ArticlePsychological research2022
Predictors of obsessive-compulsive symptomology: mind wandering about the past and future.
Article in Psychological research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The Relative Accuracy of Different Methods for Measuring Mind Wandering Subtypes: A Systematic Review.Brain and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Inferring mind wandering from perceptual decision making.Communications psychology · 2026Article
- Clinically relevant aspects of thought across psychological disorders.Cognitive processing · 2025Review
- Mechanics of Mindfulness: Investigating Metacognitive Beliefs as a Pathway of Effect on Anxiety and Depression.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeObsessive and compulsive tendencies are known to occur in the general population and involve worry around specific concerns (obsessions) and an urge to resolve the concern with thoughts or behaviours (compulsions). Spontaneous, but not deliberate, mind wandering experiences (when attention turns to internal mentation), have been found to predict obsessive- compulsive tendencies [Seli, P., Risko, E.F., Purdon, C. & Smilek, D. (2017). Intrusive thoughts: linking spontaneous mind wandering and OCD symptomatology. Psychological Research, 81, 392-398. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-016-0756-3 ]. Recent cognitive theory suggests a particular role for future-oriented spontaneous thought in obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms. Thus, we hypothesised that future-oriented rather than past-oriented spontaneous mind wandering would predict OC symptoms, such that more future-oriented mind wandering would be associated with increases in OC symptoms.
methodsIn an online survey design (nonclinical sample of 104 adults), participants completed three measures: Mind wandering: Spontaneous (MW-S) and Deliberate (MW-D) (Carriere, Seli & Smilek, 2013); Involuntary Autobiographical Memory Inventory (Berntsen, Rubin & Salgado, 2015); and Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (DOCS) (Abramowitz et al., 2010). We adopted a linear regression approach to examine our hypotheses.
resultsWe provided the first replication of the finding that OC symptoms are predicted by the frequency of spontaneous (but not deliberate) mind wandering, with an underlying positive relationship. Additionally, we found that temporality of spontaneous thought had different predictive effects as a function of the dimension of OC symptoms (i.e., responsibility, unacceptable thoughts, need for symmetry/completeness).
conclusionsWe found moderate support for our temporality hypothesis, which highlights how the construct of temporality can add to our understanding of OC symptoms. The present study also adds to recent conceptual debates regarding mind wandering. We suggest new cognitive and methodological approaches to enhance the understanding of obsessive-compulsive disorder, opening new avenues for clinical and experimental research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.