Responsibility and obsessive-compulsive disorder: an experimental test.
To test the causal status of responsibility in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), an experiment was executed in which responsibility was experimentally manipulated. OCD patients, non-OCD anxiety controls, and non-patients executed a classification task in either a high or a low responsibility (LoRes) condition. Subjective ratings related to danger and responsibility indicated that the manipulation was successful. Subjective OCD-like experiences and checking behaviors were higher in OCD patients in the high responsibility (HiRes) condition than in all other groups. Although the checking subscale of the Padua Inventory correlated with subjective ratings in the OCD patients in the HiRes condition, it was not associated with checking behaviors. The results confirm the hypothesis that responsibility plays a causal role in OCD.
Arntz
Arnoud
A
Department of Medical, Clinical and Experimental Psychology, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, NL-6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. arnoud.arntz@mp.unimaas.nl
Voncken
Marisol
M
Goosen
Ank C A
AC
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D012941:Social Responsibility