Mental contamination obsessions: An examination across the obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions

Mental contamination (MC) is an experience in which individuals feel dirty or impure even though they have not come into direct contact with a contaminated object (e.g., merely thinking about something immoral or disgusting). Although limited research has examined MC in relation to contact contamination-relevant cognitions and symptoms, no studies to date have investigated the extent to which this construct is associated with the “unacceptable thoughts” obsessive-compulsive (OC) subtype. In our sample of unselected participants (n = 304) who completed a self-report battery we found: (a) as in previous studies, MC was related to contact contamination OC symptoms and relevant cognitive distortions (i.e., threat overestimation and contamination thought action fusion), and (b) as hypothesized, MC was also associated with unacceptable thoughts symptoms and relevant cognitive distortions (intolerance of uncertainty and experiential avoidance). However, contrary to hypotheses, MC was also related to the responsibility for harm and symmetry/incompleteness OC symptom dimensions. Accordingly, rather than being uniquely tied to specific dimensions, it appears that MC may be associated with more general latent vulnerability factors associated with OCD. Additional implications for the way MC is conceptualized and treated and directions for further study are also discussed.