Abstract

According to cognitive theory, maladaptive beliefs play a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of anxiety-related problems and there is overlap in the beliefs involved across these disorders. Interestingly, clinical reports claim that individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and with social anxiety disorder (SAD) fear losing control over their thoughts, behaviour, emotions, and/or bodily functions. This indicates that negative beliefs about the likelihood and consequences of losing control could be involved in both disorders. This program of research was designed to foster psychometric investigations of beliefs about losing control and increase our understanding of the causal role of these beliefs in OCD and SAD. In Study 1, a measure of maladaptive beliefs about losing control, the Beliefs About Losing Control Inventory (BALCI), was validated in a sample of undergraduate students (N = 488). Results indicated that the BALCI’s items capture beliefs about losing control over one’s thoughts/behaviour/emotions (Factor 1), about the importance of staying in control (Factor 2), and about losing control over one’s body/bodily functions (Factor 3). The BALCI was found to be psychometrically sound and associated with OCD symptoms above and beyond already established maladaptive beliefs. In Study 2, beliefs about the likelihood of losing control over one’s behaviour were manipulated by providing false feedback to undergraduate participants (N = 128). Believing that one is likely to lose control over their behaviour led to increasing anxiety while approaching stimuli that are typically feared in OCD, lower perceived caution while interacting with these stimuli, and recalling experiencing more unwanted intrusions throughout the protocol. In Study 3, beliefs about the likelihood and consequences of losing control over one’s actions/speech were manipulated by assigning undergraduate participants (N = 93) to drinking vodka (alcohol condition), alcohol-free vodka (placebo condition), or orange juice (control condition). Participants then interacted with a stranger. Results indicated that those in the placebo (versus control) condition experienced greater anxiety, perceived themselves as making a poorer first impression, and reported engaging in more post-event processing. The pharmacological effects of alcohol appeared to mitigate the effects of beliefs about losing control. Implications for cognitive-behavioural theories and therapies are discussed.