Desire for Control, Sense of Control and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms

Abstract

While control-related cognitions have often been implicated in discussions of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), empirical investigations of the relationship between control-constructs and OCD symptoms have been relatively limited. In this article it was hypothesized that OCD symptoms may be linked with a higher desire to control (DC), but a lower sense of control (SC) over the self and environment, leading to motivation for compulsive symptoms. This hypothesis was investigated in an analogue population, using regression analyses controlling for depression and anxiety. Consistent with predictions, it was found that higher levels of DC and lower levels of SC were associated with higher levels of OCD-related beliefs and symptoms. While control cognitions were linked with the OCD-related beliefs of perfectionism and the overestimation of threat, they did not relate to cognitions concerning the importance of/need to control thoughts. With respect to specific OCD-symptoms, control cognitions were most strongly related to contamination obsessions/washing compulsions. Implications for theory and treatment are discussed.

Looking for Outcomes: The Experience of Control and Sense of Agency in Obsessive-compulsive Behaviors

“…Interestingly, no OCD symptoms were found to be correlated with an increased experience of control; moreover, only the checking symptoms were related to an undermined sense of control. This result is in agreement with a recent study in which selfreported low sense of control was found to be particularly related to checking symptoms [48]. In the task used by Reuven-Magril et al [50], feelings of control were predominantly elicited by the effortful control situation created by the design of the task.…”

“…However, other studies showed that they can experience a high sense of control [45] or have a higher need for control [46]. These conflicting results have been interpreted as reflecting the fact that, in response to their undermined sense of control, some OCD individuals may deploy compulsions to regain control over their actions or over unwanted events [47,48]. From this perspective, compulsive behaviors can be viewed as a way of artificially inflating affected individuals' feelings of control, when the mechanism underlying a "naturally occurring" sense of control breaks down [49,50].…”

Feeling of doing in obsessive–compulsive checking

“…Thus, an alternative explanation of our results would be that the relationship observed between authorship ascription and checking symptoms could be mediated by control beliefs such as self-determination, which have recently been found to constitute an additional source of information for authorship processing (Aarts, Oikawa, & Oikawa, 2010). Consistently with this idea, OCD symptoms, and particularly checking symptoms, may be related to an undermined perceived control (beliefs about one's ability to perform an action and the extent to which that action will lead to a desired outcome or avoid an undesirable one; Moulding & Kyrios, 2007). Thus, further studies are needed to explore the extent to which beliefs of control and self-determination may account, at least in part, for the relationship found between checking symptoms and lower self-agency.…”

“…In our study, on the other hand, the illusion of agency task elicited a sense of effortless control and thus feelings of self-causation were predominantly based on automatic and unconscious processes, similar to those observed during nonconscious goal pursuit (Aarts et al, 2005, 2006). Furthermore, a recent cognitive model of OCD (Moulding & Kyrios, 2006, 2007 suggests the involvement of two controlrelated features: the need for control (i.e., the general motivation to be able to exert control over events) and the sense of control (i.e., beliefs in one's ability to attain or avoid specific outcomes through one's actions). According to this model, the level of desired control generally leads to the deployment of appropriate behaviors in order to achieve desired outcomes; the level of perceived control in a specific context may vary accordingly.…”

“…While, in most people, sense of control is generally positively related to the desire for control, a significant discrepancy between desired level of control and perceived control in certain situations (i.e., a high need for control but a low-level of perceived control) may lead OCD individuals to develop strategies that will give them a satisfying ''feeling that things are under control." Thus, it is possible that the Reuven-Magril et al (2008) paradigm may offer a context favoring such an artificially inflated sense of control, while the task used in our study may emphasize a process that is potentially implicated in the undermined sense of control, which has been particularly related to checking symptoms (Moulding & Kyrios, 2007). In addition, the Reuven-Magril et al study may highlight the phenomenon whereby compulsive-like behaviors lead OCD individuals to experience high levels of control, rather than the process underlying anxiety and distress, which in turn trigger OCD symptoms.…”