Overactive conflict-monitoring and separation-distress : cognitive and affective components of obsessive-compulsive disorder ?

This study was designed to investigate the interrelation between cognition and affect inobsessive-compulsiveness/Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Based on established empirical evidence that hyperactive conflict-monitoring is highly correlated both with hyperactivity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and with symptom severity in OCD- and therefore that overactive conflict-monitoring can be conceptualized as a possible mechanism of the disorder - it was hypothesized that hyperactivity of the PANIC/separation-distress emotion system in the brain (which is largely localized in the ACC) would co-vary with conflict-monitoring levels in people with tendencies towards OCD and thus could be considered the correlate of OCD in the affective sphere. Two questionnaires (the Meta-Cognitions Questionnaire and the Padua Inventory) were used to position a non-clinical, college sample of 1119 participants in terms of their tendency towards obsessive-compulsiveness. The top 21 and bottom 20 scorers were then tested to gauge their levels of cognitive conflict-monitoring and separation-distress. Independent-test analysis revealed that the two groups differed significantly on scores of separation distress(as well as on the Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales subscales ANGER,FEAR and PLAY), whilst there was no significant difference in the group scores for conflict-monitoring. Correlational analyses revealed no significant relationships between any of the nine OCD questionnaire factors and conflict-monitoring; similar analyses emphasized differences found for separation-distress scores and provided further, detailed description of relationships between the OCD questionnaire factors and this affective aspect. Implications for neuropsychology are that separation-distress seems likely to be a pivotal emotion involved in OCD.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Psychology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Jackson, Michelle

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Solms, Mark

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8184

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8184