Article Title: Attachment Orientation, Obsessive Beliefs, and Symptom Severity in Patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Author(s): Sara Asad and Saima Dawood
Institute(s): Centre for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore.
Journal: Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research, 2015, Vol. 30, No. 2, 207-223
Correspondence Address: Saima Dawood, Centre for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: sd_khanpk@yahoo.com
Abstract
The present study was aimed to determine the predictors of twelve symptom dimensions of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Following cross-sectional research design, 90 patients with OCD (Men = 43; Women = 47) were taken with the age range of 18-50 years through nonprobability purposive sampling technique. The assessment measures included Demographic Questionnaire, two subscales of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptom Checklist (Jabeen, 2008), Screening Questionnaire for Psychiatric Disorders (Kausar, 2013), Urdu version of Revised Adult Attachment Scale (Kausar, 2014) and Obsessive Belief Questionnaire-44 (Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group, 2001). Results revealed that attachment anxiety and avoidance had nonsignificant relationship with OCD symptom dimensions. Moreover, obsessive beliefs of overimportance/need to control thoughts and overresponsibility/overestimation of threat had significant positive relationship with sexual and blasphemous obsessions as well as control compulsions. Attachment avoidance and over importance/need to control thoughts belief emerged as significant predictors of sexual obsessions; whereas, blasphemous obsessions were only predicted by overimportance/need to control thoughts belief after controlling for gender, age of onset of OCD, duration of illness, and depression. Overresponsibility/overestimation of threat belief was significant predictor of control compulsion. Research findings may help cognitive therapists in identification of obsessive beliefs underlying specific symptom dimensions of OCD subsequently leading to improved treatment outcomes.
Keywords. Obsessive compulsive disorder, attachment anxiety, attachment avoidance, obsessive beliefs, symptom dimensions
