title: Perseveration induces dissociative uncertainty in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: Obsessive compulsive (OC)-like perseveration paradoxically increases feelings of uncertainty. We studied whether the underlying mechanism between perseveration and uncertainty is a reduced accessibility of meaning ('semantic satiation').
  
  
  
  OCD patients (n = 24) and matched non-clinical controls (n = 24) repeated words 2 (non-perseveration) or 20 times (perseveration). They decided whether this word was related to another target word. Speed of relatedness judgments and feelings of dissociative uncertainty were measured. The effects of real-life perseveration on dissociative uncertainty were tested in a smaller subsample of the OCD group (n = 9).
  
  
  
  Speed of relatedness judgments was not affected by perseveration. However, both groups reported more dissociative uncertainty after perseveration compared to non-perseveration, which was higher in OCD patients. Patients reported more dissociative uncertainty after 'clinical' perseveration compared to non-perseveration..
  
  
  
  Both parts of this study are limited by some methodological issues and a small sample size.
  
  
  
  Although the mechanism behind 'perseveration → uncertainty' is still unclear, results suggest that the effects of perseveration are counterproductive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: C.L.Giele@uu.nl.
authors.forename: Catharina L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Giele
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marcel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: van den Hout
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Altrecht Academic Anxiety Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Iris M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Engelhard
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eliane C P
authors.initials: ECP
authors.lastname: Dek
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke B J
authors.initials: MBJ
authors.lastname: Toffolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Altrecht Academic Anxiety Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Danielle C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Cath
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D035501:Uncertainty; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dissociation; OCD; Perseveration; Semantic satiation; Uncertainty