The purpose of this study was to quantify the extent to which subjective ratings of craving for alcohol in the alcohol-abusing or dependent person (herein, alcoholic) correlate with measurable and specific characteristics of obsessions and compulsions. The Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale modified to reflect obsessionality and compulsivity specifically related to heavy drinking (Y-BOCS-hd)...

The characteristic relentless self-starvation behavior seen in Anorexia Nervosa (AN) has been described as evidence of compulsivity, with increasing suggestion of parallels with addictive behavior. This study used a thematic qualitative analysis to investigate the parallels between compulsive behavior in AN and Substance Use Disorders (SUD). Forty individuals currently suffering from AN complet...

The serotonergic system and the orbitofrontal cortex have been consistently implicated in the pathophysiology of obsessive compulsive disorder. Yet, the relations between these two systems and the ways they interact in producing obsessions and compulsions are poorly understood. The present study tested the hypothesis that pathology of the orbitofrontal cortex leads to a dysregulation of the ser...

Previous research by Rachman and de Silva (1978, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 16, 233-248) and by Salkovskis and Harrison (1984, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 22, 549-552) has shown that abnormal and normal obsessions are similar in content. The present study examined whether the same is true for abnormal and normal rituals. A sample of normal subjects (N = 150) were asked about their idio...

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an 8-session Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for OCD intervention in a nonconcurrent multiple-baseline, across-participants design. Results on self-reported compulsions showed that the intervention produced clinically significant reductions in compulsions by the end of treatment for all participants, with results maintained at 3-month follow-up. Self-...

Memory and metamemory phenomena associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have received much attention in literature dedicated to a better understanding of the doubt and repetition associated with obsessions and compulsions. Following previous work on repeated checking among nonclinical participants, we asked participants to repeatedly turn on, turn off and check a real kitchen stove ...

Objective: To investigate empathic abilities in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compared to control subjects. OCD is characterized by persistent obsessions and compulsions. Previous studies have proposed specific emotion recognition deficits in patients with OCD. The ability to recognize emotion is part of the broad construct of empathy that incorporates mentalizing and experi...

The reliability and validity of the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale were examined according to a multi-trait multi-method approach in a sample of 54 outpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Internal consistency was acceptable but was improved by deletion of items concerning resistance to obsessions and compulsions. Inter-rater reliability was excellent, but test-retest reliab...

Nice guidelines recommend psychological treatment (cognitive–behavioural therapy, involving major elements of exposure and response prevention) as the first-line treatment for obsessive compulsive–disorder (Ocd). in this contribution, the theory and practice of integrated cognitive–behavioural therapy is described. The use of normalizing strategies and re-appraisal of beliefs motivating compuls...