Persistence of Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms: Similarities and Contrasts with Symptoms of Depression in a Turkish Sample

Abstract

Contemporary cognitive theories of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) propose that certain types of dysfunctional beliefs and assumptions play a salient role in the genesis and persistence of OCD (e.g., Clark, 2004; Rachman, 1993, 1997; Salkovskis, 1985). The present study aimed to examine whether the three proposed dysfunctional beliefs — inflated sense of responsibility, thought suppression, and thought-action fusion — play a significant role particularly on the persistence of obsessive–compulsive (OC) symptoms, as compared to other emotional disorders, such as symptoms of depression. The participants of the present study were 109 undergraduate university students, who completed a set of questionnaires, including The Responsibility Attitude Scale (RAS), The Thought Action Fusion Scale (TAF), The White Bear Suppression Inventory (WBSI), The Maudsley Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory (MOCI), and The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). After a 4-week interval, participants were again asked to complete the MOCI and BDI. Two separate hierarchical regression equations were formulated to examine the factors significantly accounting for the residual changes from Time 1 to Time 2 assessments of OC and depressive symptomatologies. Results of these analyses indicated that while thought suppression (WBSI scores) played a significant role on the persistence of both OC and depressive symptoms across time, the role of inflated sense of responsibility (RAS scores) was specific to the persistence of OC symptoms.

Suppressing the white bears interacts with anxiety sensitivity in the prediction of mood and anxiety symptoms

“…Not surprisingly, the intrusion and suppression results reflected the full scale results. These findings provide further support for the notion that the WBSI is best conceptualized as measuring a unitary construct of thought suppression (Altin & Gencoz, 2007; Palm & Strong, 2007; Wegner & Zanakos, 1994)…”

“…The paradoxical increase in these thoughts could then result in increased distress, greater attention toward the feared sensations and ultimately panic attack symptomatology (see Figure 3). OCD has been associated with AS (Olatunji & Wolitzky-Taylor, 2009) as well as the use of thought suppression to deal with intrusive thoughts (Altin & Gencoz, 2007; Smári & Hólmsteinsson, 2001). It has been postulated that intrusive thoughts may be particularly distressing for individuals with OCD because of their tendency to overvalue both the consequences and significance of these thoughts (Rassin, et al, 2001).…”

OCD cognitions and symptoms in different religious contexts

“…The original version of this scale incorporates five items that examine the occurrence of intrusive thoughts; several research groups suggest excluding these items to more directly assess suppression per se (Muris, Merckelbach, & Horselenberg, 1996;Rassin, 2003), which was adapted during the present study. The Turkish version of the WBSI has satisfactory reliability and validity in both clinical and nonclinical samples (Altın & Gençö z, 2007;Yorulmaz, Karancı, Baş tug, Kısa, & Gö ka, 2007).…”

Core OCD symptoms: Exploration of specificity and relations with psychopathology

“…In addition, cognitive theories posit that negative appraisals of intrusive thoughts—based on maladaptive beliefs related to responsibility, overestimation of threat, and intolerance of ambiguity, among others—are fundamental to the development and maintenance of OCD symptoms (OCCWG, 1997, 2005; Rachman, 1976; Salkovskis, 1985). These beliefs demonstrate relative specificity to OCD and predict change in OCD symptoms over time (Abramowitz, Nelson, Rygwall, & Khandker, 2007; Altin & Gençöz, 2007; Coles & Horng, 2006; Tolin, Woods, & Abramowitz, 2003; Wu & Carter, 2008). In sum, research has identified distinct OCD symptom dimensions, which are linked through shared etiological mechanisms and symptom function.…”