Dysfunctional beliefs in the obsessive-compulsive disorder: An approach to the specificity

Abstract

The current cognitive theories to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) emphasize the importance of beliefs and appraisals about the obsessive thoughts in the etiology and maintenance of the disorder. However, the specificity of these beliefs to OCD it remains unclear. In this paper the specificity of dysfunctional beliefs OCD-related are examined in 151 normal subjects and 28 subclinically obsessives. All subjects completed the Obsessive Beliefs Inventory (OBI) and instruments to assess OCD symptoms (Padua Inventory-Revised), depression (BDI and ATQ), and anxiety symptoms and worries (STAI-S and PSWQ). The results show that: (a) the moral thought-action fusion beliefs were the only that showed to be specifically related to OCD when compared to depression, but not when anxiety was the measure to be compared with; (b) the beliefs on perfectionism, intolerance to uncertainty (IU), responsibility (R), overestimation of danger (OD), importance of thought control, and rigidity, remained significantly related to OCD when the load of depressive and anxiety scores were controlled; (c) the OD beliefs were the most predictive to obsessive symptoms; (d) the OCD aggression subtype was best predicted by the thought-action fusion beliefs in subclinically obsessive and by the OD, R, and IU beliefs in normal subjects.