I am Worried: Do the PSWQ and PSWQ-A Display Measurement Invariance Across Four Racial Groups?

The issue of race within the context of psychological assessment is important, but often overlooked. Many self-report measures of psychopathology have been developed and validated using primarily White samples. Research regarding the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) and race has produced mixed results, which in turn may present challenges when comparing scores across racial groups. The current article sought to investigate the measurement invariance of the PSWQ and PSWQ-A (an abbreviated version) across four racial groups (White, Black, Asian, and Hispanic) in a sample of 2,489 undergraduate students. Confirmatory factor analysis of a one-factor structure illustrated poor fit across all racial groups for the full-length PSWQ. Two-factor and one-factor with method effects models of the full-length PSWQ each improved on the previous model fit, although the one-factor method effects model was limited by nonsalient factor loadings. Additionally, a separate confirmatory factor analysis indicated good fit for the PSWQ-A. Further analysis of the PSWQ-A suggested measurement invariance across all racial groups, as well as configural, metric, and scalar invariance. These findings advance the literature on the relationship between worry and race, suggesting that direct comparisons on the PSWQ-A between racial groups is appropriate.

Factor Structure and Further Validation of the 20-Item Short Form of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire.

A 44-item version of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ-44) put forward by the Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group remains the most widely used version of the OBQ, despite research casting doubt on its factorial validity and the existence of a short form (i.e., OBQ-20). In a large sample of undergraduate students (n = 1,210), a bifactor model of the OBQ-20, consisting of a general factor and four specific factors (threat, responsibility, importance/control of thoughts, perfectionism/certainty), was supported as the best-fitting model. None of the examined OBQ-44 models provided adequate fit. The bifactor model of the OBQ-20 was retained in two independent samples (n = 1,342 community adults, n = 319 undergraduate students). The incremental validity of the specific factors of the OBQ-20 beyond the general factor was evidenced across multiple criterion indices, including obsessive-compulsive symptom measures and reactions to a thought-induction task. Results further support use of the OBQ-20.

Development and Validation of the Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM).

The Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM) is a comprehensive hierarchical measure of personality. The FI-FFM was created across five phases of scale development. It includes five facets apiece for neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness; four facets within agreeableness; and three facets for openness. We present reliability and validity data obtained from three samples. The FI-FFM scales are internally consistent and highly stable over 2 weeks (retest rs ranged from .64 to .82, median r = .77). They show strong convergent and discriminant validity vis-à-vis the NEO, the Big Five Inventory, and the Personality Inventory for DSM-5. Moreover, self-ratings on the scales show moderate to strong agreement with corresponding ratings made by informants ( rs ranged from .26 to .66, median r = .42). Finally, in joint analyses with the NEO Personality Inventory-3, the FI-FFM neuroticism facet scales display significant incremental validity in predicting indicators of internalizing psychopathology.

Experimental modification of dysfunctional interpretations in individuals with contamination concerns.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Dysfunctional interpretations of intrusive thoughts are implicated in the etiology and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Cognitive Bias Modification training for interpretations (CBM-I) has successfully modified dysfunctional interpretations in the context of several disorders, including OCD. However, research regarding CBM-I's impact on symptom reduction and behavior is mixed, which limits its clinical application. Further, support for the specific efficacy of CBM-I in individuals with contamination concerns is limited. The current study aimed to modify dysfunctional interpretations in individuals with contamination concerns, and examine the effect of the modification on both interpretation bias and performance on a behavioral approach task (BAT). METHODS: Participants (N = 74) completed a word-sentence association task by indicating whether a threatening or benign word was related to an ambiguous scenario. The active condition received feedback designed to reduce maladaptive interpretations; the control condition received random feedback. RESULTS: Findings revealed that the active-but not the control-condition showed a significant decrease in interpretation bias for threat cues. Analyses of behavioral effects indicated that when ceiling effects were accounted for, the active condition completed more BAT steps than the control condition (p = 0.06; d = 0.45). LIMITATIONS: The current study is preliminary and requires replication with a clinical sample. CONCLUSIONS: Completion of the CBM-I was beneficial for reducing dysfunctional interpretations relevant to naturally-occurring contamination concerns and, importantly, this reduction may help those individuals approach feared situations.

Schizotypal, Dissociative, and Imaginative Processes in a Clinical OCD Sample.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research in a nonclinical sample has suggested that schizotypal, dissociative, and imaginative processes may play a role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms (Aardema & Wu, ). The present study aims to extend these findings in a clinical sample. METHOD: N = 75 adults (mean age = 37.99; 61.3% female), meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, diagnostic criteria for OCD completed a battery of self-report questionnaires measuring schizotypal, dissociative, and imaginative processes. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analyses revealed inferential confusion and dissociation to be the strongest predictors of OCD symptoms, replicating and extending the findings by Aardema and Wu (). CONCLUSION: Results support the notion that inferential confusion and dissociation are important variables to consider in understanding symptoms of OCD independently from obsessive beliefs and negative mood states.

Examining the symptom-level specificity of negative problem orientation in a clinical sample.

