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Bednarek L, Glover S, Ma X, Pittenger C, Pushkarskaya H. Externally orienting cues improve cognitive control in OCD. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2024; 84:101959. [PMID: 38531125 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2024.101959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2022] [Revised: 12/31/2023] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES An executive overload model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) posits that broad difficulties with executive functioning in OCD result from an overload on the executive system by obsessive thoughts. It implies that, if individuals with OCD "snap out" of their obsessive thoughts, their performance on neurocognitive tasks will improve. METHODS We test this prediction using the revised Attention Network Test, ANT-R, and distinct subsamples of data from unmedicated OCD and healthy controls (HC). ANT-R includes Simon and Flanker tasks; in both, incongruent trials take longer to resolve ('conflict costs'). On some trials, a warning cue helps participants to respond faster ('alerting benefits'). In OCD (N = 34) and HC (N = 46), matched on age, IQ, and sex, we tested (1) the effect of OCD on alerting benefits, and (2) the effect of OCD on warning cue related reductions in conflict costs. In a distinct subsample of OCD (N = 32) and HC (N = 51), we assessed whether alerting benefits and cue-related reductions in conflict costs are associated differently with different OCD symptoms. RESULTS A warning cue can help individuals with OCD more than HC to improve performance on Simon and Flanker tasks. This effect is positively associated with severity of contamination symptoms. LIMITATIONS This study did not directly assess how distracted participants are by obsessive thoughts. It relied on the ANT-R subtraction measures. Symptom severity was assessed using self-report measures. CONCLUSIONS Difficulties in resolving conflict during decision-making in OCD can be modulated by a warning cue presented immediately before an attentional task.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lora Bednarek
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Stephanie Glover
- PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, Palo Alto University, Palo Alto, CA, United States
| | - Xiao Ma
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Christopher Pittenger
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States; Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Helen Pushkarskaya
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States.
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Zhao W, Russell CM, Jankovsky A, Cannon TD, Pittenger C, Pushkarskaya H. Information processing style and institutional trust as factors of COVID vaccine hesitancy. Sci Rep 2024; 14:10416. [PMID: 38710827 PMCID: PMC11074285 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-60788-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/08/2024] Open
Abstract
This study investigates the factors contributing to COVID vaccine hesitancy. Vaccine hesitancy has commonly been attributed to susceptibility to misinformation and linked to particular socio-demographic factors and personality traits. We present a new perspective, emphasizing the interplay between individual cognitive styles and perceptions of public health institutions. In January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, 318 participants underwent a comprehensive assessment, including self-report measures of personality and clinical characteristics, as well as a behavioral task that assessed information processing styles. During 2021, attitudes towards vaccines, scientists, and the CDC were measured at three time points (February-October). Panel data analysis and structural equation modeling revealed nuanced relationships between these measures and information processing styles over time. Trust in public health institutions, authoritarian submission, and lower information processing capabilities together contribute to vaccine acceptance. Information processing capacities influenced vaccination decisions independently from the trust level, but their impact was partially mediated by authoritarian tendencies. These findings underscore the multifactorial nature of vaccine hesitancy, which emerges as a product of interactions between individual cognitive styles and perceptions of public health institutions. This novel perspective provides valuable insights into the underlying mechanisms that drive this complex phenomenon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wanchen Zhao
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 100 College St, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
| | - Catherine Maya Russell
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, 3rd Floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Anastasia Jankovsky
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, 3rd Floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
| | - Tyrone D Cannon
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 100 College St, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, 3rd Floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Christopher Pittenger
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, 100 College St, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, 3rd Floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA
- Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
- Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Helen Pushkarskaya
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, 34 Park Street, 3rd Floor, New Haven, CT, 06519, USA.
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Viticchi G, Falsetti L, Salvemini S, Silvestrini M, Riva A, Buratti L, Bartolini M. Gender differences in obsessive–compulsive disorder traits among chronic migraine patients. Neurol Sci 2022; 43:5735-5737. [DOI: 10.1007/s10072-022-06266-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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