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Shared and Distinct Cognitive/Affective Mechanisms in Intrusive Cognition: An Examination of Worry and Obsessions

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Abstract

Generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive–compulsive disorder are defined by chronic intrusive thoughts. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between cognitive (attentional control) and motivational (negative urgency) mechanisms potentially underlying worry and obsessions. Participants (N = 526) completed an online questionnaire battery consisting of self-report measures of worry, OCD symptoms, attentional control (AC), negative urgency (NU), and trait negative affect. After controlling for trait negative affect, self-reported AC was negatively related to worry, repugnant obsessions, and ordering symptoms. Greater NU was associated with increased worry and repugnant obsessions. Further, self-reported AC and NU interacted such that greater NU was associated with greater worry at high but not low levels of AC. AC and NU were independently associated with repugnant obsessions. Perceived executive functioning impairments may confer risk for intrusive thoughts, particularly worries, whereas distress-driven impulsivity may contribute to the involuntary, ego-dystonic features of intrusions.

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Notes

  1. A two-factor model of the ACS, consisting of an Attention Focusing and an Attention Shifting factor, did not provide adequate fit to the data. Further, an EFA of the ACS revealed that a two-factor solution comprised of negatively- and positively-keyed items best fit the data. We used the negatively-keyed items in the current analyses because these items were most likely to share stronger associations with psychopathology, although results of the current study were consistent regardless of whether the negatively- or positively-keyed items were used. Negatively-keyed items were reverse-coded so higher AC factor scores indicated greater AC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Florida State University, 107 W. Call Street, P.O. Box 3064301, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Richard J. Macatee, Nicholas P. Allan, Agnieszka Gajewska, Aaron M. Norr, Amanda Medley Raines, Brian J. Albanese, Joseph W. Boffa, Norman B. Schmidt & Jesse R. Cougle

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  1. Richard J. Macatee
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  2. Nicholas P. Allan
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  3. Agnieszka Gajewska
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  4. Aaron M. Norr
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  5. Amanda Medley Raines
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  6. Brian J. Albanese
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  7. Joseph W. Boffa
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  8. Norman B. Schmidt
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  9. Jesse R. Cougle
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Correspondence to Jesse R. Cougle.

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Conflict of Interest

Richard J. Macatee, Nicholas P. Allan, Agnieszka Gajewska, Aaron M. Norr, Amanda Medley Raines, Brian J. Albanese, Joseph W. Boffa, Norman B. Schmidt and Jesse R. Cougle declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Macatee, R.J., Allan, N.P., Gajewska, A. et al. Shared and Distinct Cognitive/Affective Mechanisms in Intrusive Cognition: An Examination of Worry and Obsessions. Cogn Ther Res 40, 80–91 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9714-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-015-9714-4

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