Aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as assessed by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure

TY - JOUR

T1 - Aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as assessed by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure

AU - Michnevich, Twyla

AU - Schmidt, Alexander F.

AU - Scheunemann, Jakob

AU - Moritz, Steffen

AU - Miegel, Franziska

AU - Jelinek, Lena

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Association for Contextual Behavioral Science

PY - 2021/7

Y1 - 2021/7

N2 - Objective: Psychodynamic and cognitive theories postulate a prominent role of aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Explicit assessment of aggressiveness in OCD has yielded diverging results. The present study aimed to investigate aggressiveness in OCD using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Method: Patients with OCD (n = 59) were compared to non-clinical controls (NCs; n = 31) on an IRAP using self-referential statements and the explicit State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II (STAXI-II). During the computer-based IRAP, participants were required to respond as quickly and accurately (“correct” or “incorrect”) to the relation of two presented stimuli (e.g., “I am” + “aggressive”). Results: DIRAP-Scores for the I am aggressive trial type were significantly higher in NCs compared to the OCD sample (d = 0.73). Patients with OCD scored significantly higher on the Trait Anger scales and the Anger Expression-Out scale of the STAXI-II. The I am aggressive DIRAP-Score correlated with the overall Trait Anger scale (r = −.33, p = .001) and with the Anger Expression-In scale (r = −0.31, p = .003). Conclusions: Patients with OCD were more ambivalent about their own aggressiveness than NCs. These findings were in line with patients’ explicit aggressiveness.

AB - Objective: Psychodynamic and cognitive theories postulate a prominent role of aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Explicit assessment of aggressiveness in OCD has yielded diverging results. The present study aimed to investigate aggressiveness in OCD using the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP). Method: Patients with OCD (n = 59) were compared to non-clinical controls (NCs; n = 31) on an IRAP using self-referential statements and the explicit State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-II (STAXI-II). During the computer-based IRAP, participants were required to respond as quickly and accurately (“correct” or “incorrect”) to the relation of two presented stimuli (e.g., “I am” + “aggressive”). Results: DIRAP-Scores for the I am aggressive trial type were significantly higher in NCs compared to the OCD sample (d = 0.73). Patients with OCD scored significantly higher on the Trait Anger scales and the Anger Expression-Out scale of the STAXI-II. The I am aggressive DIRAP-Score correlated with the overall Trait Anger scale (r = −.33, p = .001) and with the Anger Expression-In scale (r = −0.31, p = .003). Conclusions: Patients with OCD were more ambivalent about their own aggressiveness than NCs. These findings were in line with patients’ explicit aggressiveness.

KW - aggressiveness

KW - behavioral task

KW - implicit assessment

KW - IRAP

KW - latent aggression

KW - obsessive-compulsive disorder

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111149702&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.06.008

DO - 10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.06.008

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85111149702

VL - 21

SP - 176

EP - 186

JO - J CONTEXT BEHAV SCI

JF - J CONTEXT BEHAV SCI

SN - 2212-1447

ER -