0000000000671148

AUTHOR

Lisa Emerson

Do children experience obsessional intrusive thoughts?

Introduction. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a disabling condition that often begins in childhood. Cognitive behavioural therapy for paediatric OCD is effective and often considered the treatment of choice. While cognitive models of OCD have improved our understanding and interventions in adult populations, it has scarcely been investigated in children. Those models assume that obsessions are extreme variants of unwanted obsessional intrusive thoughts (OITs), which are almost universally experienced in the general populations. This assumption has received empirical support in adult samples but there are almost no studies analysing the presence of OITs in preadolescents. Method. 49 c…

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How do children interpret and manage their disturbing obsessive intrusive thoughts?

Introduction. Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder rest on three main assumptions: a) obsessive intrusive thoughts (OITs) are almost universal; b) negative appraisals of OITs lead to emotional distress and interference; and c) unhelpful control strategies contribute to the escalation of OITs into clinical obsessions. These assumptions have received ample empirical support from research with adult samples, while studies in children are promising but scarce. The aim of this study was to describe the emotional distress, interference, negative appraisals and control efforts of those children that report having experienced recent and frequent OITs. Method. 49 children (28 girls, mea…

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