Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder

Objective: We investigated whether manipulating levels of uncertainty would influence performance in a decision-making task in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods: This case-control study compares Beads Task (measuring reflection/decisional impulsivity) performance and trait impulsi...

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Main Authors: Uma Maheswari Ganesh, Lavanya Sharma, Himani Kashyap, Shyam Sundar Arumugham, Janardhan Reddy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP) 2024-12-01
Series:Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462024000100704&lng=en&tlng=en
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author Uma Maheswari Ganesh
Lavanya Sharma
Himani Kashyap
Shyam Sundar Arumugham
Janardhan Reddy
author_facet Uma Maheswari Ganesh
Lavanya Sharma
Himani Kashyap
Shyam Sundar Arumugham
Janardhan Reddy
author_sort Uma Maheswari Ganesh
collection DOAJ
description Objective: We investigated whether manipulating levels of uncertainty would influence performance in a decision-making task in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods: This case-control study compares Beads Task (measuring reflection/decisional impulsivity) performance and trait impulsivity (Short Urgency-Premeditation-Perseverance-Sensation Seeking-Positive Urgency [UPPS-P] Impulsive Behavior Scale) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 65) and non-clinical controls (n = 45). Differences between groups were assessed with the Mann Whitney U test. Results: The obsessive-compulsive disorder group had significantly fewer draws to decision (U = 1,845, p = 0.019) and less subjective decision-certainty (U = 1,518, p = 0.00) in the low uncertainty (85:15) condition, and higher negative urgency scores (U = 2,163, p ≤ 0.001) and lower sensation-seeking scores (U = 907.5, p = 0.001) in UPPS-P. However, differences in Beads Task performance did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusion: Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder engage in more impulsive decision-making in the lower uncertainty condition than healthy controls, despite low subjective certainty of the decision. They also had higher scores for the trait impulsivity factor of negative urgency. Future studies should explore the contribution of trait impulsivity, as well as symptom severity, anxiety, and decision-certainty, to impulsivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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spelling doaj-art-90d215467c434cf692df1c0e6a4d23df2025-08-20T01:58:23ZengAssociação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP)Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry1809-452X2024-12-014610.47626/1516-4446-2023-3432Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorderUma Maheswari Ganeshhttps://orcid.org/0009-0006-4948-735XLavanya Sharmahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5311-3541Himani Kashyaphttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-3484-5998Shyam Sundar Arumughamhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5641-454XJanardhan Reddyhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9925-9631 Objective: We investigated whether manipulating levels of uncertainty would influence performance in a decision-making task in people with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Methods: This case-control study compares Beads Task (measuring reflection/decisional impulsivity) performance and trait impulsivity (Short Urgency-Premeditation-Perseverance-Sensation Seeking-Positive Urgency [UPPS-P] Impulsive Behavior Scale) in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (n = 65) and non-clinical controls (n = 45). Differences between groups were assessed with the Mann Whitney U test. Results: The obsessive-compulsive disorder group had significantly fewer draws to decision (U = 1,845, p = 0.019) and less subjective decision-certainty (U = 1,518, p = 0.00) in the low uncertainty (85:15) condition, and higher negative urgency scores (U = 2,163, p ≤ 0.001) and lower sensation-seeking scores (U = 907.5, p = 0.001) in UPPS-P. However, differences in Beads Task performance did not survive correction for multiple comparisons. Conclusion: Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder engage in more impulsive decision-making in the lower uncertainty condition than healthy controls, despite low subjective certainty of the decision. They also had higher scores for the trait impulsivity factor of negative urgency. Future studies should explore the contribution of trait impulsivity, as well as symptom severity, anxiety, and decision-certainty, to impulsivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462024000100704&lng=en&tlng=enImpulsive behaviordecision makingbeads taskuncertaintyobsessive-compulsive disorder
spellingShingle Uma Maheswari Ganesh
Lavanya Sharma
Himani Kashyap
Shyam Sundar Arumugham
Janardhan Reddy
Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry
Impulsive behavior
decision making
beads task
uncertainty
obsessive-compulsive disorder
title Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
title_full Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
title_fullStr Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
title_full_unstemmed Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
title_short Manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision-making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
title_sort manipulating levels of uncertainty in a decision making task for obsessive compulsive disorder
topic Impulsive behavior
decision making
beads task
uncertainty
obsessive-compulsive disorder
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462024000100704&lng=en&tlng=en
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