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Obsessive beliefs predict cognitive behavior therapy outcome for obsessive compulsive disorder
Thomas G Adams1, Bradley C Riemann, Chad T Wetterneck
1University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States. tomadams@uark.edu
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
|February 8, 2012
Summary
Cognitive beliefs like responsibility and threat estimation predict poorer outcomes in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) treatment. However, reducing these obsessive beliefs, especially regarding thought importance and control, significantly improves OCD symptom reduction.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychopathology
Background:
- Cognitive models emphasize core beliefs in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) development, maintenance, and treatment.
- Key obsessive beliefs include personal responsibility, threat estimation, perfectionism, need for certainty, importance of thoughts, and thought control.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if pretreatment severity and post-treatment changes in obsessive beliefs predict outcomes in intensive residential cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for OCD.
- To examine the relationship between specific obsessive beliefs and treatment success.
Main Methods:
- Hierarchical regression analyses were used to analyze the relationship between obsessive beliefs and treatment outcomes.
- Data were collected from patients undergoing intensive, residential cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Main Results:
- Inflated pretreatment responsibility/threat estimation beliefs were linked to less overall obsessive compulsive (OC) symptom reduction (2% variance).
- Broad changes in obsessive beliefs positively predicted symptom reduction (18% variance).
- Specifically, changes in the importance/control of thoughts predicted symptom reduction (3.6% variance).
Conclusions:
- Pretreatment beliefs about responsibility and threat estimation may hinder OCD treatment progress.
- Reductions in obsessive beliefs, particularly those concerning thought importance and control, are crucial for successful OCD treatment outcomes.
- Findings support cognitive models linking specific beliefs to OCD maintenance and treatment efficacy.
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