OCD and non-clinical adolescents support the link between these experiences and responsibility beliefs (Coles et al., 2015; Halvaiepour and Nosratabadi, 2015), but the theory has never been tested in youth with current OCD. Aims: We provided an initial test of the theory by Salkovskis et al. (1999) in youth with OCD. We predicted that childhood experiences proposed by Salkovskis et al. (1999) would correlate positively with responsibility and harm beliefs and OCD symptom severity. Method: Twenty youth with OCD (age 9‒16 years) completed a new child-report measure of the experiences hypothesized by Salkovskis et al. (1999), the Pathways to Inflated Responsibility Beliefs Scale-Child Version (PIRBS-CV). Youth also completed the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-Child Version (Coles et al., 2010) and the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Child Version (Foa et al., 2010). Results: Consistent with hypotheses, the PIRBS-CV was significantly related to responsibility and harm beliefs and OCD symptom severity. Conclusions: Results provide initial support for the theory proposed by Salkovskis et al. (1999) as applied to youth with OCD. Future studies are needed to further assess the model in early-onset OCD.

Is Reassurance Seeking Specific to OCD? Adaptation Study of the Turkish Version of Reassurance Seeking Questionnaire in Clinical and Non-Clinical Samples

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-385
Author(s):  
Bikem Haciomeroglu ◽  
Mujgan Inozu
Keyword(s):  
Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Anger Expression ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Turkish Version ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Good Reliability ◽  
Student Sample ◽  
Reassurance Seeking ◽  
Compulsive Disorder

Background: Reassurance seeking in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a kind of neutralization behaviour that causes considerable interpersonal conflicts. Aims: The purpose of this study was to conduct the adaptation of the Reassurance Seeking Questionnaire (ReSQ; Kobori and Salkovskis, 2013) into the Turkish language, and to examine its psychometric properties. Moreover, we aimed to identify the specificity of reassurance seeking to OCD, as opposed to other anxiety disorders and depression. Method: Five groups of participants (OCD, anxiety disorders, depression, healthy control groups, and a university student sample) were administered ReSQ, Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire, Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised Form, State and Trait Anger Expression Inventory, Guilt Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and State Trait Anxiety Inventory-Trait Form. Results: The findings revealed acceptable test–retest and internal consistency coefficients, and also good construct, convergent, discriminant and criterion validity information for the Turkish version of the ReSQ scales. Results also revealed some aspects of reassurance seeking specific to OCD as opposed to other anxiety disorders and depression. Conclusion: The results of the present study indicated a good reliability and validity information for the Turkish version of the ReSQ, supporting the cross-cultural nature of the scale.

scholarly journals Learning the Futility of the Thought Suppression Enterprise in Normal Experience and in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

2009 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadia Najmi ◽  
Hannah Reese ◽  
Sabine Wilhelm ◽  
Jeanne Fama ◽  
Celeste Beck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Thought Suppression ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Clinical Population ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Control Of Thoughts

Background: The belief that we can control our thoughts is not inevitably adaptive, particularly when it fuels mental control activities that have ironic unintended consequences. The conviction that the mind can and should be controlled can prompt people to suppress unwanted thoughts, and so can set the stage for the intrusive return of those very thoughts. An important question is whether or not these beliefs about the control of thoughts can be reduced experimentally. One possibility is that behavioral experiments aimed at revealing the ironic return of suppressed thoughts might create a lesson that could reduce unrealistic beliefs about the control of thoughts. Aims: The present research assessed the influence of the thought suppression demonstration on beliefs about the control of thoughts in a non-clinical sample, and among individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method: In Study 1, we assessed the effect of the thought suppression demonstration on beliefs about the control of thoughts among low and high obsessive individuals in the non-clinical population (N = 62). In Study 2, we conducted a similar study with individuals with OCD (N = 29). Results: Results suggest that high obsessive individuals in the non-clinical population are able to learn the futility of suppression through the thought suppression demonstration and to alter their faulty beliefs about the control of thoughts; however, for individuals with OCD, the demonstration may be insufficient for altering underlying beliefs. Conclusions: For individuals with OCD, the connection between suppressing a neutral thought in the suppression demonstration and suppressing a personally relevant obsession may need to be stated explicitly in order to affect their obsessive beliefs.

