Inferential confusion, obsessive beliefs, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A replication and extension

Fear of self, doubt and obsessive compulsive symptoms

“…Given that individuals with OCD are believed to fear who they may possibly become (Aardema & O'Connor, 2007) e which is consistent with the process of inferential confusion, where individuals are preoccupied with possibilities that may occur (Wu et al, 2009) e this may provide a fruitful ground for doubt. For example, a man's feared self could be that he is a careless person.…”

“…As the dirt is an imagined possibility, subsequent cleaning rituals can never satisfactorily be completed (O'Connor, Aardema, Bouthillier, et al, 2005;O'Connor, Aardema, & Pellisier, 2005). Due to a distrust of sensory information in OCD, the woman can stop her rituals only when she reaches a "feeling" of completion (Wu, Aardema, & O'Connor, 2009). Therefore, the IBA postulates that the individual does not react to stimuli that are present, but to what may possibly be there even though their senses suggest otherwise e and so, paradoxically, the individual "fears not what they can see but what they cannot" (O'Connor & Robillard, 1995, p. 890).…”

Obsessive-compulsive tendencies are related to indecisiveness and reliance on feedback in a neutral color judgment task

“…Future studies that investigate decision making and judgment in relation to OC should include questions that refer to feelings of incompleteness and uneasiness rather than only confidence ratings (e.g., "To what degree did you feel "just right" regarding your decision," or "How satisfied do you feel regarding your decision?"). Finally, the inference model of OCD (Aardema et al, 2006;Aardema, Radomsky, O'Connor, & Julien, 2008;Wu, Aardema, & O'Connor, 2009) suggests that OC indecisiveness and repetition may reflect an attempt to obtain a sense of control to compensate for the experience of unwanted intrusions. The same hypothesis is at the center of models that stress the role of perceived control in OCD (Reuven-Magril, Dar, & Liberman, 2008).…”

Dissolving the tenacity of obsessional doubt: Implications for treatment outcome

“…Items are rated on a 5-point scale (1 ¼ strongly disagree to 5 ¼ strongly agree). The ICQ is a unidimensional measure that has been found to explain a large portion of the variance in symptoms of OCD even when controlling for negative mood states and other cognitive domains (Aardema, Radomsky, O'Connor, & Julien, 2008;Wu, Aardema, & O'Connor, 2009). As well, inferential confusion as measured by the ICQ is related to treatment outcome independent of change in negative mood states .…”