Dysfunctional reasoning processes and their relationship with feared self-perceptions and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: An investigation with a new task-based measure of inferential confusion

Abstract Previous research has highlighted the potential role of dysfunctional reasoning (i.e. “inferential confusion”) and feared self-perceptions in the development and maintenance of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). However, these investigations have primarily relied on self-report measures, and investigations into inferential confusion in relation to feared self-perceptions remain scarce. Also, previous investigations only pertain to a limited number of reasoning processes in inferential confusion (i.e. inverse reasoning) and fail to cover the entire spectrum of processes proposed to be relevant to OCD. In the present study, a new task-based measure, the Dysfunctional Reasoning Processes Task (DRPT), covering a wider range of dysfunctional processes, was used to investigate the relationship of inferential confusion with feared self-perceptions and symptoms of OCD. 172 undergraduate students completed computerized versions of the DRPT and self-report measures. Results showed that feared self-perceptions and OC-related beliefs sequentially mediated the relationship between inferential confusion and OC symptoms. Hence, without a feared self, the effect of inferential confusion on OC symptoms may be attenuated. These findings provide further evidence of the interrelationship between dysfunctional reasoning and feared self-perceptions and their potential role in the development and maintenance of OCD, emphasizing the need to address both in cognitive-behavioral treatment.