Given the equivocal state of the literature as to the symptom-level specificity of the cognitive variable labeled negative problem orientation (NPO), we targeted NPO-symptom relations. A clinical sample (N = 132) of adults diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, mood disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder completed self-reports of NPO and symptom types (worry, depression, obsessive-compulsive, panic, and social anxiety). Symptom-level specificity was examined using a combination of zero-order and regression analyses that controlled for the other assessed symptoms. Results were that NPO shared small to moderate correlations with the symptoms. Regression results indicated that NPO only shared unique associations with worry, depression, and social anxiety. In the analyses, NPO clustered particularly strongly with worry. The present results provide support for conceptualizing NPO as a cognitive variable common to emotional disorders, but not as related equivalently to all disorders within this category.

The intolerance of uncertainty scale: measurement invariance, population heterogeneity, and its relation with worry among self-identifying White and Black respondents.

Although it is understood that assessment tools require evaluation using diverse samples, such evaluations are relatively rare. There are obstacles to such work, but it remains important to pursue psychometric data in broad samples. As such, we evaluated measurement invariance and population heterogeneity of two versions of a widely used measure in the anxiety literature--the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS)--among self-identifying White (N = 1,185) and Black (N = 301) students. Data from multiple-groups confirmatory factor analysis supported the equivalence of the equal form and factor loadings of both IUS versions in White and Black respondents. However, specific IUS items functioned differently in the two groups, with more IUS items appearing biased in the full-length relative to the short-form version. Correlations between IUS factors and worry were equivalent among White and Black respondents. We discuss the implications of these results for future research.

Assessing behavioural manifestations prior to clinical diagnosis of huntington disease: "anger and irritability" and "obsessions and compulsions".

The Functional Rating Scale Taskforce for pre-Huntington Disease (FuRST-pHD) is a multinational, multidisciplinary initiative with the goal of developing a data-driven, comprehensive, psychometrically sound, rating scale for assessing symptoms and functional ability in prodromal and early Huntington disease (HD) gene expansion carriers. The process involves input from numerous sources to identify relevant symptom domains, including HD individuals, caregivers, and experts from a variety of fields, as well as knowledge gained from the analysis of data from ongoing large-scale studies in HD using existing clinical scales. This is an iterative process in which an ongoing series of field tests in prodromal (prHD) and early HD individuals provides the team with data on which to make decisions regarding which questions should undergo further development or testing and which should be excluded. We report here the development and assessment of the first iteration of interview questions aimed to assess "Anger and Irritability" and "Obsessions and Compulsions" in prHD individuals.

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.

Symptoms of specific and generalized social phobia: an examination of discriminant validity and structural relations with mood and anxiety symptoms.

Current models divide social phobia into specific (SSP) and generalized (GSP) subtypes and suggest strong overlap between GSP and avoidant personality disorder (APD). Meanwhile, other research suggests reclassifying anxiety and mood disorders as fear and distress disorders. To unify these separate lines of research, this study was designed to test the hypothesis that SSP is more related to fear disorders (e.g., panic and phobias), whereas GSP and APD are more related to distress disorders (e.g., depression and generalized anxiety). Confirmatory factor analysis suggested the best-fitting model had symptoms of GSP, APD, and depression loading on one factor, and symptoms of SSP, panic, and specific phobias loading on a second factor. Key components of this model were (a) the inclusion of GAD symptoms reduced model fit and (b) GSP and APD symptoms significantly predicted SSP symptoms; this is consistent with conceptualizations of individuals with both GSP and SSP reporting performance anxiety.

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

This study's 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.

Is worry a thought control strategy relevant to obsessive-compulsive disorder?

Thought control strategies are implicated in the development and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Regarding one strategy - worry - extant data provide equivocal conclusions as to its relevance to OCD. The current study examined whether worry is an OCD-relevant thought control strategy using data from a large (N=376) nonclinical sample. This investigation tested whether worry interacted with obsessive beliefs (perfectionism/certainty; responsibility/threat estimation; importance/control of thoughts) to predict the occurrence of ego-dystonic intrusive thoughts. As expected, worry did interact with obsessive beliefs to predict more reported intrusions. Contrary to expectations, worry interacted with all three assessed belief dimensions. These results provide support for conceptualizing worry as an OCD-relevant thought control strategy, which has both conceptual and therapeutic implications.

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.

Relations between perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: examination of specificity among the dimensions.

There is longstanding interest in a purported relation between perfectionism and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), but many previous studies have either inconsistently measured one of the constructs or not accounted for shared distress variance. These two studies investigated whether different measures of perfectionism showed unique correlations with obsessive-compulsive symptoms after accounting for depression and the cognitive domain of responsibility/threat estimation, which both are related strongly to OCD. Contrary to previous research, results were that both measures of perfectionism evidenced significant unique correlations with OCD beyond variance contributed by the other predictors. Further, the strength of association was substantially greater than the (statistically significant) perfectionism-depression partial correlation. Conversely, content conceptualized as "adaptive" perfectionism showed no correlation with any obsessive-compulsive symptoms, but had a significant negative correlation with depression. Possible reasons for both convergence and discrepancy with previous research are discussed.

