An empirical test of the metacognitive model of obsessive-compulsive symptoms: fusion beliefs, beliefs about rituals, and stop signals

J Anxiety Disord. 2009 May;23(4):436-42. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.08.007. Epub 2008 Sep 3.

Abstract

The metacognitive model of obsessive-compulsive symptoms [Wells, A. (1997). Cognitive therapy of anxiety disorders: a practice manual and conceptual guide. Chichester, UK: Wiley] emphasizes three types of metacognitive knowledge in the etiology and maintenance of symptoms: thought fusion beliefs, beliefs about the need to perform rituals, and criteria that signal rituals can be stopped. We tested the model using a series of hierarchical regression analyses. Results showed that each metacognitive domain when entered in their hypothesized causal sequence explained incremental variance in two different measures of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, with worry controlled. These incremental relationships remained when non-metacognitive beliefs (e.g., responsibility and perfectionism) which have been linked to obsessive-compulsive symptoms in other theories were controlled. Results provide further support for the metacognitive model.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Affect
  • Anxiety Disorders / diagnosis
  • Anxiety Disorders / epidemiology
  • Anxiety Disorders / psychology
  • Arousal
  • Attitude to Health*
  • Ceremonial Behavior*
  • Cognition
  • Culture*
  • Empirical Research*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / epidemiology
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / psychology
  • Psychological Theory
  • Reinforcement, Psychology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult