Comparing the performance of the people suffering from washing compulsion, checking compulsion and generalized anxiety disorders in the realm of autobiographical memory

Abstract

Introduction: The present research aims to compare the cognitive performance of the people suffering from washing compulsion, checking compulsion and generalized anxiety disorders in the realm of autobiographical memory.Methods: The selected samples in this causal-comparative study include 14 people suffering from checking compulsion, 14 suffering from washing compulsion, 17 suffering from generalized stress and 15 normal people who were all homogenized in the variables of age and level of education, and had the same social and economic conditions. The tools in this research included the Yale-brown obsessive-compulsive scale, Beck’s depression and anxiety inventories, the structured autobiographical memory interview and the autobiographical memory test. Finally, the research findings were analyzed through ANOVA, MANOVA analysis statistical methods.Results: The results indicate that the average overall score of the healthy group is higher than that of the washing compulsion group in the autobiographical memory interview and higher than that of the checking compulsion group in the subscale of the childhood semantic memory. Also in the autobiographical memory test, the average production of the specialized autobiographical memory in the healthy group is higher than that of the washing compulsion group especially when the stimulus words are positive.Conclusion: It seems that the people suffering from washing and checking compulsions have weaker performances in the autobiographical memory in compared to the normal people and those suffering from general anxiety disorders.