Kevin D. Wu

Development and Validation of the Schedule of Compulsions, Obsessions, and Pathological Impulses (SCOPI

This article describes a factor analytically derived, self-report instrument—the Schedule of Compulsions, Obsessions, and Pathological Impulses (SCOPI)—using data from college students, adults, psychiatric outpatients, and patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The five SCOPI scales all are internally consistent (with coefficient alphas of .80 and higher) and are strongly stable across a 2-month interval (with retest correlations ranging from .79 to .82). They also show good convergent and adequate discriminant validity (a) when correlated with other OCD measures and (b) in analyses of self-ratings versus spouse ratings. Additional analyses indicate that three scales—Obsessive Checking, Obsessive Cleanliness, and Compulsive Rituals—assess core symptoms of OCD. The two remaining scales—Hoarding and Pathological Impulses—appear to tap different (but related) constructs.

Symptom subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder and their relation to dissociation

We examined relations between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms and dissociation in three studies. Studies 1 and 2 established a strong level of convergence between our two OCD symptom measures. Specific types of symptoms showed a clear convergent/discriminant pattern, indicating that they can be meaningfully distinguished from one another. In both studies, dissociation correlated more strongly with checking and obsessive intrusions than with cleaning, ordering, and hoarding. Moreover, these associations remained substantial even after controlling for neuroticism (Study 1) and other types of anxiety (Study 2). In Study 3, we replicated our key findings in a psychiatric outpatient sample, indicating that they are generalizable to clinical participants. Taken together, our results (a) establish a strong link between dissociation and OCD, and (b) illustrate the importance of analyzing different types of OCD symptoms separately.

Further investigation of the obsessive-compulsive inventory: psychometric analysis in two non-clinical samples

The obsessive-compulsive inventory [OCI; Psychol. Assessment 10 (1998) 206-214] is a self-report measure of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) intended for use with both clinical and non-clinical samples (). Two reports support its convergence with established measures of OCD and its assessment of specific symptom subtypes (e.g., checking and washing). The current studies investigate the OCI factor structure in two non-clinical samples. Based on correlational analyses and complementary factor analyses, Study 1 results indicate that five subscales, rather than the seven rationally derived ones, best capture the structure of symptoms measured by the OCI. These findings were replicated in Study 2. Based on these analyses, we offer suggestions for revising the original subscales into these five empirically derived subscales that closely resemble structures proposed in the current OCD literature.

Relations between personality traits and self-reports of daily behavior

Abstract This study investigates relations between personality traits and everyday behavior—an area of research that too often is ignored in contemporary personality assessment. Participants completed personality questionnaires and for 2 weeks kept daily records of behaviors related conceptually to 1 of 3 traits: aggression, exhibitionism, and impulsivity. Aggregating across time, correlations between 2 measures of trait aggression correlated .51 with behavioral aggression but only .14 and .18 with behavioral exhibitionism and behavioral impulsivity, respectively. Trait exhibitionism and trait impulsivity demonstrated similarly clean convergent/discriminant correlational patterns with the three types of behaviors. Many individual behavioral items also showed significant correlations with corresponding personality traits. Results are discussed in terms of using personality–behavior relations to further understanding of personality.

Do Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Share Cognitive Processes?

There is tremendous interest in understanding the role of cognitive processes within generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Regarding one process, intolerance of uncertainty (IU), extant data provide equivocal conclusions as to whether it shares a specific relation with either disorder. This study tested the specificity of IU and other cognitive processes, including negative problem orientation, responsibility and threat estimation, perfectionism and certainty, and importance and control of thoughts, in relation to symptoms of GAD and OCD in a large nonclinical sample. All cognitive processes except importance and control of thoughts (ICT) shared comparable relations with symptoms of both disorders and IU was the only cognitive process to predict unique variance—that above and beyond the other cognitive processes—in both GAD and OCD symptoms. We discuss the implications of these findings for conceptualizing points of convergence and divergence between the symptoms of two disorders that historically have shown meaningful overlap.

How Are Dysfunctional Beliefs Related to Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms?

