Pathways to inflated responsibility beliefs in adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder: a preliminary investigation

Background: An inflated sense of responsibility is characteristic of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). No previous studies have investigated its origins. Five potential pathways to inflated responsibility beliefs have been proposed; these are tested in this study. Method: A novel measure, the Origins Questionnaire for Adolescents (OQA), was developed to assess experiences on these five pathways. Reliability of the OQA was investigated. The experiences on the five pathways to inflated responsibility beliefs of sixteen adolescents with a history of OCD were compared to sixteen adolescents with no history of OCD. Parents also reported on adolescents’ experiences on the five pathways. Results: Inter-rater reliability was high. The internal consistency of the subscales were only partly satisfactory. The groups differed on one pathway; the clinical group reported a higher sense of responsibility for significant incidents with a negative outcome prior to onset of OCD. Conclusions: An inflated sense of responsibility, in combination with the occurrence of specific incidents, might act as a vulnerability factor for development of OCD. Future research should consider how to measure the subtle effects of experiences of responsibility over the course of development.

An experimental manipulation of responsibility in children: a test of the inflated responsibility model of obsessive-compulsive disorder

The objective of this study was to investigate whether Salkovskis (1985) inflated responsibility model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) applied to children. In an experimental design, 81 children aged 9– 12 years were randomly allocated to three conditions: an inflated responsibility group, a moderate responsibility group, and a reduced responsibility group. In all groups children were asked to sort sweets according to whether or not they contained nuts. At baseline the groups did not differ on children’s self reported anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive symptoms or on inflated responsibility beliefs. The experimental manipulation successfully changed children’s perceptions of responsibility. During the sorting task time taken to complete the task, checking behaviours, hesitations, and anxiety were recorded. There was a significant effect of responsibility level on the behavioural variables of time taken, hesitations and check; as perceived responsibility increased children took longer to complete the task and checked and hesitated more often. There was no between-group difference in children’s self reported state anxiety. The results offer preliminary support for the link between inflated responsibility and increased checking behaviours in children and add to the small but growing literature suggesting that cognitive models of OCD may apply to children.

Cognitive appraisals in young people with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Background: A number of cognitive appraisals have been identified as important in the manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adults. There have, however, been few attempts to explore these cognitive appraisals in clinical groups of young people. Method: This study compared young people aged between 11 and 18 years with OCD (N ¼ 28), young people with other types of anxiety disorders (N ¼ 28) and a non-clinical group (N ¼ 62) on three questionnaire measures of cognitive appraisals. These were inflated responsibility (Responsibility Attitude Scale; Salkovskis et al., 2000), thought–action fusion – likelihood other (Thought–Action Fusion Scale; Shafran, Thordarson & Rachman, 1996) and perfectionism (Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale; Frost, Marten, Luhart & Rosenblate, 1990). Results: The young people with OCD had significantly higher scores on inflated responsibility, thought–action fusion – (likelihood other), and one aspect of perfectionism, concern over mistakes, than the other groups. In addition, inflated responsibility independently predicted OCD symptom severity. Conclusions: The results generally support a downward extension of the cognitive appraisals held by adults with OCD to young people with the disorder. Some of the results, however, raise issues about potential developmental shifts in cognitive appraisals. The findings are discussed in relation to implications for the cognitive model of OCD and cognitive behavioural therapy for young people with OCD. Keywords: Cognitive models, inflated responsibility, obsessive-compulsive disorder, perfectionism, thought–action fusion. Abbreviations: ADIS-C: Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Children; ADIS-P: Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for Parents; E/RP: Exposure/Response Prevention; LOI-CV: Leyton Obsessional Inventory – Child Version; MPS: Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale; OCD: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; RAS: Responsibility Attitude Scale; TAF-LO: Thought–Action Fusion – (Likelihood Other).

Examining Cognitive Models of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in Adolescents

Abstract. Three influential theoretical models of OCD focus upon the cognitive factors of inflated responsibility (Salkovskis, 1985), thought-action fusion (Rachman, 1993) and meta-cognitive beliefs (Wells and Matthews, 1994). Little is known about the relevance of these models in adolescents or about the nature of any direct or mediating relationships between these variables and OCD symptoms. This was a cross-sectional correlational design with 223 non-clinical adolescents aged 13 to 16 years. All participants completed questionnaires measuring inflated responsibility, thought-action fusion, meta-cognitive beliefs and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Inflated responsibility, thought-action fusion and metacognitive beliefs were significantly associated with higher levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These variables accounted for 35% of the variance in obsessive-compulsive symptoms, with inflated responsibility and meta-cognitive beliefs both emerging as significant independent predictors. Inflated responsibility completely mediated the effect of thoughtaction fusion and partially mediated the effect of meta-cognitive beliefs. Support for the downward extension of cognitive models to understanding OCD in a younger population was shown. Findings suggest that inflated responsibility and meta-cognitive beliefs may be particularly important cognitive concepts in OCD. Methodological limitations must be borne in mind and future research is needed to replicate and extend findings in clinical samples. Keywords: Obsessive compulsive disorder, adolescents, cognitive models.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder across developmental trajectory: Cognitive processing of threat in children, adolescents and adults

