Towards a cognitive theory of contamination

Rachman, S.

doi:10.1093/med:psych/9780199296934.003.0010

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Regardless of directionality, it is surprising that no relationship between contamination and beliefs was found in the current study, as has been found in previous research. The studies by Fergus and Olatunji and colleagues both examined mental contamination specifically, and our study focused on contamination more broadly; these constructs have been shown to be related yet distinct (Rachman, 2004, 2006), so it is unknown whether mental contamination may impact assault-related beliefs more precisely. Second, the study by Fergus et al (2018) focused on metacognitive beliefs (i.e., beliefs about thinking), whereas we focused on beliefs about the self, others, and the world, which may be less relevant to contamination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disclosure of traumatic details and obsessive-compulsive contamination symptoms in sexual assault survivors.

Pinciotti¹,

Luehrs²,

Horvath³

et al. 2024

Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy

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Objective: Contamination concerns are common following sexual victimization and are associated with increased attentional bias and difficulty disengaging from contamination cues. While most survivors of sexual trauma disclose their experience to others, it is unclear whether disclosure increases feelings of contamination or whether, consistent with the fever model of disclosure, existing contamination-related distress increases the amount of content shared during disclosure, indicative of attentional bias toward contamination-inducing aspects of the trauma memory. Method: Accordingly, the current study examined the directionality and relationships between contamination symptoms and content shared during sexual assault disclosure in 106 sexual assault survivors (76.4% women). Forced decision regression with subsequent independence test (RESIT) was used to identify directionality of relationships, and multivariate and linear regressions examined these proposed effects in the presence of assault and demographic characteristics. Results: More severe contamination symptoms predicted greater sharing of details during sexual assault disclosure yet had no impact on sharing of emotions, cognitions, and beliefs during disclosures. Although RESIT suggested that contrary to other content domains, disclosure of social experiences may directionally predict contamination symptoms, this relationship did not retain statistical significance in a linear regression model. Conclusions: Findings support the fever model of disclosure and attentional bias theories regarding contamination-related stimuli, and suggest that survivors experiencing postassault contamination symptoms may be more likely fixate on the contamination-invoking details of the trauma memory when disclosing. Such fixation has the potential to interfere with typical treatment-related processes (e.g., habituation) and should be thoughtfully addressed to maximize treatment gains.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%