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.

Social isolation in prairie voles induces behaviors relevant to negative affect: toward the development of a rodent model focused on co-occurring depression and anxiety.

Recent evidence suggests substantial overlap between mood and anxiety disorders, both in clinical presentation and associated features. A theoretical framework to account for this overlap focuses on negative affectivity, defined as the disposition to experience negative emotional states, including fear, sadness, and guilt. This model has been successful in explaining the co-occurrence of depressive and anxiety disorders in humans. As a next step, development of an animal model focused on both depression- and anxiety-relevant behaviors may advance understanding of depression-anxiety symptom overlap, relations of these disorders with associated medical conditions and responses to treatment. This study was designed to investigate inducible and quantifiable depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Adult, female prairie voles were exposed to 4 weeks of social pairing (control) or isolation, an established stressor for socially monogamous mammals (including humans). Operational measures of depression (sucrose intake and behaviors in the forced swim test), anxiety (behaviors in the elevated plus maze), and aggression (responses to an unrelated prairie vole pup) were investigated. Social isolation induced a progressive decline in sucrose intake and increased immobility time during the forced swim test. Social isolation also decreased the amount of time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, and increased pup-directed attack behavior. The current findings suggest that isolation induces behaviors reflecting elevated negative affect. These results may provide a foundation for creating a rodent model to examine the mechanisms underlying comorbid mood and anxiety disorders.

Further investigation of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire: factor structure and specificity of relations with OCD symptoms.

Cognitive models of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) posit that certain beliefs are important to the development and maintenance of OCD symptoms. The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ) is a new measure developed to assess these beliefs. Supported by initial research, this study further examined the OBQ, focusing on structural issues and its relations with OCD and other symptoms. Results were that previous 3- and 4-factor models did not fit the current data adequately using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). However, a modified 3-factor model was generated using exploratory factor analysis and subsequently supported using CFA. The OBQ showed specific relevance to OCD and not to Panic Disorder or Major Depression once general distress was controlled. Only modest specificity was found within relations between OBQ scales and particular OCD scales, such as those involving beliefs about Perfectionism/Certainty and OCD rituals pertaining to symmetry, ordering, arranging, and grooming.

Specificity and structure of obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms.

Research in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) shows heterogeneous symptoms. No longer satisfied with categorizations of obsessions or compulsions, contemporary symptom measures are multidimensional and assess specific symptoms (e.g., checking, washing) as well as experiences bearing a putative relation to OCD (e.g., hoarding). This two-study correlational design examined three OCD measures in student samples (total N=805). Objectives were to evaluate (a) the measures' joint factor structure; (b) specificity of relations between OCD and symptoms of general distress, panic, and depression; and (c) the pattern of convergent and discriminant relations among OCD scales after accounting for general distress. Results were that both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a five-factor structure: checking, contamination, rituals, impulses, and hoarding. Scales showed meaningful patterns of relations with general distress, panic, and depression. That is, OCD symptoms correlated moderately with general distress and panic, but related more weakly to depression. Parallel scales measuring the five domains were reliable and showed strong convergence across instruments. After accounting for general distress, discriminant validity was found: Mono-trait correlations between instruments were the highest correlations overall and were substantially higher than hetero-trait values either within or between instruments. We discuss the importance of understanding relations among OCD measures, between OCD and other symptoms, and implications of this type of analysis for defining OCD.

A self-report version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist: psychometric properties of factor-based scales in three samples.

Current research in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) recognizes substantial symptom heterogeneity and emphasizes dimensional assessment of core domains. This study administered a self-report version of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Symptom Checklist to OCD patients (n=53), non-OCD psychiatric patients (n=96), and students (n=419). Factor analyses of category- versus item-level data produced different solutions (4 or 5 vs. 3 factors, respectively), but support a multidimensional framework for OCD symptoms. For between-groups analyses, the two patient groups scored significantly higher than students on nearly all dimensions. However, OCD and non-OCD patients differed significantly only on Symmetry/Ordering symptoms. These findings provide novel data concerning this instrument and suggest that most of its scales may not distinguish OCD patients clearly when administered in this manner. We provide recommendations for improving subsequent self-report versions but caution users not to over-extend its intended use.

Relations between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and personality: beyond Axis I-Axis II comorbidity.

Most research on relations between Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and personality addresses only comorbidity rates between OCD and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). We first investigated empirical OCD-OCPD relations, but then also examined patterns of dimensional traits in OCD patients versus students and general outpatients. Results did not support a specific OCD-OCPD relation and the implications of this conclusion are discussed. Regarding traits, OCD patients shared with other patients elevated negative affectivity and lower positive affectivity. Differences on several lower order dimensions, including lower scores on manipulativeness, mistrust, and disinhibition distinguished the personality profile of OCD patients from others. Also noteworthy was a pattern of very low self-image for OCD patients, as suggested by the combination of low self-esteem and low entitlement scores. Overall, OCD patients showed a more specific pattern of personality pathology than did general outpatients, who were elevated more generally across personality disorders and negative affectivity scales.