Perceived Responsibility in Juvenile Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: An Experimental Manipulation

Investigated the role of responsibility in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in juveniles with the disorder. This study experimentally manipulated perceived responsibility during a behavioral avoidance task (BAT) and examined the effects on levels of perceived probability and severity of harm, distress, ritualizing, and avoidance. Further, the association between OCD severity, anxiety, and depression with cognitive perceptions of threat was investigated. Finally, this study examined whether cognitive-behavioral treatment (CBT) would decrease ratings across all measures during a BAT. Results indicated that the manipulation successfully inflated responsibility, however this did not lead to increased ratings of distress or of probability or severity of harm. Anxiety was negatively correlated with responsibility; however, there were no significant correlations between depression and the cognitive variables. Following CBT, there were significant reductions across measures during the BAT.