Self-Based Concepts and Obsessive-Compulsive Phenomena.BACKGROUND/AIMS
 Using a cognitive framework, this paper examined self-perceptions as a vulnerability to phenomena in obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Specifically, Guidano and Liotti's model of self-ambivalence (from 1983) and the notion of self-worth contingent upon moral standards were investigated as possible mechanisms to explain how individuals come to notice their unwanted intrusions.


 Using an analogue framework, participants were first-year undergraduate psychology students (95 females, mean age = 22.49 years, SD = 7.96, and 25 males, mean age = 21.64 years, SD = 7.26) who were administered a battery of self-report questionnaires.


 Results indicated that self-ambivalence moderated the relationship between high moral standards and obsessive-compulsive (OC) phenomena; individuals who had high moral standards and high self-ambivalence showed increased OC vulnerability.


 CONCLUSIONS
 The findings suggest that ambivalence about moral self-worth may constitute a particular vulnerability to OC symptoms.  Directions for future research are discussed and implications of the findings explored.
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