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.

[The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire: Adaptation of Its Short Forms to the Turkish and Examination of Their Psychometric Properties]. / Obsesif Inançlar Anketi: Kisa Formlarin Türkçeye Uyarlanmasi ve Psikometrik Özelliklerinin Incelenmesi.

OBJECTIVE: The Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ) is a frequently used instrument in relevant literature for assessment of cognitive biases that play critical roles in appraisal of intrusive experiences in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The questionnaire was initially designed as a 44-item questionnaire, then was shortened to 20 items and lastly was brought down to 9-items. Since so far, only the 44-item version has been available in Turkey, this study aimed to examine psychometric properties of the two shortened OBQ forms in a community sample. METHOD: The study included the data sets of two adult groups on the OBQ and the psychometric tools completed on the OCD symptoms, self-ambivalence and thought action fusion. RESULTS: Results of the explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the Turkish language versions of the OBQ-20 and OBQ-9 had acceptable internal consistency coefficients, similar factor structures to the original studies on the questionnaire, and that, on the bases of the extra modeling tests, the total and the subdimensional scores of both questionnaires were usable for OCD assessments. Moreover as expected, there were significant correlations among these biases, OCD symptoms, self-ambivalence and thought-action fusion.

Public stigma of obsessive compulsive disorder and schizophrenic disorder: Is there really any difference?

A substantial delay for help-seeking is a serious problem for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a heterogeneous and debilitating mental health condition. Stigma is a major barrier to treatment seeking and further cause social and occupational impairment. Lack of comprehensive research led us to examine the public's stigmatizing attitudes towards checking, contamination, sexuality, aggression, and religion-related OCD symptoms, compared to schizophrenia. After reading one of six random case vignettes, 621 adults completed social distance scale. Analysis of Covariance or ANCOVA indicated that social distance towards violence and sexuality-related OCD symptoms and schizophrenia did not differ; but social distance for those was higher than religion, contamination, and checking subtypes. Although the contamination vignette did not differ from religion and checking vignettes, the theme of religion had a higher social distance than checking symptoms. Consequently, the current findings imply that there is a difference in public stigma among various symptoms of OCD and symptoms related to sexuality and violence, as well as schizophrenia, are associated with more social rejection. Thus, the general public needs access to educational methods of intervention and contact to eliminate stigma and improve the quality of life for people with mental health disorders.

The Future of Psychotherapy in Turkey: Predictions for the Next 10 Years.

Making realistic predictions about the future is important in clinical psychology as in many other disciplines. This opinion survey aimed to examine clinical psychologists' predictions for the next 10 years regarding the status of psychotherapy in Turkey in two stages, with 107 participants in one and 69 in the other. The results revealed that the techniques predicted to increase the most in the next decade were the use of eclectic therapy, mindfulness therapy, solution-focused therapy, system/family approaches, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Among the therapeutic interventions expected to increase in popularity were Internet-based programs, smartphone applications, and problem solving. In terms of type of psychotherapists, family counselors with certificate/graduate degrees and Internet-based treatment programs were expected to become more common, whereas it was considered that shorter treatment formats and crisis intervention approaches would be preferred. In sum, the present findings provide a current overview for Turkey and a comparison with other literature findings.

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.

[Assessment of Perceived Parenting Attitudes in Childhood: Turkish Form of the S-EMBU for Children]. / Çocukluk Dönemi Ebeveyn Tutumlarinin Degerlendirilmesi: Kisaltilmis Algilanan Ebeveyn Tutumlari-Çocuk Formu.

OBJECTIVE: Among the instruments aiming to assess perceived parenting attitudes during the childhood period, EMBU (Egna Minnen Barndoms Uppfostran; My memories of upbringing) is one of the frequently used scales. It is a self-report instrument in which adult participants are asked to report their perceptions of the attitudes of their parents during their childhood on the dimensions of emotional warmth, overprotection and rejection, separately for each parent. The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and the validity of the Turkish version of the EMBU, following a previous pilot study which supported its psychometric properties and supported its cross-cultural validity. METHOD: s-EMBU-C The Parental Bonding Instrument, Brief Symptom Inventory, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Abbreviated and and General Self Efficacy Scale were administered to 271 adults living in Bursa. In order to evaluate psychometric properties of s-EMBU-C Explanatory Factor analysis, Pearson's Product Moment Correlation test, and Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) were conducted. RESULTS: The analyses supported the reliability, concurrent, convergent and criterion validities of the Turkish version of the EMBU. CONCLUSION: It may be reported that the Turkish version of the EMBU is a reliable and valid instrument which can be used in research studies aiming to assess perceptions of parental attitudes on different psychological constructs and in clinical practice.

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.

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.

[The psychometric properties of the Inferential Confusion Scale based in Turkish patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder]. / Obsessif-Kompulsif Bozukluk Hastalarinda Cikarimsal Karmasa Olçegi'nin Psikometrik Ozellikleri.

