Incompleteness and not just right experiences in the explanation of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
In the past decade, not just right experiences (NJRE) and incompleteness (INC) have attracted renewed interest as putative motivators of symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), beyond harm avoidance (HA). This study examines, in 267 non-clinical undergraduates and 47 OCD patients, the differential contributions of HA, INC, and NJRE to the different OCD symptom dimensions and the propensity to have the disorder. The results indicate that although both the NJRE and INC range from normality to OCD, their number and intensity significantly increase as the obsessional tendencies increase, which suggests that they are vulnerability markers for OCD. Although they cannot be considered full…
Part 2. They scare because we care: The relationship between obsessive intrusive thoughts and appraisals and control strategies across 15 cities
Abstract Cognitive models of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) purport that obsessions are normal intrusive thoughts that are misappraised as significant, leading to negative emotional responses and maladaptive attempts to control the thoughts and related emotions. This paper utilised a large multi-national dataset of interview data regarding intrusive thoughts, to investigate three questions related to the cognitive model of OCD and to its stability across cultures. First, the paper aimed to investigate the implicit yet-hitherto-untested assumption of cognitive models that misappraisals and control strategies for intrusive thoughts relate similarly across cultures. Second, this study aim…
Part 1—You can run but you can't hide: Intrusive thoughts on six continents
Abstract Most cognitive approaches for understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) rest on the assumption that nearly everyone experiences unwanted intrusive thoughts, images and impulses from time to time. These theories argue that the intrusions themselves are not problematic, unless they are misinterpreted and/or attempts are made to control them in maladaptive and/or unrealistic ways. Early research has shown unwanted intrusions to be present in the overwhelming majority of participants assessed, although this work was limited in that it took place largely in the US, the UK and other ‘westernised’ or ‘developed’ locations. We employed the International Intrusive Thoug…
Part 3. A question of perspective: The association between intrusive thoughts and obsessionality in 11 countries
Abstract A key assumption of contemporary cognitive-behavioral models of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is that obsessional thoughts exist on a continuum with “normal” unwanted intrusive thoughts. Recently, however, some authors have challenged this notion. The present study aimed to clarify (a) the extent that different types of intrusive thoughts in nonclinical individuals are associated with obsessionality, (b) the relative contribution of frequency, distress and control ratings to obsessionality, and (c) the extent that existing findings (primarily from North American or European samples) generalize to other countries in the world. Five hundred and fifty-four non clinical individua…