Orçun Yorulmaz

OCD cognitions and symptoms in different religious contexts

Religious themes commonly feature in obsessions. Some theorists view religiosity as a potential risk factor, due to the hypothesized influence of religious acculturation on appraisals of unwanted intrusive thoughts. Several studies revealed that the relationship between religiosity and some OCD cognitions might change among various religions, possibly because of the differences in religious doctrines and teachings. The present study examined the relationship between religiosity and OCD symptoms and cognitions in different religious contexts. In this study, Muslim and Christian subjects from Turkey and Canada, respectively, were compared on OCD features by taking their level of religiosity into consideration. The results showed that having scored higher in OCD symptoms, Muslim participants reported more concerns on their thoughts and controlling them, and they also seemed to use worry strategy to manage their unwanted thoughts. On the other hand, regardless of religion category, high religious subjects reported to experience more obsessional thoughts and checking, while sensitivity on thoughts and emphases on control of thoughts and psychological fusion in morality were more salient for this group. Indeed, degree of religiosity also made a significant difference on thought-action fusion in morality domain especially for Christian subjects. In line with previous findings, the results of the present study support the association between religiosity and OCD even across two monotheistic religions. Besides, the characteristics of the religion might account for the differences in OCD cognitions and symptoms across both religions.

Vulnerability factors in OCD symptoms: cross-cultural comparisons between Turkish and Canadian samples.

Recent findings have suggested some potential psychological vulnerability factors for development of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms, including cognitive factors of appraisal and thought control, religiosity, self-esteem and personality characteristics such as neuroticism. Studies demonstrating these associations usually come from Western cultures, but there may be cultural differences relevant to these vulnerability factors and OC symptoms. The present study examined the relationship between putative vulnerability factors and OC symptoms by comparing non-clinical samples from Turkey and Canada, two countries with quite different cultural characteristics. The findings revealed some common correlates such as neuroticism and certain types of metacognition, including appraisals of responsibility/threat estimation and perfectionism/need for certainty, as well as thought-action fusion. However, culture-specific factors were also indicated in the type of thought control participants used. For OC disorder symptoms, Turkish participants were more likely to utilize worry and thought suppression, while Canadian participants tended to use self-punishment more frequently. The association with common factors supports the cross-cultural validity of some factors, whereas unique factors suggest cultural features that may be operative in cognitive processes relevant to OC symptoms.

The role of magical thinking in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder symptoms and cognitions in an analogue sample

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES In addition to clinical observations exemplifying biased reasoning styles (e.g., overemphasis of thoughts) and particular ritualistic behaviors, it is also empirically supported that magical beliefs are also associated with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms and some cognitions. It should be noted, however, that most empirical studies have been carried out on the samples from Western cultures, even though these beliefs were culturally determined. Thus, more research is needed in order to understand their roles in the OCD symptoms in different cultural contexts. The present study aimed to examine the impact of magical beliefs in OCD symptoms, cognitions and thought control in a non-Western analogue sample from Turkey. METHOD The measures of paranormal beliefs, fusion of thoughts-actions, obsessive beliefs, strategies of thought control and OCD symptoms were administered to an undergraduate sample. RESULT Consistent with findings in the literature, the analyses of group comparisons, correlation and regression showed that even after controlling general negative affect, magical beliefs were still associated with OCD symptoms, some beliefs and control strategies, namely the symptoms of obsessional thoughts and checking, fusions of thoughts and actions in likelihood, faulty beliefs in perfectionism-certainty and punishment. LIMITATIONS Some methodological concerns such as cross-sectional nature, inclusion of only non-clinical sample were major restrictions of the present study. CONCLUSION Evidence that magical thinking is a critical factor in the OCD is supported once more in a different cultural context.

Cultural context, obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms, and cognitions: A preliminary study of three Turkish samples living in different countries

Previous research findings have suggested that recent cognitive accounts of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are valid across different cultural contexts for both clinical and nonclinical samples; however, there is evidence that cultural differences may have an impact on a number of cognitive variables. For this reason, immigration provides an exceptional opportunity for an examination of the role of cultural context in cognitions and possible changes in cultural characteristics. To this end, the present study examined the interrelationships between thought-action fusion, thought control strategies and OCD symptoms in three nonclinical samples, taking the immigration factor into consideration. Thus, the current study included three Turkish sample groups: those who remigrated to Turkey from Bulgaria, those still living in Bulgaria, and those that have always resided in Turkey. The findings of the study supported the role of thought and action fusion and control strategies in OCD symptoms in a cross-cultural context. To illustrate, worry, as a thought control strategy for OCD symptoms, was a common factor in all three sample groups. However, differences were also noted between the groups, despite having the same ethnic origin. Although they immigrated back to Turkey and have been living there for a considerable period of time, the Turkish remigrants retained similar characteristics to the respondents in Bulgaria on cognitions in general. Consequently, it may be suggested that cultural context might have a relative impact on certain correlates. A replication of these findings using different immigration groups and examining various cultural factors is strongly encouraged.

