Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T16:20:17.980Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Thought Control Strategies in Adolescents: Links with OCD Symptoms and Meta-Cognitive Beliefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 March 2012

Charlotte Wilson  and
Martin Hall
Charlotte Wilson*
Affiliation:
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Martin Hall
Affiliation:
University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
*
Reprint requests to Charlotte Wilson, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: The perceived control of intrusive thoughts is important in our understanding of a variety of psychological disorders, but particularly in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Little research has explored thought control strategies in younger populations, despite the frequent onset of OCD in childhood. Aims: This study examined thought control strategies and meta-cognitive beliefs in relation to Obsessive Compulsive (OC) interference scores in an adolescent sample. Method: A non-referred sample of 151 adolescents aged 13–16 completed the Thought Control Questionnaire, the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire – Adolescent version, and the Leyton Obsessional Inventory – Child Version. Results: Adolescents reported using distraction and worry as thought control strategies as much as adults, but social control and reappraisal less frequently, with adolescent males also reporting less use of punishment as a strategy. The strategies of worry and punishment, and positive beliefs about worry, uncontrollability and danger beliefs (UCD) and superstition punishment and responsibility beliefs (SPR) predicted OC interference scores. Furthermore, these meta-cognitive beliefs mediated the relationships between punishment and worry and OC interference scores. Conclusions: Given the similarities between our results and those from research exploring these variables in adults, it is proposed that cognitive behavioural models of OCD that have been developed in adult populations may be relevant to adolescents, but that meta-cognitive beliefs about superstition, punishment and responsibility may be important in adolescence.

Keywords

Obsessive-compulsive disorderthought controlmeta-cognitionadolescence
Type
Research Article
Information
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy , Volume 40 , Issue 4 , July 2012 , pp. 438 - 451
Copyright
Copyright © British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2012

