Department of Psychology, Miami University, 90 North Patterson Avenue, Oxford, OH45056, USA.
Behav Cogn Psychother. 2020 Jul;48(4):454-462. doi: 10.1017/S1352465820000132. Epub 2020 Mar 17.
Despite substantial research attention on obsessive beliefs, more research is needed to understand how these beliefs serve as aetiological or maintaining factors for obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Magical thinking may allow individuals to gain a sense of control when experiencing intrusive thoughts and corresponding obsessive beliefs, potentially accounting for why OC belief domains are often related to OC symptoms.
This study examines magical thinking as a mediating variable in the relationship between OC belief domains and symptoms.
Undergraduate students (n = 284) reported their obsessive beliefs, magical thinking, and OC symptoms.
As expected, there were significant indirect effects for the belief domain of inflated responsibility and over-estimation of threat on OC symptoms via magical thinking. There was also an indirect effect for the belief domain of importance and control of thoughts on OC symptoms via magical thinking. Unexpectedly, there was no indirect effect involving the belief domain of perfectionism and intolerance of uncertainty.
Magical thinking may be one mechanism through which certain OC beliefs lead to OC symptoms. It may be that magical thinking serves as a coping mechanism in response to elevated beliefs. Future studies should extend these findings across time and clinical samples.
尽管对强迫观念进行了大量研究，但仍需要更多研究来了解这些观念如何成为强迫症（OC）症状的病因或维持因素。神奇思维可能使个体在经历侵入性思维和相应的强迫观念时获得控制感，这可能解释了为什么 OC 信念领域通常与 OC 症状有关。
本研究检验了神奇思维在 OC 信念领域和症状之间的关系中的中介变量作用。
本科生（n=284）报告了他们的强迫观念、神奇思维和 OC 症状。
正如预期的那样，通过神奇思维，膨胀责任和过度估计威胁的信念领域对 OC 症状有显著的间接影响。通过神奇思维，思想的重要性和控制的信念领域对 OC 症状也有间接影响。出乎意料的是，没有涉及完美主义和不确定性不容忍的信念领域的间接影响。
神奇思维可能是某些 OC 信念导致 OC 症状的一种机制。可能是神奇思维作为一种应对机制，对升高的信念做出反应。未来的研究应该在时间和临床样本中扩展这些发现。