Contemporary cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suggest that three types of dysfunctional beliefs contribute to the development and maintenance of obsessivecompulsive (OC) symptoms. These are beliefs characterized by themes of (a) inflated personal responsibility and the overestimation of threat (RT), (b) perfectionism and the intolerance of uncertainty (PC), and (c) overimportance of one’s thoughts and the need to control these thoughts (ICT). To better understand the relationship between symptoms and beliefs, we applied structural equation modeling to belief and symptom data from a large (N = 5,015) nonclinical sample. RT significantly predicted each of the six main types of OC symptoms (checking, hoarding, neutralizing, obsessing, ordering, and washing), beyond the effects attributable to ICT and PC. PC predicted ordering rituals beyond the effects due to ICT and RT. ICT predicted obsessing, neutralizing, and washing compulsions, beyond the effects attributable to RT and PC. The three types of beliefs were strongly correlated with one another, which is consistent with previous theorizing that one type of belief (e.g., RT) influences another (e.g., ICT), which in turn influences OC symptoms (i.e., the indirect effects of beliefs on symptoms). However, there are competing explanations for the strong correlations among beliefs. Research designs are proposed for disentangling the various explanations of the high correlation among beliefs.

Imaginative, dissociative, and schizotypal processes in obsessive-compulsive symptoms

This study investigates imaginative, dissociative, and schizotypal processes that are potentially relevant to obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Students (n = 377) completed questionnaires that assessed inferential confusion, absorption, schizotypal personality, and other domains. Hierarchical regression revealed that inferential confusion and absorption were the most consistent predictors of OC symptoms; other content predicted variance for specific OC symptoms. For example, schizotypal personality predicted checking and hoarding symptoms, but not cleanliness or ordering rituals. Immersive tendencies predicted cleanliness and hoarding but not checking or ordering rituals. Results are consistent with an inference-based model of OC, in which an overreliance on imagination during reasoning gives rise to experiences that are inconsistent with reality. This study suggests additional domains that may help explain why intrusive thoughts become obsessions.

Inferential confusion, obsessive beliefs, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A replication and extension

This study replicated and extended previous research regarding utility of an inference-based approach (IBA) to the study of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The IBA is a model for the development of OCD symptoms through false reasoning. One of its key features is inferential confusion-a form of processing information in which an individual accepts a remote possibility based only on subjective evidence. In a nonclinical sample, this study examined the specificity of relations between the expanded Inferential Confusion Questionnaire (ICQ-EV) and OC symptoms. Results were that the ICQ-EV significantly predicted OC symptoms after controlling for general distress, anxiety, and depression. This finding supports the unique association between inferential confusion and OCD. Further, the ICQ-EV was a stronger predictor of certain OC symptoms than scales from the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire, which itself has shown strong relations with OC symptoms. Thus, both inference-based and cognitive appraisal models appear useful for understanding OCD.

Eating disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder : A dimensional approach to purported relations

The purpose of this research was to investigate the specificity of purported relations between symptoms of eating disorders (ED) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Whereas most research has focused on diagnostic comorbidity or between-groups analyses, this study took a dimensional approach to investigate specific relations among symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, and OCD, as well as panic, depression, and general distress in a student sample (N=465). Results were that all symptoms showed significant zero-order correlations, including all ED-OCD pairings. After removing general distress variance, however, none of three OCD scales significantly predicted anorexia; only compulsive washing among OCD scales significantly predicted bulimia. Hierarchical multiple regression demonstrated that panic and depression out-performed OCD in predicting bulimia symptoms. Overall, symptoms of ED and OCD did not show unique relations at the level of core dimensions of each construct. A possible link between bulimia and compulsive washing is worth further study.

Relations among symptoms of social phobia subtypes, avoidant personality disorder, panic, and depression.

This studys primary goal was to examine relations between symptoms of specific social phobia (SSP), generalized social phobia (GSP), avoidant personality disorder (APD), and panic and depression. Past research has suggested a single social phobia continuum in which SSP displays less symptom severity than GSP or APD. We found SSP symptoms correlated less strongly with depression but more strongly with panic relative to both GSP and APD symptoms. These findings challenge a unidimensional model of social phobia, suggesting a multidimensional model may be more appropriate. These findings also inform current research aimed at classifying mood and anxiety disorders more broadly by identifying that the different factors of fear versus distress appear to underlie different subtypes of social phobia.