Abstract
How do individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) process and respond to images of rotten food or dirty toilets? In contrast to other fear-related disorders, evidence for attentional biases and preferential processing of disorder-related stimuli in samples of OCD is mixed. To address methodological problems of previous studies and to increase validity, we used two independent samples of participants with contamination fear and two sets of standardized stimuli in an established experimental paradigm. In two experiments, we compared evaluation and visual processing of contamination-fear related (CFr) stimulus material in individuals with high (HCF) and low (LCF) contamination fear. In experiment 1, we selected CFr stimuli from a database with disgust-related images (DIRTI). Even though the HCF group rated CFr images as being more unpleasant, arousing, and disgusting, we found no indicators of preferential processing (larger priming effects or faster responses). In experiment 2, we selected CFr stimuli from a database with images specifically chosen to evoke symptom-related anxiety in OCD patients (BOCD-PS). Again, negative evaluations of stimuli did not transfer into enhanced information processing. We conclude that early information processing of CFr stimuli is fundamentally different to that of fear-related stimuli in anxiety disorders; probably because of the triggered disgust response.
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