OBJECTIVE: Among the influential cognitive factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), inferential confusion is a cognitive bias, which is described as the acceptance of possibilities as reality in contrast to sensory information. The present study aimed to determine the role of this construct in a clinical sample, and to test the cross-cultural validity of inferential confusion and to determine the psychometric properties of the Inferential Confusion Scale (ICS) in a Turkish clinical sample. METHOD: The study included a group of patients with OCD and other anxiety disorders, and a control group, both of which were administered the ICS, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire- Revised and Abbreviated Form (EPQR-A), Obsessive-Compulsive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI), and Padua Inventory-WSUR. One-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed for group comparisons, while Pearson's Product Moment Correlation test was used to examine interrelationships among the variables. RESULTS: ANCOVA analysis results indicate that OCD patients expressed more concern on the ICS, which had satisfactory reliability values, and this difference remained when controlled for depression and anxiety. In addition, inferential confusion was positively associated with OCD symptoms and relevant cognitive measures; thus, it seems that the Turkish version of the ICS is a reliable and valid instrument for the evaluation of inferential confusion. Furthermore, as with responsibility-threat estimation and depression, inferential confusion was one of the cognitive factors that differentiated the OCD patients from the controls and was a significant predictor of OCD symptoms, beyond other cognitive variables. CONCLUSIONS: In accordance with the literature, the findings of the present study show that the Turkish ICS is a reliable and valid measure for use in Turkey, and that inferential confusion is a critical cognitive factor with an important role in OCD.

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.

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.

[Reliability and validity studies of Turkish translation of Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised-Abbreviated]. / Eysenck Kisilik Anketi-Gözden Geçirilmis Kisaltilmis Formu'nun (EKA-GGK) Türkiye'de geçerlik ve güvenilirlik çalismasi.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and the validity of the Turkish translation of the Eysneck Personality Questionnaire Revised-abbreviated Form (EPQR-A) (Francis et al., 1992), which consists of 24 items that assess neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, and lying. METHOD: The questionnaire was first translated into Turkish and then back translated. Subsequently, it was administered to 756 students from 4 different universities. The Fear Survey Inventory-III (FSI-III), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scales (RSES), and Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran (EMBU-C) were also administered in order to assess the questionnaire's validity. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and validity were subsequently evaluated. RESULTS: Factor analysis, similar to the original scale, yielded 4 factors; the neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, and lie scales. Kuder-Richardson alpha coefficients for the extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, and lie scales were 0.78, 0.65, 0.42, and 0.64, respectively, and the test-retest reliability of the scales was 0.84, 0.82, 0.69, and 0.69, respectively. The relationships between EPQR-A-48, FSI-III, EMBU-C, and RSES were examined in order to evaluate the construct validity of the scale. Our findings support the construct validity of the questionnaire. To investigate gender differences in scores on the subscales, MANOVA was conducted. The results indicated that there was a gender difference only in the lie scale scores. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings largely supported the reliability and validity of the questionnaire in a Turkish student sample. The psychometric characteristics of the Turkish version of the EPQR-A were discussed in light of the relevant literature.

What are the roles of perfectionism and responsibility in checking and cleaning compulsions?

Empirical findings revealed that an inflated sense of responsibility has a major impact on obsessive-compulsive symptomatology (OCS). Another cognitive variable, perfectionism, is also theoretically linked to OCS. The assumption about the insufficient but necessary role of perfectionism for OCS and the view of perfectionism as a manifestation of avoidance of serious consequences led us to explore the role of an important cognitive mediator (responsibility) in this relationship. The present study aimed to explore the mediational role of responsibility for the effects of perfectionism on checking and cleaning symptom profiles of OCS in a nonclinical population in Turkey. Findings of the present study suggested that responsibility appraisals mediate effects of self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism on checking and the effect of socially prescribed perfectionism on cleaning. There was a partial mediation for self-oriented perfectionism on cleaning. The findings are discussed within the scope of current literature and implications for clinical applications are suggested.

Psychometric properties of the Thought-Action Fusion Scale in a Turkish sample.

The aim of the present study was to reveal the cross-cultural utility of the Thought-Action Fusion Scale (TAFS; J. Anxiety Disord. 10 (1996) 379). Thought-action fusion (TAF) refers to the tendency to overvalue the significance and the consequences of thoughts. Two hundred and fifty one undergraduate Turkish students participated in the current study. The reliability and validity analyses of the Turkish version of the scale indicated that the TAFS had adequate psychometric properties in a Turkish sample. Consistent with the original TAF, the Turkish version of TAFS revealed two subscales as TAF-Likelihood and TAF-Morality. Reliability analysis showed that TAF Scale and its factors had adequate internal consistencies and split-half reliability coefficients. Confirming the expectations, TAFS scores were found to be significantly and positively correlated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, responsibility, and guilt measures. Moreover, it was found that people with high obsessive-compulsive symptoms had higher TAFS scores than those with low symptoms.