Obsessive-compulsive disorder Flashcards
Describe the aim of Lovell et al. (2006).
To compare the effectiveness of CBT carried out by telephone with CBT carried out by face to face.
Describe the hypothesis of Lovell et al. (2006).
Outcomes would be similar for both methods used.
Describe the sample of Lovell et al. (2006).
- 72 participants
- Randomly assigned to either the telephone or the face-to-face condition.
Describe the diagnostic criteria for OCD.
Characterised by persistent obsessions or compulsions.
Obsessions are unwanted, repetitive and intrusive thoughts that are commonly associated with anxiety.
Compulsions are repetitive behaviours or mental acts that the individual feels driven to perform, as a response to an obsession.
Obsessions and compulsions must take up more than an hour per day.
Results in significant impairment in important areas of functioning such as family, social or occupational.
State two assessment tools for OCD.
- Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory
- Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale
Describe Maudsley Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI).
30 items
Scored as “true” or “false”.
Score range from 0 to 30.
Assesses symptoms relating to checking, washing, slowness and doubting.
Used as a quick assessment tool than for formal diagnosis.
Describe Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).
Involves a semi-structured interview.
Involves a checklist of obsessions and compulsions with ten-item severity scale.
Items will collect information about the time spent on obsessions, the difficulty in resisting them and the distress they caused.
Score range from 0 to 40. A score above 16 is considered in the clinical range of OCD.
It is used to plan treatment.
Describe the biochemical explanation for OCD.
Those with OCD have abnormally high levels of dopamine. Szechtman et al. (1998) shows that increasing dopamine level in rats will cause them to show repetitive movements similar to the compulsive behaviours in those with OCD.
Those with OCD have abnormally low levels of serotonin. Evidence shows anti-depressants that work specifically on increasing levels of serotonin are more effective in treating OCD than anti-depressants that have less effect on serotonin.
OCD might be influenced by oxytocin. Oxytocin has been shown to increase distrust and fear of a certain stimuli that might pose a threat to our survival. However, there are contrasting evidence regarding this explanation.
Describe the genetic explanation for OCD.
Monzani et al. (2014) found a higher concordance rate for MZ twins (52%) that DZ twins (21%). Overall heritability estimated to be 48%.
Ozaki et al. (2003) found a mutation of the SERT gene, leading to lower levels of serotonin, in six members of two unrelated families who had OCD.
Mattheisen et al. (2015) implicated that PTPRD and SLITRK3 genes are linked to OCD.
Describe the cognitive explanation for OCD.
Obsessive thinking is based on faulty reasoning. These mistakes in cognition can worsen under stressful conditions.
Compulsive behaviours are the outcome of this faulty thinking, attempts to alleviate the unwanted thoughts and the anxiety they create.
Describe the behavioural explanation of OCD.
OCD can be explained by operant conditioning.
Negative reinforcement happens when an individual engages in compulsive behaviour to temporarily alleviate the anxiety caused by obsessions.
Positive reinforcement happens when the person is “rewarded”. For example, knowing that they have clean hands after washing it.
Describe the psychodynamic explanation for OCD.
OCD arises from the anal stage of psychosexual development. There may have been difficulties between
the child and parent at this stage when the child defecated or urinated. Children may become either anally expulsive or anally retentive and the individual may become fixated at this stage. Compulsive cleaning or other rituals may help to soothe the early childhood trauma. It could also be the id and the superego in conflict with each other. The obsessive cleaning could act as an ego defence mechanism to deal with this conflict.
State the biological treatment for OCD.
SSRI.
Describe exposure and response prevention (ERP).
A form of CBT.
Individuals are exposed to stimuli that provoke their obsessions, while helped to prevent their compulsive behaviours.
This helps the individual to learn that the uncomfortable feelings will eventually go away without performing a compulsive behaviour.
Describe Lehmkuhl et al. (2008).
ERP was used to treat a 12-year-old boy named Jason.
Jason experienced contamination fear. He avoids contaminated items such as door knobs. He would not sit on chairs, turn pages with his hands, or touch papers that other children had touched. He also washes his hands excessively.
Jason attended 50-minute sessions over 16 weeks. Jason was exposed to items he avoided and over the session his anxiety dropped. After 3 months, his Y-BOCS score remained low.
