Fear of self, doubt and obsessive compulsive symptoms.
OBJECTIVE
Following observations in the literature that obsessions often contain or imply negative evaluative information about the self, Aardema et al. (2013) recently developed a measure of feared-self relevant to OCD. The current study aimed to provide further examination of the relevance of such feared self-beliefs to obsessive compulsive processes - in particular whether they partially underlie doubt in OCD-relevant situations.


METHODS
Nonclinical participants (N = 463; 291 females; Mage = 25.17, SD = 7.47), were presented with three vignettes, related to washing, checking and non-OCD relevant themes, which assessed doubt through providing alternating sensory and possibility-based information.


RESULTS
Higher levels of OCD symptoms and feared-self beliefs both significantly predicted both higher baseline levels of doubt and greater fluctuation in levels of doubt in both the contamination and checking scenarios, and to a much lesser extent in the control scenario. Feared-self beliefs did not predict fluctuation in doubt over-and-above OCD symptoms, consistent with a mediation model.


CONCLUSIONS
The main limitation was the use of a non-clinical sample, although this allowed sufficient participant numbers to test hypotheses.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings provided further experimental support for reasoning processes in OCD, and suggested that feared self-beliefs may make individuals vulnerable to experiencing doubt. Additionally, these results suggested that individuals with high OCD symptoms and those with high feared self-beliefs are unable to recognise the improbable nature of possibility-based statements. Implications for treatment and theory are discussed.
School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
Alexandra
A
Nikodijevic
Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing Research, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia. Electronic address: richard.moulding@deakin.edu.au.
Richard
R
Moulding
School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia.
Jeromy
J
Anglim
Research Centre, University Institute in Mental Health of Montreal, Canada.
Frederick
F
Aardema
Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre (BPsyC), Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia.
Maja
M
Nedeljkovic
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003469:Culture; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
Beliefs; Cognition; Doubt; Inferential confusion; Obsessive compulsive disorder; Self