In two experiments we examined the psychometric properties of a new measure of interpretation bias in individuals with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCs). In Experiment 1, 38 individuals high in OC symptoms, 34 individuals high in anxiety and dysphoric symptoms, and 31 asymptomatic individuals completed the measure. Results revealed that the Word Sentence Association Test for OCD (WSAO) can differentiate those with OC symptoms from both a matched anxious/dysphoric group and a non-anxious/non-dysphoric group. In a second experiment, we tested the predictive validity of the WSAO using a performance-based behavioral approach test of contamination fears, and found that the WSAO was a better predictor of avoidance than an established measure of OC washing symptoms (Obsessive Compulsive Inventory-Revised, washing subscale). Our results provide preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the WSAO as well as its usefulness in predicting response to behavioral challenge above and beyond OC symptoms, depression, and anxiety.

In this study, we evaluated the psychometric properties of a Behavioral Approach Task (BAT) for contamination-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms. We adapted the BAT from Cougle et al 's. (2007) design, which comprised three tests corresponding to three different contamination-related stimuli and a hierarchy of six steps of approach within each test. We obtained anxiety and disgust ratings at each BAT step. Participants with low or high contamination fear completed self-report measures of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depression before completing the BAT. Internal consistency of the BAT was high. Furthermore, the BAT demonstrated good convergent validity with a self-report measure of contamination-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The BAT also had sound discriminant validity with self-report measures of depression and of obsessive-compulsive symptoms other than contamination. Our study suggests that the use of this test as an observable measure of contamination-related fears is not only psychometrically sound but also easy to administer.

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