TITLE:
Obsessive-Compulsive Cognitions, Symptoms and Religiousness in an Iranian Population
AUTHORS:
Giti Shams, Irena Milosevic
KEYWORDS:
OCD; OCCWG Scrupulosity; Cross-Culture
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Clinical Medicine,
Vol.4 No.11,
November
15,
2013
ABSTRACT: Individual differences in
obsessive-compulsive (OC) behavior in various cultures appear to be associated
with religiosity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of
religion in OC symptoms and cognitions in distinctly low and high religious
groups from a normal community sample of 119 Iranian Muslims. Specifically, we
compared the two groups on OC cognitions and symptoms, and we examined the
correlations between the cognitive and symptom measures within each group.
There was a trend for the high religious group to produce greater scores than those in the low religious group on the
Obsessive Beliefs Questionnaire (OBQ) subscale of threat overestimation and
responsibility. Furthermore, participants that were more religious achieved
significantly higher scores on the Penn Inventory of Scrupulosity and on its
Fear of God subscale. Although a number of significant correlations were
observed between OBQ and Padua Inventory total and subscale scores,
particularly in the low religious group, there was no conclusive relationship between
religiosity and OC behavior and obsessional beliefs. Religion appears to be one
more arena where OC symptoms expressed, rather than being a determinant of the
disorder.