Responsibility attitude in a sample of Iranian obsessive-compulsive patients

BACKGROUND: The study of distorted beliefs about responsibility attitude and interpretation has become the central theme in Salkovskis' (1985) and Rachman and Hodgson's (1980) models of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). AIMS: The aim of this research is to assess the responsibility attitude in Iranian OCD patients. METHODS: Twenty OCD patients were selected through available sampling from the case referred to psychology clinics. Two other patient groups comprised of 20 non-OCD anxiety disorder patients and 20 non-clinical participants were also chosen as comparison groups. All participants completed the Responsibility Attitude Scale (RAS) and Responsibility Interpretation Questionnaire (RIQ). RESULTS: Analyses revealed statistically significant differences between OCD group and comparison groups on both RAS and RIQ. In addition, both RAS and RIQ scores were associated with the severity of OCD assessed by the Yale-Brown scale. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that responsibility attitude and interpretations are the prominent features of OCD in Iranian patients and are associated with the severity of illness.