Background. While the cognitive theory of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most widely accepted accounts of the maintenance of the disorder in adults, no study to date has systematically evaluated the theory across children, adolescence and adults with OCD. Method. This paper investigated developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat in a sample of children, adolescents and adults with OCD. Using an idiographic assessment approach, as well as self-report questionnaires, this study evaluated cognitive appraisals of responsibility, probability, severity, thought-action fusion (TAF), thought-suppression, self-doubt and cognitive control. It was hypothesised that there would be age related differences in reported responsibility for harm, probability of harm, severity of harm, thought suppression, TAR self-doubt and cognitive control. Results. Results of this study demonstrated that children with OCD reported experiencing fewer intrusive thoughts, which were less distressing and less uncontrollable than those experienced by adolescents and adults with OCD. Furthermore, responsibility attitudes, probability biases and thought suppression strategies were higher in adolescents and adults with OCD. Cognitive processes of TAF, perceived severity of harm, self-doubt and cognitive control were found to be comparable across age groups. Conclusions. These results suggest that the current cognitive theory of OCD needs to address developmental differences in the cognitive processing of threat. Furthermore, for a developmentally sensitive theory of OCD, further investigation is warranted into other possible age related maintenance factors. Implications of this investigation and directions for future research are discussed.

On estimation and influence diagnostics for zero-inflated negative binomial regression models

The zero-inflated negative binomial model is used to account for overdispersion detected in data that are initially analyzed under the zero-Inflated Poisson model A frequentist analysis a jackknife estimator and a non-parametric bootstrap for parameter estimation of zero-inflated negative binomial regression models are considered In addition an EM-type algorithm is developed for performing maximum likelihood estimation Then the appropriate matrices for assessing local influence on the parameter estimates under different perturbation schemes and some ways to perform global influence analysis are derived In order to study departures from the error assumption as well as the presence of outliers residual analysis based on the standardized Pearson residuals is discussed The relevance of the approach is illustrated with a real data set where It is shown that zero-inflated negative binomial regression models seems to fit the data better than the Poisson counterpart (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved

Addressing shortcomings in the Household Responsibility System - Empirical analysis of the Two-Farmland System in Shandong Province

Despite apparent overwhelming benefits, implementation of the Household Responsibility System (HRS) in China contained a number of flaws. The Two-Farmland System (TFS), which originated in Pingdu City in Shandong Province, sought to address the twin problems of land fragmentation and economies of size. A stochastic frontier production function analysis that isolates the impacts of land allocation reforms suggests that the TFS increased efficiency by around 7%. This article highlights the need for empirical analysis to assess objectively the merits or otherwise of particular reforms. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

The limits of environmental responsibility - A stormwater case study

The motivation for concern about the environment beyond one's neighborhood is still relatively poorly understood. This article examines the determinants of feelings of responsibility at a regional watershed level. Using demographic, attitudinal, self-reported behavior and neighborhood mapping measures from four cities in Australia, five hypotheses were derived. These were that wider environmental concerns would depend on (a) the physical and social characteristics of the respondents' neighborhoods, (b) the size of their perceived neighborhoods, (c) the length of residence at their localities, (d) educational level and attitudes toward environmental moral responsibility (and the interaction between them), and (e) the level of reported environmentally friendly behavior. Support was gained for all hypotheses except length of residence and the role of general moral attitudes toward the environment. It is concluded that to explain community action at the regional level, it is important to include both spatial and psychological insights and methodologies in research.

Gifted: the monolingualism of corporate social responsibility

Acts of Corporate Social Responsibility are more often than not portrayed as success-story narratives. A quasi-ethnographic study in Senegal shatters the underlying assumptions of these accounts. First a computer donation from a Northern country is described with all the usual incidents and related vocabulary. Later, during a visit to a Senegalese rubbish dump, the story starts to falter, as countless questions arise about what is actually going on there, and how we can know and represent it (both as a portrayal and as a voice). A tipping point in an interview serves to reveal the ambiguities of the position adopted and the difficulties of expressing oneself in a different language. The CSR language is described as a kind of monolingualism, which employs a particular vocabulary and grammar for what is said or thought. This is the monolingualism of the other. Some of the implications of this monolingualism are examined, and this leads to the conclusion that there is a need to take measures with regard to the CSR language and that more than one language is needed to speak about CSR.

Corporate social responsibility practices at brazilian firms

Corporate Social Responsibility practices have been on the rise in recent years in firms all over the world. Brazil, as one of the most important countries emerging on the international scene, is no exception to this, with more and more firms taking up these practices. The present study focuses on analyzing the corporate social responsibility practices that Brazilian companies engage into. The sample used is comprised of 500 firms grouped by geographical area; the theoretical framework is based on stakeholder and institutional theories; and the technique used for the analysis is the biplot, more specifically the HJ Biplot and cluster analysis. From the results obtained it is possible to infer that the CSR variables corresponding to environmental practices are more closely linked to companies located in the northern areas of Brazil. Social and community practices are related to companies primarily in the southern and northeastern regions of the country.