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., Whiteside, S., Kalsy, S. A. and Tolin, D. F. (2003). Thought control strategies in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a replication and extension. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 529–540.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amir, N., Cashman, L. and Foa, E. F. (1997). Strategies of thought control in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 35, 775–777.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bacow, T. L., Pincus, D. B., Ehrenreich, J. T. and Brody, L. R. (2009). The metacognitions questionnaire for children: development and validation in a clinical sample of children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 727–736. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.02.013CrossRefGoogle 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. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(02)00011-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berg, C. Z., Whitaker, A., Davies, M., Flament, M. F. and Rapoport, J. L. (1988). The survey form of the Leyton Obsessional Inventory – Child Version: norms from an epidemiological study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27, 759–763. doi:10.1097/00004583-198811000-00017CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cartwright-Hatton, S., Mather, A., Illingworth, V., Brocki, J., Harrington, R. and Wells, A. (2004). Development and preliminary validation of the Meta-cognitions Questionnaire — Adolescent Version. Anxiety Disorders, 18, 411–422. doi:10.1016/S0887-6185(02)00294-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cartwright-Hatton, S., Reynolds, S. and Wilson, C. (2011). Adult models of anxiety and their application to child and adolescent anxiety disorders. In Silverman, W. and Field, A. (Eds.), Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents: research, assessment and intervention (2nd edn.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cartwright-Hatton, S. and Wells, A. (1997). Beliefs about worry and intrusions: The Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire and its correlates. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 11, 279–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Casey, B. J., Getz, S. and Galvan, A. (2008). The adolescent brain. Developmental Review, 28, 62–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, D. A. (2004). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for OCD. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Coles, M. E. and Heimberg, R. G. (2005). Thought control strategies in generalized anxiety disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 29, 47–56. doi:10.1007/s10608-005-1647-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, L. and Barrett, P. (2006). Obsessive-compulsive disorder across developmental trajectory: cognitive processing of threat in children, adolescents and adults. British Journal of Psychology, 97, 95–114. doi:10.1348/000712605X58592CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fehm, L. and Hoyer, J. (2004). Measuring thought control strategies: the thought control questionnaire and a look beyond. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 28, 105–117. doi:0147-5916/04/0200-0105/0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, P. L. and Wells, A. (2005). Experimental modification of beliefs in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a test of the metacognitive model. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 43, 821–829.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gaskell, S. L., Wells, A. and Calam, R. (2001). An experimental investigation of thought suppression and anxiety in children. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 40, 45–56. DOI:10.1348/014466501163472CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gosselin, P., Langlois, F., Freeston, M. H., Ladouceur, R., Laberge, M. and Lemay, D. (2007). Cognitive variables related to worry among adolescents: avoidance strategies and faulty beliefs about worry. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 225–233. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.03.001CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gwilliam, P., Wells, A. and Cartwright-Hatton, S. (2004). Does meta-cognition or responsibility predict obsessive-compulsive symptoms: a test of the metacognitive model. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 11, 137–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, A. G. (2001). I can't sleep, my mind is racing! An investigation of strategies of thought control in insomnia. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 29, 3–11. doi:10.1017/S1352465801001023CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klaczynski, P. A. (2005). Metacognition and cognitive variability: a dual-process model of decision making and its development. In Jacobs, J. E. and Klaczyniski, P. A. (Eds.), The Development of Judgement and Decision Making in Children and Adolescents (pp. 39–77). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Larson, R., Csikszentmihalyi, M. and Graef, R. (1980). Mood variability and the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 469–490. doi:10.1007/BF02089885CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laugesen, N., Dugas, M. J. and Bukowski, W. M. (2003). Understanding adolescent worry: the application of a cognitive model. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 31, 55–64. DOI:10.1023/A:1021721332181CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mather, A. and Cartwright-Hatton, S. (2004). Cognitive predictors of obsessive–compulsive symptoms in adolescence: a preliminary investigation. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 743–749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matthews, L., Reynolds, S. and Derisley, J. (2007). Examining cognitive models of obsessive compulsive disorder in adolescents. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 35, 149–163. doi:10.1017/S1352465806003213CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, E. L. and Abramowitz, J. S. (2007). The cognitive mediation of thought-control strategies. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 1949–1955. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2006.09.013CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morrison, A. P. and Wells, A. (2000). Thought control strategies in schizophrenia: a comparison with non-patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38, 1205–1209. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(99)00153-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myer, S. G., Fisher, P. L. and Wells, A. (2009). Metacognition and cognition as predictors of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: a prospective study. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 2, 132–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preacher, K. J. and Hayes, A. F. (2008a). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40, 879–891.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Preacher, K. J. and Hayes, A. F. (2008b). SPSS Version macro for testing Indirect effects (Macro and Documentation). Retrieved 30 August 2011, from http://www.afhayes.com/spss-sas-and-mplus-macros-and-code.htmlGoogle Scholar
Purdon, C. (1999). Thought suppression and psychopathology. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37, 1029–1054. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00200-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rasmussen, S. A. and Eisen, J. L. (1990). Epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 53, 10–14.Google Scholar
Reynolds, M. and Wells, A. (1999). The Thought Control Questionnaire: psychometric properties in a clinical sample, and relationships with PTSD and depression. Psychological Medicine, 29, 1089–1099. doi:10.1017/S003329179900104XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, S. and Reeves, J. (2008). Do cognitive models of obsessive compulsive disorder apply to children and adolescents? Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36, 463–471. DOI:10.1017/S1352465808004463CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenblum, G. D. and Lewis, M. (2003). Emotional development in adolescence. In Adams, G. R. and Berzonsky, M. D. (Eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Adolescence (pp. 269–289). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.Google Scholar
Roussis, R. and Wells, A. (2006). Post-traumatic stress symptoms: tests of relationships with thought control strategies and beliefs as predicted by the metacognitive model. Personality and Individual Differences, 40, 111–122. DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2005.06.019CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sica, C., Steketee, G., Ghisi, M., Chiri, L. and Franceschini, S. (2007). Meta-cognitive beliefs and strategies predict worry, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and coping styles: a preliminary prospective study on an Italian non-clinical sample. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 14, 258–268.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solem, S., Håland, A. T., Vogel, P. A., Hansen, B. and Wells, A. (2009). Change in metacognitions predicts outcome in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients undergoing treatment with exposure and response prevention. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 47, 301–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steinberg, L. (2008). A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review, 28, 78–106. doi:10.1016/j.dr.2007.08.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Steketee, G., Frost, R., Bhar, S., Bouvard, M., Calamari, J., Carmin, C., et al. (2003). Psychometric validation of the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire and the Interpretation of Intrusions Inventory: Part I. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 863–878.Google Scholar
Tolin, D., Worhunsky, P., Brady, R. and Maltby, N. (2007). The relationship between obsessive beliefs and thought-control strategies in a clinical sample. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 31, 307–318. doi:10.1007/s10608-006-9072-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warda, G. and Bryant, R. A. (1998). Thought control strategies in acute stress disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 1171–1175. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00082-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watkins, E. R. and Moulds, M. L. (2009). Thought control strategies, thought suppression, and rumination in depression. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 2, 235–251. doi:10.1521/ijct.2009.2.3.235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, A. (2005). Worry, intrusive thoughts and generalized anxiety disorder: the metacognitive theory and treatment. In Clark, D. A. (Ed.), Intrusive Thoughts in Clinical Disorders (pp. 119–144). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Wells, A. and Davies, M. I. (1994). The thought control questionnaire: a measure of individual differences in the control of unwanted thoughts. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 32, 871–878. doi:10.1016/0005-7967(94)90168-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wells, A. and Papageorgiou, C. (1998). Relationships between worry, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and meta-cognitive beliefs. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 899–913. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00070-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, T., Salkovskis, P. M., Forrester, L., Turner, S., White, H. and Allsopp, M. A. (2010). A randomised controlled trial of cognitive behavioural treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder in children and adolescents. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 19, 449–456. doi:10.1007/s00787-009-0077-9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, C., Budd, R., Chernin, R., King, H., Leddy, A., Maclennan, F. and Mallandain, I. (2011). The role of meta-cognition and parenting in adolescent worry. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 71–79. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.08.005CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.