Obsesif Kompulsif Belirtilerin Üstbilişsel Model Temelinde Yordanması: Düşünce-Kaynaşma İnançları, Ritüeller Hakkındaki İnançlar, Durdurma İşaretleri, Düşünce Kontrol Yöntemleri ve Onay Arama

Abstract

The aim of the present study is to gain a deeper understanding of the predictive roles of thought-action fusion beliefs, beliefs about rituals, stop signals, thought control strategies and reassurance seeking in predicting obsessive compulsive symptoms in a metacognitive model. First, the psychometric properties of the Thought-Fusion Inventory, Beliefs About Rituals Inventory and Stop Signals Questionnaire were evaluated in a sample of 120 university students as these scales had not been adapted to Turkish culture before. The validity and reliability of these scales were found to be acceptable. In the subsequent main study the explanatory power of metacognitive beliefs domains in explaining Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptomatology was analysed based on the data obtained from a non-clinical sample of 566 university students. The mediator role of metacognitive thought control strategies and reassurance seeking behaviours in the relationship between metacognitive belief domains and OCD symptoms were also investigated. In addition to the scales given in the preliminary study, the participants were administered the Revision of the Padua Inventory of Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms, Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire-30, The Thought Control Questionnaire, Reassurance-Seeking Questionnaire, The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory and Demografic Information Form in the main study. The findings showed that metacognitive beliefs predict OCD symptomatology when depression and trait anxiety are controlled for and that the strongest predictor for OCD symptoms were thought-fusion beliefs. According to SEM, metacognitive beliefs affected OCD symptoms directly and indirectly through thought control strategies and thought-fusion beliefs affected OCD symptoms directly and indirectly, through reassurance seeking. Stop signals affected OCD symptoms indirectly, through reassurance seeking. In addition to these, spesific metacognitive belief domains were found to trigger thought control strategies used to cope with unwanted thoughts, and thought control strategies in turn were found to contribute to increases in OCD symptom intensity. Increases in OCD symptoms were found to elevate approval seeking behaviors. These findings were discussed in the context of the literature in the field along with suggestions for future studies and the limitations of the current study.