Mediating Role of Rumination and Negative Affect in the Effect of Mind-Wandering on Symptoms in Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Pengchong Wang; Wenwen Cao; Tao Chen; Jian Gao; Yifan Liu; Xiangyun Yang; Fanqiang Meng; Jing Sun; Zhanjiang Li

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.755159

Mediating Role of Rumination and Negative Affect in the Effect of Mind-Wandering on Symptoms in Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Front Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 14:12:755159. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.755159. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Pengchong Wang^{1

2}, Wenwen Cao^{1

2}, Tao Chen^{3

4}, Jian Gao^{1

2}, Yifan Liu^{1

2}, Xiangyun Yang^{1

2}, Fanqiang Meng^{1

2}, Jing Sun⁵, Zhanjiang Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Beijing Key Laboratory of Mental Disorders, National Clinical Research Centre for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
² Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
³ Brain and Mind Center, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁴ School of Psychology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁵ Menzies Health Institute Queensland and School of Medicine and Dentistry, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Abstract

To explore the relationship between negative affect, mind-wandering, rumination and obsessive-compulsive symptoms, 100 patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 100 healthy controls were assessed using the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Mind Wandering Scale and the Ruminative Response Scale. The results show that (i) patients diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder displayed higher obsessive-compulsive symptoms, negative affect, mind-wandering and rumination compared with healthy controls; (ii) negative affect, mind-wandering and rumination were positively correlated with the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms; (iii) mind-wandering predicted the severity of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (both directly and indirectly); (iv) rumination and negative affect mediated the relationship between mind-wandering and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The results preliminarily reveal the relationship between mind-wandering and psychopathological obsessive-compulsive symptoms, providing a reference for exploring novel psychological treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Keywords: mediation analysis; mind wandering; negative affect; obsessive-compulsive disorder; rumination.