Further Support for Responsibility in Different Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Turkish Adolescents and Young Adults

According to the cognitive model, an inflated sense of responsibility is an important cognitive mediator both in the development and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Empirical findings assign differential roles to responsibility in different kinds of obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. However, findings that suggested a different function for responsibility revealed the need for an operational definition of responsibility and its multi-factorial structure. Few studies have examined the role of responsibility in OC symptoms in adolescents. The present study therefore aimed to explore responsibility concerns and to evaluate the relationship between responsibility dimensions and obsessive-compulsive symptom subgroups in two samples of adolescents and university students in a developing non-Western country. The findings suggested that the Responsibility Attitude Scale had a bifactorial structure, responsibility being based on self-dangerousness and prevention. Adolescents reported more responsibility in prevention and self-dangerousness than university students. The results appear to contribute to the symptom differentiation of OC behaviour by highlighting the importance of both dimensions of responsibility for checking symptoms, responsibility based on danger prevention for cleaning and, finally, responsibility based on self-dangerousness for obsessive thinking. Replication with clinical samples and different methodologies are encouraged.

PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES OF THE OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE INVENTORY-REVISED IN A TURKISH ANALOGUE SAMPLE.

The Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory–Revised (OCI–R) assesses distress associated with the symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). This study reports on the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the OCI–R as a widely known measure. The sample consisted of 319 Turkish university students (67.1% women; M age = 21.5, SD = 2.0). The questionnaire battery included measures of OCD symptoms, specific cognitions, thought control, and personality characteristics. A target rotation analysis supported the factorial validity of the Turkish OCI–R as indicated by its replicability with the original factor structure (i.e., checking, washing, obsessing, hoarding, ordering, and mental neutralizing). High-scoring OCD symptom groups also significantly differed on the Turkish OCI–R and thus presented preliminary evidence for its criterion validity. Correlational analysis supported convergent and divergent validity of the measure, with significant correlations between the Turkish OCI–R and OCD symptoms, OCD-specific beliefs, two thought control strategies (e.g., worry and punishment), and neuroticism, but not with psychoticism or extraversion. The current findings provide initial evidence of sound psychometric properties for the Turkish OCI–R In a nonclinical sample.

Neuroticism and Religiosity: The Role of Obsessive Beliefs, Thought-Control Strategies and Guilt in Scrupulosity and Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms Among Muslim Undergraduates

Neuroticism and religiosity are distal vulnerability factors for OCD phenomenon. The present study aimed to examine the roles of obsessive beliefs (OBs), thought-control strategies, and guilt in the relationship between these vulnerability factors and obsessive–compulsive symptoms (OCSs), specifically scrupulosity symptoms in a Muslim sample via SEM. The sample consisted of 273 university students who filled out a set of questionnaires. The results indicated that neuroticism and the degree of religiosity predict OBs that are positively associated with guilt and self-punishment both of which predict scrupulosity and other OCSs. Findings of the present study were discussed in the context of the related literature.

Magical Thinking and Obsessional Experiences: Mediator Role of Thought Control Strategies -

Research has shown that magical thinking is a critical variable in Obsessive Compulsive (OC) symptoms, as well as in some related cognitions. On the other hand, a number of thought control strategies to address unwanted thoughts have been found to have paradoxical roles in these symptoms, and there is no empirical study investigated the role of these strategies in magical thinking towards OC symptoms. Accordingly, the aim of this study is to explore the association between some specific and maladaptive thought control methods (i.e., worry, punishment and suppression) and magical thinking for obsessional experiences, after controlling for negative affect. A community sample of 496 people completed a self-report measures of their paranormal beliefs, thought control, thought suppression, and symptoms of depression, anxiety and OC in 2015. The results of the correlation analysis indicated a positive association between magical thinking, punishment and suppression, as well as symptoms of OC, depression and general anxiety; after general negative affect was partialled out, these relationships still maintained. Furthermore, a series of hierarchical regression and bootstrapping analyses revealed that paranormal beliefs specifically trigger these two control methods, which in turn contribute to the emergence of symptoms of OC. The findings of the current study seem to concur with cognitive accounts and research and support the paradoxical roles of some control strategies, namely punishment and suppression, in cases with obsessional experiences. Thus, community should be informed about nature of intrusions, the impacts of magical thinking and these thought control strategies.