Differential performance on the go/no-go task as a function of the autogenous-reactive taxonomy of obsessions: Findings from a non-treatment seeking sample

Abstract

It has been suggested that obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by impaired inhibitory control. Response inhibition is a cognitive process required for one to cancel or suppress dominant but inappropriate responses. The present study examined response inhibition among non-treatment seeking individuals diagnosed with OCD and individuals with low levels of OCD symptoms using a computerized visual go/no-go task. Specifically, we sought to examine a prediction from the autogenous-reactive subtype model of obsessions (Lee, H.-J., & Kwon, S.-M. (2003). Two different types of obsession: autogenous obsessions and reactive obsessions. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41, 11–29; Lee, H.-J., & Telch, M. J. (2008). Autogenous obsessions and reactive obsessions. In J. Abramowitz, S. Taylor, & D. McKay (Eds.), Obsessive-compulsive disorder: subtypes and spectrum conditions. New York: Elsevier., asserting that OCD individuals presenting with the autogenous subtype of obsessions will display greater difficulty in inhibitory control relative to individuals presenting with obsessions of the reactive subtype. Results showed that individuals with OCD of the autogenous subtype displayed more deficient inhibitory control on the visual go/no-go task as indexed by a longer response delay between the original stimuli set and the reversed stimuli set compared to individuals with OCD of the reactive subtype or individuals with low levels of OCD symptoms.