Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals

BackgroundObsessive-compulsive (OC) traits (i.e., tendency to implement stereotyped behaviors to avoid negative consequences) are transversally observed in psychiatric disorders largely differing in terms of clinical manifestations and etiopathogenesis. Interestingly, OC traits were also extensively...

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Main Authors: Silvia Fornaro, Antonino Visalli, Giada Viviani, Ettore Ambrosini, Antonino Vallesi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490147/full
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author Silvia Fornaro
Silvia Fornaro
Antonino Visalli
Giada Viviani
Ettore Ambrosini
Ettore Ambrosini
Ettore Ambrosini
Antonino Vallesi
Antonino Vallesi
author_facet Silvia Fornaro
Silvia Fornaro
Antonino Visalli
Giada Viviani
Ettore Ambrosini
Ettore Ambrosini
Ettore Ambrosini
Antonino Vallesi
Antonino Vallesi
author_sort Silvia Fornaro
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundObsessive-compulsive (OC) traits (i.e., tendency to implement stereotyped behaviors to avoid negative consequences) are transversally observed in psychiatric disorders largely differing in terms of clinical manifestations and etiopathogenesis. Interestingly, OC traits were also extensively found in the prodromal phases of the full-blown psychopathology and in healthy relatives of affected individuals. Moreover, OC traits were found to be associated—and possibly underlain by—cognitive control impairments. Nonetheless, the role of such interplay in the onset of OC disorders is yet to be understood. We hypothesized that OC traits are associated with abnormalities in proactively implement cognitive control for solving conflict.MethodsWe administered healthy individuals (n = 104) with the perifoveal spatial Stroop task to measure their ability of solving conflict in a proactive fashion, and with Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI) to stratify population according to the severity of OC traits.ResultsAnalysis of response times by means of Linear Mixed-effect models revealed that proactive control performance was not associated with and the severity of OC traits. Furthermore, an equivalence test (Two One-Sided Test) revealed that the association between OCI scores and task performance was equivalent to zero.ConclusionThese results suggest that the interplay between OC traits and proactive control abnormalities might not contribute to the development of OC-related disorders. Therefore, the role of other cognitive endophenotypes should be scrutinized for exploiting alternative prevention and intervention strategies.
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spelling doaj-art-91bb7d18fad04d00b811f9e6c5362ece2025-08-20T02:08:43ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782024-10-011510.3389/fpsyg.2024.14901471490147Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individualsSilvia Fornaro0Silvia Fornaro1Antonino Visalli2Giada Viviani3Ettore Ambrosini4Ettore Ambrosini5Ettore Ambrosini6Antonino Vallesi7Antonino Vallesi8Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of Developmental Psychology and Socialization, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyPadua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyPadua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyDepartment of Neuroscience, University of Padua, Padua, ItalyBackgroundObsessive-compulsive (OC) traits (i.e., tendency to implement stereotyped behaviors to avoid negative consequences) are transversally observed in psychiatric disorders largely differing in terms of clinical manifestations and etiopathogenesis. Interestingly, OC traits were also extensively found in the prodromal phases of the full-blown psychopathology and in healthy relatives of affected individuals. Moreover, OC traits were found to be associated—and possibly underlain by—cognitive control impairments. Nonetheless, the role of such interplay in the onset of OC disorders is yet to be understood. We hypothesized that OC traits are associated with abnormalities in proactively implement cognitive control for solving conflict.MethodsWe administered healthy individuals (n = 104) with the perifoveal spatial Stroop task to measure their ability of solving conflict in a proactive fashion, and with Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI) to stratify population according to the severity of OC traits.ResultsAnalysis of response times by means of Linear Mixed-effect models revealed that proactive control performance was not associated with and the severity of OC traits. Furthermore, an equivalence test (Two One-Sided Test) revealed that the association between OCI scores and task performance was equivalent to zero.ConclusionThese results suggest that the interplay between OC traits and proactive control abnormalities might not contribute to the development of OC-related disorders. Therefore, the role of other cognitive endophenotypes should be scrutinized for exploiting alternative prevention and intervention strategies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490147/fullobsessive-compulsive traitsproactive controltransdiagnosticrisk factorsconflict resolutionStroop
spellingShingle Silvia Fornaro
Silvia Fornaro
Antonino Visalli
Giada Viviani
Ettore Ambrosini
Ettore Ambrosini
Ettore Ambrosini
Antonino Vallesi
Antonino Vallesi
Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals
Frontiers in Psychology
obsessive-compulsive traits
proactive control
transdiagnostic
risk factors
conflict resolution
Stroop
title Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals
title_full Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals
title_fullStr Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals
title_full_unstemmed Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals
title_short Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals
title_sort proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive compulsive individuals
topic obsessive-compulsive traits
proactive control
transdiagnostic
risk factors
conflict resolution
Stroop
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490147/full
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