Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions with heterogeneous symptom presentations. This study examines the neurocognitive functions and metacognitions of patients with OCD who have autogenous and reactive obsessions. Data from previous studies on neurocognitive functions and metacognitions in OCD patients with autogenous and reactive obsessions present different results. The purpose of the research was to investigate whether this subtyping, performed within the context of cognitive theory, differs in terms of metacognitive and neurocognitive aspects.
Method: The study included 67 patients with OCD, and 67 healthy participants matched with these patients. Patients were divided into groups based on their primary obsessions: autogenous and reactive. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Metacognition Questionnaire-30 (MCQ-30), Trail-Making Test (TMT), Stroop Test (ST), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) were administered to all participants.
Results: No significant demographic differences were found between the OCD subgroups. The autogenous and reactive groups received higher scores than the healthy controls on the uncontrollability and danger, need to control thoughts, and cognitive self-consciousness subscales evaluated with the MCQ-30. Although the reactive group scored higher than the autogenous group on the MCQ-positive belief about worry subscale, no difference was detected between both groups and the healthy controls. In the correlation analysis, there was a moderate correlation between the positive beliefs score subscale of the MCQ-30 and the RAVLT verbal learning and recognition memory scores and between the cognitive confidence score of MCQ-30 and RAVLT immediate recall, verbal learning, and recognition memory scores in the autogenous group.
Conclusion: The study supports the presence of metacognitive beliefs and neurocognitive impairments in OCD subgroups. As a result, it can be concluded that the proposed grouping would be worthy of research in determining OCD subtypes. Future research with a larger sample may help to better explain metacognition and neurocognitive features in OCD patients with autogenous and reactive obsessions.