obsessions, hoarding, & ordering/arranging (de Silva &. Rachman, 1999). â«Cognitive domains related to OCD: inflated responsibility / overestimation of threat ...
The Relationship Between Responsibility Beliefs and OCD Symptoms Allison J. Ouimet, Andrea R. Ashbaugh, & Adam S. Radomsky, Concordia University, Montreal
Results
Abstract Inflated responsibility may be more relevant to obsessions and compulsive checking than to other symptom subtypes of OCD. Undergraduate students completed 3 measures of responsibility and 2 new measures of OCD symptoms. Results suggest a strong link between responsibility beliefs and overall OCD symptomatology. No evidence for the existence of differential relationships between responsibility and OCD symptom subtypes was found. This pattern of results may reflect weaknesses in current classification methods of OCD.
Introduction Symptom subtypes of OCD: checking, cleaning, obsessions, hoarding, & ordering/arranging (de Silva & Rachman, 1999). Cognitive domains related to OCD: inflated responsibility / overestimation of threat, importance / control of thoughts, & intolerance of uncertainty / perfectionism (OCCWG, 2003). Is inflated responsibility more relevant to some symptom subtypes than to others? Inflated responsibility is important for all subtypes of OCD (Salkovskis & Forrester, 2002) Inflated responsibility is more relevant to checking & obsessions than to other subtypes (Smari et al., 2003)
Method One hundred forty Concordia University undergraduate students completed: • Responsibility Attitudes Scale (RAS: Salkovskis et al., 2000) • Responsibility Appraisals Questionnaire (RAQ: Rachman et al., 1995) • Responsibility / Overestimation of Threat subscale of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-RT: OCCWG, 2003) • Vancouver Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory (VOCI: Thordarson et al., in press) • Symmetry, Ordering & Arranging Questionnaire (SOAQ: Radomsky & Rachman, 2004) • Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II: Beck et al., 1996)
Results Table 4: Correlations Between Responsibility Measures and the VOCI & SOAQ
Table 1: Regression Analysis for Predicting RAS scores Variable R2 ΔR2 Step 1 .150** .150** BDI-II Step 2 .408** .258** VOCI Cleaning subscale VOCI Checking subscale VOCI Obsession subscale VOCI Hoarding subscale VOCI Just Right subscale VOCI Indecisiveness subscale Ordering/Arranging (SOAQ)
β .387** -.091 -.030 -.136 .045 -.207 -.206* -.131
RAS VOCI Total VOCI Contamination subscale VOCI Checking subscale VOCI Obsession subscale VOCI Hoarding subscale VOCI Just Right subscale VOCI Indecisiveness subscale Ordering/Arranging (SOAQ)
-.63** -.43** -.45** -.55** -.41** -.59** -.50** -.34**
RAQ .26** .31** .10 .31** .14 .23** .07 .15
OBQ-RT .69** .47** .51** .58** .52** .66** .52** .34**
Discussion Table 2: Regression Analysis for Predicting RAQ scores Variable Step 1 BDI-II Step 2 VOCI Cleaning subscale VOCI Checking subscale VOCI Obsession subscale VOCI Hoarding subscale VOCI Just Right subscale VOCI Indecisiveness subscale Ordering/Arranging (SOAQ)
ΔR2
R2 .003
.003
.164*
.161*
β .057 .314* -.303* .194 -.033 .129 -.119 .081
• Inconsistent results within this study AND in previous research. • RAQ may not be a valid measure of responsibility relevant to OCD (different pattern of correlations with symptom measures). • In this study: Responsibility strongly related to OCD as a whole, but relationship breaks down upon examination of symptom specificity. • May be due to limitations in symptom subtyping – Ignores automatic thoughts, core beliefs, function of behaviour, etc. – Ex: A distinction may exist between checkers with and without inflated responsibility.
• Beliefs may not vary systematically across symptoms. • Future research should examine symptoms, beliefs, function, family history, etc. as possible contributors to a comprehensive classification of OCD.
Table 3: Regression Analysis for Predicting OBQ-RT scores. Variable Step 1 BDI-II Step 2 VOCI Cleaning subscale VOCI Checking subscale VOCI Obsession subscale VOCI Hoarding subscale VOCI Just Right subscale VOCI Indecisiveness subscale Ordering/Arranging (SOAQ)
R2 ΔR2 .172** .172**
β .414**
.476** .305** .128 .127 .080 -.004 .291* .153 .002
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*p < .01, **p < .001
Poster presented at the 65th Annual Canadian Psychological Association Conference, St. John’s, NB. June 10-12, 2004
