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Inflated Responsibility Beliefs in Paediatric OCD: Exploring the Role of Parental Rearing and Child Age

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Abstract

Cognitive-behavioural models of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) propose that inflated responsibility beliefs are central to the maintenance of the disorder and are proposed to originate during early childhood via experiences of harsh and/or controlling parenting. The current study aimed to examine the associations between perceived parental rearing behaviours, inflated responsibility/threat beliefs, and OCD severity and impairment in children (aged 7–12 years) and adolescents (aged 13–17 years) with OCD (n = 136). Results indicated that for younger children, greater child perceptions of overprotection and anxious rearing were each associated with increased inflated responsibility beliefs. For older children, these positive associations remained, and furthermore, inflated responsibility beliefs mediated the association between perceived maternal anxious rearing and OCD impairment. Results highlight the role of the family in the development of inflated responsibility bias and OCD-related impairment.

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Funding

This study was partially supported by funding from the Financial Markets for Children (2013.277), the National Health and Medical Research Council (APP1058025). The first author is a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award, and the fourth author is a recipient of both a Griffith University Postgraduate Research Scholarship and an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship. The funding bodies and academic scholarship providers were not involved in the study design, analyses, or submission process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Applied Psychology, Menzies Institute of Health, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Gold Coast, 4222, Australia

    Sharna L. Mathieu, Elizabeth G. Conlon, Matthew L. McKenzie & Lara J. Farrell

  2. School of Applied Psychology, Menzies Institute of Health, Griffith University, Mount Gravatt, Australia

    Allison M. Waters

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  1. Sharna L. Mathieu
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  2. Elizabeth G. Conlon
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  3. Allison M. Waters
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Correspondence to Sharna L. Mathieu.

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Mathieu, S.L., Conlon, E.G., Waters, A.M. et al. Inflated Responsibility Beliefs in Paediatric OCD: Exploring the Role of Parental Rearing and Child Age. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 51, 552–562 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00938-w

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