Update and validation of the Beliefs about Losing Control Inventory-II (BALCI-II): a psychometric investigation.

The Beliefs about Losing Control Inventory (BALCI) was developed to assess negative beliefs about losing control in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Since its creation, research and theoretical work support negative beliefs about losing control as a potential transdiagnostic construct. The present study revised and expanded the original BALCI to be more inclusive of control-related concerns beyond those that would be expected in OCD (e.g. concerns about losing control over how one comes across to others in social anxiety disorder; SAD). Undergraduate students (N = 440) completed a questionnaire battery including the BALCI-II item pool. An exploratory factor analysis of the 32-item BALCI-II supported a four-factor solution. Three of the identified factors capture the feared consequences of losing control: 1) overwhelming emotions, 2) dangerous behaviour, and 3) madness. The fourth factor captures inflated beliefs about probability/severity of those losses. The BALCI-II was found to have good convergent and divergent validity, good to excellent internal, and retest reliability and was shown to have predictive utility in both OCD and SAD, above and beyond existing disorder-specific maladaptive belief domains. Results suggest the BALCI-II is an improvement over the previous version and supports the relevance of these beliefs beyond OCD.

At the mercy of myself: A thematic analysis of beliefs about losing control.

PURPOSE: Concerns about the likelihood, consequences, and meaning of losing control are commonplace across anxiety-related disorders. However, several experimental studies have suggested that individuals without a diagnosis of a mental disorder also believe that they can and will lose control under the right circumstances. Understanding the range of beliefs about the nature and consequences of losing control can help us to better understand the continuum of negative beliefs about losing control. METHODS: The present study used thematic analysis to identify common beliefs about losing control in an unselected sample. Twenty-one participants, half of whom met criteria for at least one anxiety-related disorder, were interviewed about their beliefs about losing control. RESULTS: All 21 participants reported that losing control was possible. Losses of control were defined as multifaceted cognitive-behavioural processes and were seen as negative considering the perceived consequences of the losses. Commonly described consequences were harm to oneself or others, powerlessness, and unpleasant emotions during (e.g., sadness, frustration, and anxiety) and following (e.g., regret, shame, and humiliation) a loss of control. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that perceived losses of control are common and that negative beliefs about losing may only become problematic when the losses are personally significant. Further, they offer important insight into what is common among clinical and non-clinical beliefs about losing control and inform how these beliefs might be worth targeting in cognitive and behavioural interventions.

What's control got to do with it? A systematic review of control beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Current conceptualizations of control-related beliefs in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have largely been limited to beliefs about the need to control thoughts. Although growing evidence supports the notion of considering broader control-related constructs in this disorder, there has been limited research aimed at integrating findings across studies, making it difficult to determine how different control-related beliefs may influence OCD symptoms. The current review sought to systematically analyze findings from all studies investigating the relationship between control beliefs and OCD. The systematic search identified 157 eligible articles that assessed the relationship between control beliefs and OCD symptoms. Results suggested that certain control beliefs (e.g., importance of/need to control of thoughts, sense of control, beliefs about losing control) may be more closely associated with OCD than others (e.g., locus of control, and desire for control). In general, control beliefs were positively associated with OCD, with effect sizes ranging from small to large depending on the symptom domain. Based on limited studies, the only control belief which demonstrated specificity to OCD was ICT. Findings support the importance of integrating additional control beliefs in conceptualizations of OCD and provide evidence to support the benefits of targeting these beliefs in cognitive behavioural therapy.

Always Saying the Wrong Thing: Negative Beliefs About Losing Control Cause Symptoms of Social Anxiety.

Background: Individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD) often report a fear that they will lose control of their emotions or report intense, unpleasant thoughts or images of uncontrollably humiliating themselves in social situations. These fears and associated beliefs that one is likely to lose control may underlie the anxiety and/or cognitive biases (e.g., self-focused attention and negative post-event processing) experienced during and following social situations. The present experiment examined whether manipulating beliefs about losing control would cause changes in symptoms of SAD. Methods: One hundred and twenty-six undergraduate psychology students were given false feedback that they were either at high or low risk of losing control, and then completed a social interaction task with an actor. Participants rated their anxiety before and during the interaction and completed a post-event processing questionnaire 24-hours later. Results: Participants in the high beliefs about losing control (HLC) condition reported significantly greater subjective anxiety than those in the low beliefs about losing control (LLC) condition leading up to the social interaction task, and significantly more negative post-event processing. Conclusion: Results suggest beliefs about losing control may play a causal role in the development and maintenance of SAD. These beliefs may represent a novel domain to be targeted in CBT. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10608-022-10325-w.

Intranasal oxytocin increases state anhedonia following imagery training of positive social outcomes in individuals lower in extraversion, trust-altruism, and openness to experience.

Psychological disorders such as major depressive disorder are characterised by interpersonal difficulties and anhedonia. A cognitive mechanism proposed to contribute to the maintenance of these problems is a diminished ability to generate positive mental imagery, especially regarding social interactions. The current study examined whether the effects of social imagery training on social activity and anhedonia could be enhanced with the addition of intranasal oxytocin, and whether these effects might be augmented in persons with a high propensity to engage socially (i.e., high extraversion). University students (N = 111) were randomised to self-administer intranasal oxytocin or placebo, followed by a single session of positive social or non-social imagery training that required participants to imagine 64 positive scenarios occurring in either a social or non-social context, respectively. There were no main effects of imagery type and drug, and no interaction effect on anhedonia and social activity, measured respectively via self-report and a behavioural task. Individuals low in extraversion, trust-altruism, and openness to experience reported significantly more anhedonia after receiving oxytocin relative to placebo, but only following imagery training of positive social outcomes. Results highlight the negative consequences of increasing oxytocin bioavailability after priming social contact in more withdrawn individuals.