Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T09:04:35.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Magical Thinking in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Bonnie West  and
Paul Willner
Bonnie West*
Affiliation:
Brynmair Clinic, Llanelli, Hywel Dda Health Board, Wales
Paul Willner
Affiliation:
Swansea University, Wales
*
Reprint requests to Bonnie West, Psychology Department, Brynmair Clinic, 11 Goring Road, Llanelli SA15 3HF, Wales. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Magical thinking (MT), which has historically been associated with psychotic disorders, has more recently been found to be a central cognitive construct in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) that is associated with a poor prognosis (Einstein and Menzies, 2008). Although MT has been found to distinguish OCD from Panic Disorder (PD) (Einstein and Menzies, 2006), little is known about its role in other anxiety disorders. Aims: This study aimed to compare whether elevated levels of magical thinking could distinguish individuals with OCD from non-anxious controls and individuals with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Method: The Magical Ideation Scale (MIS, Eckblad and Chapman, 1983) was used to compare levels of magical thinking in groups of individuals with OCD (n = 40), GAD (n = 15), and a normal control group (n = 19). Results: As expected, the mean MIS score of the OCD group was significantly higher than that of the non-clinical group. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between the mean MIS scores of the OCD and GAD group. However, the results of correlational analyses suggest that it may have differing roles in these disorders. Conclusions: Although elevated MT is evident in individuals with OCD, it may not be specific to OCD and may also be prominent in GAD. Further research is recommended to elucidate the exact role of this construct in these disorders.

Keywords

Magical thinkingobsessive-compulsive disordergeneralized anxiety disorder
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 39 , Issue 4 , July 2011 , pp. 399 - 411
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramowitz, J. S. and Deacon, B. J. (2006). Psychometric properties and construct validity of the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory – Revised: replication and extension with a clinical sample. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 20, 1016–1035.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abramowitz, J. S., Nelson, C. A., Rygwall, R. and Khandker, M. (2007). The cognitive mediation of obsessive compulsive symptoms: a longitudinal study. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 21, 91–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abramowitz, J., Whiteside, S., Lynam, D. and Kalsy (2003). Is thought-action fusion specific to obsessive-compulsive disorder? A mediating role of negative affect. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 1069–1079.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.). Washington: Author.Google Scholar
Americal Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-Text Revision (DSM-IV- TR). Washington: Author.Google Scholar
Amir, N., Freshman, M., Ramsey, B., Neary, E. and Brigidi, B. (2001). Thought-action fusion in individuals with OCD symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 765–776.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barlow, D. H. (2002). Anxiety and its Disorders: the nature and treatment of anxiety and panic (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Barrett, P. M. and Healy, L. J. (2003). An examination of the cognitive processes involved in childhood obsessive compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 285–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G. and Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 893–897.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beck, A. T. and Steer, R. A. (1990). Manual for the Beck Anxiety Inventory. San Antonio: Harcourt.Google Scholar
Behar, E., Alcaine, O., Zuellig, A. R. and Borkovec, T. D. (2003). Screening for generalized anxiety disorder using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire: a receiver operating characteristic analysis. Journal of Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 34, 25–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berle, D. and Starcevic, V. (2005). Thought-action fusion: review of the literature and future directions. Clinical Psychology Review, 25, 263–284.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bocci, L. and Gordon, P. K. (2007). Does MT produce neutralizing behaviour? An experimental investigation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1823–1833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, D., Dearsley, P., Madronal-Luque, R. and Baron-Cohen, S. (2002). MT in childhood and adolescence: development in relation to obsessive compulsion. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20, 479–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borkovec, T. D. (1994). The nature, functions, and origins of worry. In Davey, G. and Tallis, F. (Eds.), Worrying: perspectives on theory, assessment and treatment (pp. 5–33). Sussex: Wiley.Google Scholar
Borkovec, T. D. and Inz, J. (1990). The nature of worry in generalized anxiety disorder: a predominance of thought activity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 153–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Borkovec, T. D., Hazlett-Stevens, H. and Diaz, M. L. (1999). The role of positive beliefs about worry in generalized anxiety disorder and its treatment. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 6, 126–138.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, T. A., Anthony, M. M. and Barlow, D. H. (1992). Psychometric properties of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire in a clinical anxiety sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30, 33–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, T. A., Moras, K., Zinbarg, R. E. and Barlow, D. H. (1993). Diagnostic and symptom distinguishability of generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Behavior Therapy, 24, 237–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claridge, G. S. (1997). Schizotypy: implications for illness and health. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comer, J. S., Kendall, P. C., Franklin, M. E., Hudson, J. L. and Pimental, S. S. (2004). Obsessing/worrying about the overlap between obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in youth. Clinical Psychology Review, 24, 663–683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Craske, M. G., Rapee, R. M., Jackel, L. and Barlow, D. H. (1989). Qualitative dimensions of worry in DSM-IIIR generalized anxiety disorder subjects and nonanxious controls. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 27, 397–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckblad, M. and Chapman, L. (1983). Magical ideation as an indicator of schizotypy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 215–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Einstein, D. A. and Menzies, R. G. (2004a). Role of MT in obsessive-compulsive symptoms in an undergraduate sample. Depression and Anxiety, 19, 174–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einstein, D. A. and Menzies, R. G. (2004b). The presence of magical thinking in obsessive compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 42, 539–549.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Einstein, D. A. and Menzies, R. G. (2006). Magical thinking in obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and the general community. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 34, 351–357.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Einstein, D. A. and Menzies, R. G. (2008). Does magical thinking improve across treatment for obsessive compulsive disorder? Behaviour Change, 25, 149–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairfax, H. (2008). The use of mindfulness in obsessive compulsive disorder: suggestions for its application and integration in existing treatment. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 17, 169–176.Google Scholar
Foa, E. B., Huppert, J. D., Leiberg, S., Langner, R., Kichic, R. and Hajcak, G. (2002). The Obsessive Compulsive Inventory: development and validation of a short version. Psychological Assessment, 14, 485–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hazlett-Stevens, H., Zucker, B. G. and Craske, M. G. (2002). The relationship of thought-action fusion to pathological worry and generalized anxiety disorder. Behaviour and Research Therapy, 40, 1199–1204.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hodgson, R. J. and Rachman, S. (1977). Obsessional-compulsive complaints. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 15, 389–395.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, H. J., Cougle, J. R. and Telch, M. J. (2005). Thought-action fusion and its relationship to schizotypy and OCD symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 29–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leyfer, O. T., Ruberg, J. L. and Woodruff-Borden, J. (2006). Examination of the utility of the Beck Anxiety inventory and its factors as a screener for anxiety disorders. Anxiety Disorders, 20, 444–458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mackenzie, T. B., Christenson, G. and Kroll, J. (1990). Obsession or worry? American Journal of Psychiatry, 147, 1573.Google ScholarPubMed
Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L. and Borkovec, T. D. (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 487–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Molina, S. and Borkovec, T. D. (1994). The Penn State Worry Questionnaire: psychometric properties and associated characteristics. In Davey, G. C. L. and Tallis, F. (Eds.), Worrying: perspectives on theory, assessment and treatment (pp. 265–283). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Moulding, R. and Kyrios, M. (2006). Anxiety disorders and control related beliefs: the exemplar of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 573–583.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norman, R., Davies, F., Malla, K., Cortese, L. and Nicholson, (1996). Relationship of obsessive compulsive symptomatology to anxiety, depression and schizotypy in a clinical population. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 35, 553–566.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Piaget, J. P. (1929). The Child's Conception of the World. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Rassin, R. E., Diepstraten, P., Merckelbach, H. and Muris, P. (2001). Thought-action fusion and thought suppression in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 757–764.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rassin, E., Merckelbach, H., and Muris, P. and Schmidt, H. (2001). The Thought-Action Fusion Scale: further evidence for its reliability and validity. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 537–544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuels, J. F., Bienvenu, J., Pinto, J., Fyer, A. J., McCracken, J. T., Rauch, S. L., et al. (2007). Hoarding in obsessive–compulsive disorder: results from the OCD Collaborative Genetics Study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 673–686.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Segal, Z. V., Williams, J. M. C. and Teasdale, J. (2002). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: a new approach to preventing relapse. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Shafron, R., Thordarson, D. and Rachman, S. (1996). Thought-action fusion in obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 10, 379–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shut, A. J., Castonguay, L. G. and Borkovec, T. D. (2001). Compulsive checking behaviours in generalized anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 57, 705–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternberger, L. G. and Burns, G. L. (1990). Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Inventory: obsessions and compulsions in a nonclinical sample. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28, 337–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tallis, F. and De Silva, P. (1992). Worry and obsessional symptoms: a correlational analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 30, 103–105.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, S. (1998). Assessment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In Swinson, R. P., Antony, M. M., Rachman, S. and Richter, M. A. (Eds.), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: theory, research and treatment (pp. 229–257). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Tolin, D. F., Abramovitz, J. S., Kozak, M. J. and Foa, E. B. (2001). Fixity of belief, perceptual aberration, and magical ideation in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anxiety Disorders, 15, 501–510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Townsend, H., Weissbekker, K. A., Barbee, J. G., Peña, J. M., Snider, L. M., Tynes, L., Tynes, S. F., Boudoin, C., Green-Leibovitz, M. I. and Winstead, D. K. (1999). Compulsive behaviour in generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 187, 697–699.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turner, S. M., Beidel, D. C. and Stanley, M. A. (1992). Are obsessional thoughts and worry different cognitive phenomena? Clinical Psychology Review, 12, 257–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders: a practical manual and conceptual guide. Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar
Wells, A. and Papageorgiou, C. (1998). Relationships between worry, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and metacognitive beliefs. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 899–913.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zebb, B. J. and Moore, M. C. (2003). Superstitiousness and perceived anxiety control as predictors of psychological distress. Anxiety Disorders, 17, 115–130.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.