Effects of modifying interpretation bias on repetitive negative thinking in individuals with elevated obsessive-compulsive symptoms

Abstract

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT, e.g., worry and rumination) is a maintaining factor in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Studies have shown that training people to make fewer negative interpretations of ambiguous scenarios (known as cognitive bias modification training for interpretations or ‘CBM-I’) reduces RNT among individuals with anxiety and depression. This is the first study to investigate the effect of imagery-enhanced CBMI-I on RNT among individuals with elevated obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms.

Individuals scoring above clinical cut-off for OCD were presented with a series of OCD-relevant ambiguous scenarios and either received imagery-enhanced CBM-I training, in which scenarios were resolved positively and participants generated vivid mental images of the positive outcome (N = 25), or an active control condition in which the same scenarios were presented without positive resolution (N = 25). They then completed a measure of interpretation bias and a proxy measure of RNT.

Individuals in the CBM-I condition generated significantly more positive interpretations following training than those in the control condition. However, this effect did not carry over to the measure of RNT.

Future research should consider matching CBM-I training to more idiosyncratic obsessional concerns, more intensive training or using alternative measures of RNT, to determine whether interpretation bias maintains RNT in OCD, or if other potential mechanisms are indeed involved.