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Development of a Picture-Based Measure for “Not Just Right” Experiences Associated with Compulsive Sorting, Ordering, and Arranging

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Abstract

Many individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder report that obsessional thoughts and compulsive behaviors are often motivated by “not just right” experiences (NJREs). Individuals who experience NJREs often report symptoms related to symmetry, order, and arrangement (SOA). The current study sought to develop a brief picture-based measure of NJREs (PIC-NR10) within the context of SOA. Three independent studies were conducted to assess the psychometric properties of PIC-NR10 and its relationship with existing NJRE questionnaires, obsessive-compulsive-symptom relevant measures, and in vivo behavioral NJRE tasks. Across studies, the results provide promising initial evidence that PIC-NR10 is a psychometrically sound measure of NJREs. Clinical implications and future directions of research are discussed.

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Notes

  1. The full 45-item stimulus pool is available upon request.

  2. We conducted additional analyses by entering the PIC-NR10 in Step 2 and the NJRE scale scores in Step 3. In predicting SOAQ scores, PIC-NR10 explained 9.4% additionally in Step 2, F(1, 162) = 21.79, p < .001; and the NJRE-Q-R indices explained 8.7% of the variance additionally in Step 3, F(2, 160) = 11.33, p < .001. Similarly, in predicting OCI-R Ordering scores, PIC-NR10 explained 11.1% variance in Step 2, F(1, 162) = 27.07, p < .001, and the NJRE-Q-R indices explained 6.0% variance additionally in Step 3, F(2, 160) = 7.98, p < .001. Similar analyses were repeated for the OC-TCDQ-INC. In predicting SOAQ scores, following identical results in Steps 1 and 2, the OC-TCDQ-INC score explained 20.2% of the variance additionally in Step 3, F(1, 161) = 65.68, p < .001. In predicting OCI-R Ordering scores, the OC-TCDQ-INC score explained 17.7% variance additionally in Step 3, F(1, 161) = 58.47, p < .001. In all these analyses, the PIC-NR10 remained as a significant predictor of SOA variables.We also tested the incremental validity of PIC-NR10 while controlling for the two NJRE self-report measure scores within the same regression model. In predicting SOAQ scores, the DASS total explained 20.3% variance in Step 1, F(1, 163) = 42.71, p < .001, the NJRE-Q-R Quantity and Severity and the OC-TCDQ-INC scores together explained an additional 30.9% variance in Step 2, F(4, 160) = 42.78, p < .001, and PIC-NR 10 accounted for an additional 1.4% variance at Step 3, F(5, 159) = 36.02, p < .001, β = 0.13, t = 2.20, p = .03. In predicting the OCI-R Ordering scores, the DASS total explained 22.5% variance in Step 1, F(1, 163) = 47.35, p < .001, the NJRE-Q-R Quantity and Severity and the OC-TCDQ-INC scores together explained an additional 28.1% variance in Step 2, F(4, 160) = 40.92, p < .001, and PIC-NR 10 accounted for an additional 2.7% variance at Step 3, F(5, 159) = 36.29, p < .001; β = 0.18, t = 3.05, p = .003. Overall, these findings provide support for the incremental validity of the PIC-NR10 in conjunction with the existing NJRE scales.

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Correspondence to Han-Joo Lee.

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Taylor Davine, Ivar Snorrason, Gregory Berlin, Ashleigh M. Harvey, Salahadin Lotfi, and Han-Joo Lee declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual subjects participating in the study.

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Davine, T., Snorrason, I., Berlin, G. et al. Development of a Picture-Based Measure for “Not Just Right” Experiences Associated with Compulsive Sorting, Ordering, and Arranging. Cogn Ther Res 43, 481–497 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-018-9969-7

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