The role of inflated responsibility beliefs in predicting symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder and depression

ABSTRACT Objective: Inflated responsibility beliefs encompass responsibility attitudes, the general tendency to accept responsibility, and responsibility interpretations, the appraisals of specific intrusive thoughts as indicating personal responsibility for harm. While inflated responsibility beliefs are central to obsessive-compulsive disorder, it is unclear whether they are also related to other disorder symptomology. Consequently, the current study investigated whether inflated responsibility beliefs predicted unique variance in symptoms of depression and generalised anxiety disorder in a non-clinical sample, after controlling for negative affect. Method: Participants were undergraduate psychology students and community members (N = 182, 43 males, 136 females, 3 non-binary), aged 18-70 years (M = 27.71, SD = 11.86) recruited through convenience and snowball sampling. A cross-sectional, correlational design was employed, whereby participants completed an online questionnaire. Data were analysed using two separate hierarchical multiple regression analyses, one with generalised anxiety disorder symptoms as the criterion and one with depression symptoms as the criterion. Results: After controlling for negative affect and age, an increase in responsibility attitudes uniquely predicted a significant small increase in generalised anxiety disorder symptoms, sr 2 = .03, 95% CI [.02, .08], p < .001, but not depression symptoms. Responsibility interpretations did not predict significant unique variance in depression or generalised anxiety disorder symptoms. Conclusions: Results suggest responsibility attitudes relate to symptoms of some disorders (i.e., generalised anxiety disorder), but not all psychopathology (i.e., depression). Responsibility attitudes should potentially be considered in aetiological models of generalised anxiety disorder. Results suggest responsibility interpretations are not transdiagnostic, although measurement difficulties render this unclear. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: Inflated responsibility beliefs were first discussed in relation to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and have since been established as central to OCD symptomology. However, it remains unclear whether inflated responsibility beliefs are specific to OCD or represent a general cognitive bias, due to inconsistent study methodology and findings. While reasonably strong evidence exists to suggest that inflated responsibility beliefs may be associated with symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder, these studies have used problematic measures. Limited research has examined the association between inflated responsibility beliefs and depression symptoms, and available research has produced conflicting findings. What this topic adds: The current study is the first to examine responsibility beliefs in relation to symptoms of depression and generalised anxiety disorder using the Responsibility Attitudes Scale/Responsibility Interpretations Questionnaire. Increased responsibility attitudes predicted increased generalised anxiety disorder symptoms but did not predict variance in depression symptoms in the current non-clinical sample. Responsibility interpretations did not predict variance in generalised anxiety disorder symptoms or depression symptoms in the current sample. Findings suggest responsibility attitudes may be somewhat transdiagnostic, evident in some disorders (e.g., generalised anxiety disorder) but not all disorders (e.g., depression). Findings are broadly consistent with the idea that responsibility interpretations might be specific to OCD (although this was not assessed directly in the current study).