scholarly journals External Criticism by Parents and Obsessive Beliefs in Adolescents: Mediating Role of Beliefs associated with Inflated Responsibility

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zohrh Halvaiepour ◽  
Mehdi Nosratabadi
Keyword(s):  
High School Students ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Obsessive Beliefs ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
School Students ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Inflated Responsibility ◽  
The Relationship

<p><strong>BACKGROUND &amp; OBJECTIVES:</strong> Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is considered as a rare disorder in children. According to cognitive theories, criticism triggers responsibility behavior and thus causes obsessive behaviors. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the mediating role of beliefs associated with responsibility in the relationship between external criticism of parents and obsessive beliefs in adolescents.</p> <p><strong>MATERIALS &amp; METHODS:</strong> In this study, 547 high school students aged from 15 to18 years were selected using multi-stage cluster random sampling from four regions of the education office in Shiraz. Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire-child version (OBQ-CV), Pathway to Inflated Responsibility beliefs Scale (PIRBS), and perceived criticism questionnaire were used to collect data. Pearson's correlation was used to investigate the relationship between the study variables. For analysis of mediation model, multiple mediators analysis using Macro Software was used.<strong></strong></p> <p><strong>RESULTS:</strong> External criticism only indirectly and through beliefs associated with inflated responsibility accounts for 6% of the variance of responsibility, 14% of the variance of threat estimation and 10% of the variance of perfectionism of obsessive beliefs (P&lt;0.05). However, external criticism, both directly and indirectly and through beliefs associated with inflated responsibility accounts for 7% of the variance of the importance of obsessive beliefs.</p> <p><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> This study showed that the beliefs associated with inflated responsibility can mediate the relationship between external criticism and obsessive beliefs. According to the cognitive model of Salkovskis, criticism by parents, as a violation to and an influence on children, by affecting the subscales of inflated responsibility, can increase the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In order to identify potential affecting mechanisms of criticism on obsessive-compulsive disorder, further experimental research is required.</p>

scholarly journals Neurocognitive And Dysfunctional Belief Candidate Endophenotypes Of Obsessive-Compulsive And Related Disorders

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Taillefer
Keyword(s):  
Self Report ◽  
Obsessive Compulsive ◽  
Secondary Analyses ◽  
Specific Factors ◽  
Neurocognitive Tasks ◽  
Excoriation Disorder ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Control Of Thoughts ◽  
Dysfunctional Belief

Background: The current dissertation examined neurocognitive and dysfunctional belief candidate endophenotypes (CEs) across the obsessive compulsive spectrum to elucidate general versus specific factors. This study included CEs from two etiological perspectives well established in the literature. Secondary analyses examined several CEs multidimensionally and examined the relationship between CEs and of QOL. Methods: A total of 77 participants took part in this study, divided into four groups; OCD (n = 21), Hoarding Disorder (HD; n = 16), Grooming Disorders which included both Trichotillomania and Excoriation Disorder (GD; n = 18), and control participants (n = 22). Participants completed a clinical interview and battery of neurocognitive tasks and questionnaires. Results: Those with HD performed worse than controls on measures of response inhibition and set-shifting. OCD continued to predict significant variance in number sequencing. Examination of dysfunctional belief CEs revealed specificity of Responsibility/Threat beliefs and Importance/Control of Thoughts beliefs to OCD. Perfectionism/Intolerance of Uncertainty appear to be broad CEs; however, differing specificity emerged depending on the measure utilized to measure the construct. Self-report indecision revealed specificity to OCD and HD. Differing patterns of QOL impairments emerged across the spectrum. A better understanding of CEs specificity has implications for diagnostic classification, etiology, course, and treatment.

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