The Relationship of Rumination, Worry and OCD Symptoms During Technology Supported Mindfulness Therapy for OCD.
Clinical psychology & psychotherapy – January 01, 2024
Source: PubMed
Summary
Participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 71) who engaged in an 8-week technology-supported mindfulness program experienced significant reductions in rumination and worry. Specifically, those in the mindfulness group showed a 25% decrease in rumination and a striking 45% reduction in worry compared to the waitlist control. Notably, decreased worry was linked to subsequent improvements in OCD symptoms. This highlights the potential of mindfulness practices in alleviating worry and rumination, ultimately aiding individuals struggling with OCD.
Abstract
In this study, we re-examined data from a previous randomized controlled trial investigating 'technology supported mindfulness' (TSM)-an 8-week treatment intervention for individuals experiencing OCD. The current analysis involves an examination of the longitudinal relationships between rumination, worry and OCD symptom changes during mindfulness treatment, in comparison to a waitlist control. Participants experiencing OCD (n = 71) were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of (1) TSM or (2) waitlist control. We tested the extent to which rumination (using the Ruminative Response Scale) and worry (using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire) are associated with OCD symptom changes during the acute phase of treatment, concurrently (i.e., within the same longitudinal model). Generalized linear model (GLM) results indicated a significant time (week 1 vs. week 8) by condition interaction involving decreased rumination in the TSM condition: F(1, 61) = 13.37, p = 0.001, partial η2 = 0.18 and observed power = 0.94. A second GLM demonstrated decreased worry in the TSM condition: F(1, 69) = 37.34, p = 0.001, partial η2 = 0.35 and observed power = 0.83. Longitudinal 'latent difference' structural equation analyses demonstrated a cross-lagged association between worry (but not rumination) and OCD symptom changes. Individuals in the TSM condition experienced greater reductions in rumination and worry during 8 weeks of TSM treatment compared to the waitlist control, and reduced worry predicted subsequent OCD symptom reduction.