Category: Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders
Melissa Norberg, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Macquarie University
Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia
Bunmi Olatunji, Ph.D.
Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Psychology
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, Tennessee
Sara Wilkerson, M.A.
Doctoral Candidate
Fordham University
New York, New York
Peter de Jong, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Groningen
Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Jonathan Abramowitz, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Shanara Visvalingam, Other
Macquarie University
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Prevailing cognitive-behavioural theories for OCD propose that dysfunctional beliefs lead people to misinterpret benign intrusions as being highly important or threatening, which then transforms them into obsessions. Obsessions evoke distress and motivate individuals to engage in compulsive behaviour to remove the intrusions, prevent harm, and alleviate distress. Distress is generally understood be anxiety. In clinical practice, however, clients often report feeling disgusted, angry, guilty, and shameful about their intrusive thoughts.
Not much is known about the role that these other emotions may play in the development and maintenance of OCD. Thus, clinicians have little guidance in how to help clients experiencing these emotional reactions. To better understand the multitude of emotions that may be involved in OCD, researchers on three different continents set out to understand if OCD may be more than an anxiety disorder.
Consistent with the conference aim of using science to effectively meet the behavioural health needs of our communities, this symposium aims to promote our scientific understanding of the emotional underpinnings of OCD. The four talks present new data on anger, disgust, guilt, and shame and how they relate to OCD. In the first talk, Sara Wilkerson from Fordham University (USA), will present data from a large community sample that shows higher levels of disgust and anger are related to increased obsessing, checking, ordering, and washing. In the next talk, Dr Peter de Jong from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) will discuss findings from two experimental studies that indicate contamination fearful individuals infer danger when they experience disgust. In the third talk, Dr Jon Abramowitz from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) will present data on guilt sensitivity collected from a sample of individuals seeking treatment for OCD. Guilt sensitivity involves overestimating the negative consequences of guilt and underestimating one’s ability to tolerate feeling guilty. Guilt sensitivity contributed to individuals’ experience of unacceptable obsessive thoughts while controlling for obsessive beliefs. Finally, Shanara Visvalingam from Macquarie University (Australia) will present experimental data from a sample of university students who experienced subclinical to clinical levels of OCD. Inducing harm and sexual obsessions elicited greater shame and anxiety did than contamination and symmetry obsessional inductions. When controlling for anxiety, shame predicted desire to engage in compulsive and avoidant behaviour.
These four talks reveal new information on how a variety of emotions relate to OCD symptoms. Overall, it seems that anger and disgust may be related to a range of obsessive and compulsive behaviours and that guilt and shame may be specifically relevant to repugnant obsessions and their associated compulsive behaviour. Current theoretical models for OCD may require revision. Future research needs to examine whether exposure and response prevention can effectively deal with emotions other than anxiety, and if not, find new approaches to helping individuals deal with the full spectrum of distress associated with OCD.
Presenter: Sara Wilkerson, B.S. – Fordham University
Co-author: Sara Wilkerson, B.S. – Fordham University
Co-author: Dean McKay, ABPP, Ph.D. – Fordham University
Presenter: Peter de Jong, Ph.D. – University of Groningen
Co-author: Wiljo van Hout, PhD – University of Groningen
Presenter: Jonathan Abramowitz, Ph.D. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-author: Jonathan Abramowitz, Ph.D. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-author: Samantha N. Hellberg, M.A. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-author: Chase M. DuBois, BA – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-author: Megan Butcher, B.S. – UNC Chapel Hill
Co-author: Nicholas S. Myers, M.A. – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Co-author: Heidi J. Ojalehto, B.S. – UNC Chapel Hill
Co-author: Bradley Riemann, Ph.D. – Rogers Behavioral Health
Co-author: Carly Rodriquez, BA – UNC-Chapel Hill
Presenter: Shanara Visvalingam, Other – Macquarie University
Co-author: Cassandra Crone, BPsych(Hons), MRes – Macquarie University
Co-author: Simon Street, BPsych(Hons) – Macquarie University
Co-author: Ella Oar, BPsych(Hons), DPsych(Clin) – Macquarie University
Co-author: Philippe Gilchrist, B.A (Psychology), M.A (Counselling Psychology), DPsych(Clin) – Macquarie University
Co-author: Melissa M. Norberg, Ph.D. – Macquarie University