Inventory-Washington State University Revision Research Articles

The Padua Inventory–Washington State University Revision of Obsessions and Compulsions: A Reliability Generalization Meta-Analysis

The Padua Inventory–Washington State University Revision (PI–WSUR) is a frequently used test to assess obsessive–compulsive symptoms in screening and clinical contexts. A reliability generalization meta-analysis was carried out to estimate the average reliability of the PI–WSUR scores and its subscales and to search for characteristics of the studies that can explain the heterogeneity among reliability coefficients. A total of 124 independent samples reported some coefficient alpha or test–retest correlation with the data at hand for the PI–WSUR scores. The average internal consistency reliability of the PI–WSUR total scores was .929 (95% CI [.922, .936]), and for the subscales, the means ranged from .792 to .900. The test–retest reliability for PI–WSUR total scores was .767 (95% CI [.700, .820]), with the subscales ranging from .540 to .790. Moderator analyses revealed a positive relationship between the standard deviation of PI–WSUR total scores and alpha coefficients, as well as higher reliability estimates for the original version of the test and for studies from North America. The reliability induction rate for the PI–WSUR was 53.7%. Regarding reliability, the PI–WSUR ranks among the best scales for assessing obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Internal consistency reliability was excellent for the PI–WSUR total score and good for the subscales.

Checking Behaviours, Prospective Memory and Executive Functions

Explanations implicating memory in the causes and severity of checking symptoms have focused primarily on retrospective memory, and relatively little attention has been paid to prospective memory. Limited research has examined the relationship between prospective memory and executive functions. We assessed whether impairments in prospective memory and executive function predict checking symptoms in a sample of 106 adults. Checking symptoms were assessed using the Padua Inventory Washington State University Revision (PI-WSUR). All participants completed the prospective memory questionnaire (PMQ) and four computerised executive function tasks from the CANTAB, measuring inhibition, planning, attention set-shifting and working memory. Prospective memory and inhibition predicted checking symptom severity. Importantly, there were no correlations between internally cued prospective memory and inhibition or between prospective memory aiding strategies and inhibition. These variables appear to have an independent role in checking. The current findings highlight prospective memory and inhibition as key contributors to the checking symptom profile and provide the first evidence that these cognitive processes may independently contribute to checking symptoms. These findings have implications for a model in which memory performance is thought to be secondary to impairments in executive functions.

Cognitive flexibility differentiates young adults exhibiting obsessive-compulsive behaviors from controls

The National Institute of Mental Health has proposed a shift toward classifying clusters of disorders on the basis of underlying biomarkers and neurological correlates. The present study sought to determine whether cognitive flexibility represents one such construct underlying obsessive-compulsive behaviors (OCBs), a cluster of behaviors characteristic of OCD and other body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), including trichotillomania, pathological skin picking, nail biting, and tic disorders. One-hundred and twenty-four undergraduate students completed the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales, Padua Inventory—Washington State University Revision, Massachusetts General Hospital—Hairpulling Scale, Skin Picking Scale, and an Intradimensional/Extradimensional Shift (IDED) Test. Analyses were performed using a subsample of participants who met criteria for inclusion in the OCB group and a control group (N=56). Results indicated that young adults in the OCB group demonstrated significantly poorer performance on the IDED compared to controls. However, hierarchical regression analyses revealed that increased deficits in cognitive flexibility failed to predict worsened OCB severity—as assessed via a composite score. These results suggest that while cognitive flexibility differentiates those exhibiting OCBs from controls, it does not appear to be related to OCB severity. Future research is needed to replicate these results in larger clinical samples.

Relationship between orthorexia and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in patients with generalised anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder

Orthorexia nervosa (ON) refers to an intense desire to consume healthy or biologically pure food that is free of artificial products. ON is not regarded as a separate eating disorder, but its clinical presentation shares common features with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and eating disorders. The current study examined 136 patients who were diagnosed with OCD (n = 49), panic disorder (n = 44), and generalized anxiety disorder (n = 37). Padua Inventory Washington State University Revision (PI-WSUR), The Eating Attitudes Test-40 (EAT-40), and the ORTO-11 test were given to the participants. There were no significant differences between patient groups in the mean scores of eating attitudes and orthorexia symptom severity. No significant association between ORTO-11 scores and body mass index was noted. Moderate correlations (r > 0.30) were obtained between orthorexia symptom severity and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity, EAT-40 total score, and checking and dressing/grooming compulsions. These findings suggest that ON, a pathological inclination towards an obsession with healthy eating, is not specifically associated with any of the investigated illness groups. However, it has moderate correlations with the ritualistic signs of OCD. Underlying worry may predispose people to develop a compulsion to create the pure diet.

The Interaction Effect of Impulsivity and Responsibility in Relation to Obsessive–Compulsive Symptoms

The objectives of the present study were to investigate the relationship between obsessive–compulsive symptoms and impulsivity, and the interaction effects of impulsivity and responsibility in relation to obsessive–compulsive symptoms. A total of 205 university and college students were asked to fill out the Padua Inventory—Washington State University Revision, the Responsibility Attitudes Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale—version 11 and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. A sub-sample (n = 79) also completed the Stop Signal Task (SST), a performance task that assesses behavioral inhibition (i.e., impulsivity). Obsessive–compulsive symptoms were found to be related to responsibility attitudes and self-reported attentional impulsiveness. There was no association between behavior inhibition (SST) and self-reported impulsivity or obsessive–compulsive symptoms. The interaction between responsibility attitudes and attentional impulsiveness as well as between responsibility and behavior inhibition, added to the prediction of obsessive–compulsive symptoms. These findings indicate that certain aspects of impulsivity influence obsessive–compulsive symptoms in interaction with responsibility attitudes.

The Padua Inventory: Do Revisions Need Revision?

The purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties, factorial structure, and validity of the Padua Inventory-Washington State University Revision and of the Padua Inventory-Revised in a large sample of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 228) and with anxiety disorders and/or depression (n = 213). The five-factor structures of both revisions were not replicated. A 24-item revision, referred to as the Padua Inventory-Palatine Revision (PI-PR), was developed on the basis of both theoretical and statistical considerations. The PI-PR assesses six subscales: Contamination and Washing, Checking, Numbers, Dressing and Grooming, Rumination, and Harming Obsessions and Impulses. The results demonstrate that the PI-PR is a brief, psychometrically sound, and valid measure for the assessment of a broad range of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, which has important advantages over both previous revisions.

Psychometric properties of the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory‐Revised among Icelandic college students

In the present study, the psychometric properties of the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R) (Foa, et al., 2002) were investigated. The OCI-R was administered to a total of 816 Icelandic college students. The Maudsley Obsessive Compulsive Inventory (MOCI) and the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) were administered to a subsample of 304 students, and the PI-WSUR (Padua Inventory Washington State University Revision), the PSWQ and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) to another subsample of 212 students. Also, 89 students filled in the OCI-R twice with two weeks in between. The factor structure of the instrument was replicated in a confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliabilities of the OCI-R total scale and all subscales were satisfactory. Further, the OCI-R total score showed a significantly higher correlation with the PI-WSUR and the MOCI than with the PSWQ or the MPS. Finally, conceptually similar scales of the OCI-R and the MOCI as well as the PI-WSUR showed higher inter-correlations than the correlations that were observed between conceptually more distinct scales. It is concluded that the Icelandic version of the OCI-R has strong psychometric properties in a student population.