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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

Change in obsessive beliefs as predictor and mediator of symptom change during treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder – a process-outcome study

Authors: Alice Diedrich, Philipp Sckopke, Caroline Schwartz, Sandra Schlegl, Bernhard Osen, Christian Stierle, Ulrich Voderholzer

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

Cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder suggest that changes in obsessive beliefs are a key mechanism of treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Thus, in the present process-outcome study, we tested whether changes in obsessive beliefs during a primarily cognitive behavioral inpatient treatment predicted treatment outcome and whether these changes mediated symptom changes over the course of treatment.

Methods

Seventy-one consecutively admitted inpatients with obsessive-compulsive disorder were assessed with the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and the Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire at treatment intake, after six weeks of treatment and at discharge, and with the Beck-Depression-Inventory-II at intake and discharge.

Results

Changes in obsessive beliefs during the first six weeks of treatment predicted obsessive-compulsive symptoms at discharge when controlling for obsessive-compulsive and depressive symptoms at intake in a hierarchical regression analysis. Multilevel mediation analyses showed that reductions in obsessive beliefs partially mediated improvements in obsessive-compulsive symptoms over time.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that decreasing obsessive beliefs in inpatient cognitive behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder might be a promising treatment approach.
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Metadata
Title
Change in obsessive beliefs as predictor and mediator of symptom change during treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder – a process-outcome study
Authors
Alice Diedrich
Philipp Sckopke
Caroline Schwartz
Sandra Schlegl
Bernhard Osen
Christian Stierle
Ulrich Voderholzer
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-016-0914-6

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