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Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-compulsive and related disorders have been a central focus of our research for many years. Our work spans both basic research topics (e.g., cognitive biases) and the development and scientific evaluation of innovative treatment approaches (e.g., technology-augmented exposure therapies, app-based self-help interventions, the Bergen 4-Day Treatment [B4DT]).

Our goals are to

  • translate basic research findings (e.g., on cognitive biases) into psychological treatment concepts and apply them in concrete psychotherapeutic interventions (“bench to bedside”). Examples include therapy programs like Metacognitive Training for OCD, new techniques such as association splitting, and self-help tools like the book My Metacognitive Training (MyMCT);
  • evaluate and refine our treatment concepts with respect to safety, patient acceptance, and effectiveness, based on empirical findings;
  • promote the dissemination and effectiveness of established evidence-based OCD treatments (especially exposure and response prevention) by using new technologies (e.g., virtual and mixed reality) and therapy formats (e.g., compact formats); and
  • understand therapy processes in the psychological treatment of OCD in order to optimize interventions.

Below you will find an overview of our basic research as well as our psychotherapy process and intervention research.

Basic Research

Our basic research on OCD covers a wide range of topics. In a project funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), we explored memory processes (e.g., nonverbal memory, metamemory) in patients with OCD. We also study information processing in patients with OCD, such as the effects of priming and the characteristics of semantic networks (associations).

One of our research focuses is on cognitive biases (e.g., inflated responsibility, perfectionism), which play a significant role in the development and maintenance of OCD symptoms. While our studies support a link between OCD and cognitive biases, neurocognitive deficits such as memory problems do affect a minority of patients. Such deficits are more likely due to secondary or contextual factors such as distraction due to obsessions or low motivation.

We are also examining whether individuals with OCD exhibit ambivalent interpersonal attitudes, i.e., the extent to which prosocial values (e.g., high moral standards) contrast with antisocial impulses (e.g., distrust, latent aggression). This includes investigating aggressive self-concepts using implicit measures (e.g., the Implicit Association Test [IAT], the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure [IRAP]).

Another research interest of ours is the epidemiology and etiology of OCD. For example, we have examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on OCD symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical populations using cross-sectional and longitudinal approaches.

Psychotherapy Process Research

To understand not only whether a therapy is effective but also how its individual components work, we are investigating the specific effects of single therapy sessions or modules (e.g., in Metacognitive Training for OCD).

In this context, we also examine predictors of treatment success, explore mediators, and track the change in specific variables (e.g., cognitive biases) within therapy sessions. These in-depth analyses help us identify which components have the intended effect—and which do not—while also improving study methodology (e.g., enhanced module-specific questionnaires) and gaining insights into therapy progression.

Our overarching aim is to tailor treatments more precisely to patients’ needs and to ensure the safety and reliability of therapy components by understanding their underlying mechanisms.

Research Team

  • Prof. Dr. Lena Jelinek
  • Prof. Dr. Steffen Moritz
  • Dipl.-Psych. Birgit Hottenrott
  • Dr. Franziska Sophia Miegel
  • M. Sc. Luzie Lohse
  • Dr. Jakob Scheunemann
  • Dr. Marit Hauschildt
  • Dr. Lara Rolvien (formerly Bücker)
  • Dr. med. Amir Yassari
  • M. Sc. Maren Schäfer
  • M. Sc. Josephine Schultz
  • M. Sc. Stella Schmotz
  • Dipl.-Psych. Anna Baumeister
  • Dr. med. Christina Müller

Cooperating Partners

  • Dr. Terence H. W. Ching (Yale University School of Medicine, USA)
  • Dr. Barbara Cludius (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
  • Dr. Anne Daubmann (Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf)
  • Anja Göritz (Universität Augsburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Iver Hand (Verhaltenstherapie Falkenried, Hamburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Kristen Hagen (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway)
  • Prof. Dr. Bjarne Hansen (Bergen Center for Brain Plasticity, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway)
  • Dr. Philip Herzog (Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau)
  • Dipl.-Psych. Ina Jahn (Zentrum für Seelische Gesundheit, HELIOS Park-Klinikum Leipzig)
  • Fabian Jäger (PatientZero Games, Hamburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Norbert Kathmann (Humboldt Universität Berlin)
  • Dr. Anne Katrin Külz (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Levente Kriston (Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf)
  • Prof. Dr. Philip Lindner (Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden)
  • Dr. Sarah Liebherz (Institut für Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf)
  • Prof. Dr. Helmut Peter (MVZ Falkenried)
  • Antonia Peters (Deutsche Gesellschaft Zwangserkrankungen)
  • Prof. Dr. Michael Reiniger (Institut für Psychotherapie, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf)
  • Prof. Dr. Anja Riesel (Universität Hamburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Julian Rubel (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)
  • Dr. Alexander F. Schmidt (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)
  • Prof. Dr. Johanna Schröder (Hamburg Medical School)
  • Dr. Katarina Stengler (Zentrum für Seelische Gesundheit, HELIOS Park-Klinikum Leipzig)
  • Dr. Peter Tonn (Neuropsychiatrisches Zentrum Hamburg)
  • Prof. Dr. Ulrich Voderholzer (Schön Klinik Roseneck, Prien am Chiemsee)
Publications – Basic Research

Memory

Moritz, S., Kloss, M., Jahn, H., Schick, M., & Hand, I. (2003). Impact of comorbid depressive symptoms on nonverbal memory and visuospatial performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 8, 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1080/135468000344000020

Moritz, S., Ruhe, C., Jelinek, L., & Naber, D. (2009). No deficits in nonverbal memory, metamemory and internal as well as external source memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Behaviour Research & Therapy, 47, 308–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2009.01.004

Moritz, S., Hottenrott, B., Jelinek, L., Brooks, A. M., Scheurich, A. (2012). Effects of obsessive-compulsive symptoms on neuropsychological test performance: complicating an already complicated story. Clinical Neuropsychology, 6, 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/13854046.2011.639311

Moritz, S., Wahl, K., Zurowski, B., Jelinek, L., Fricke, S., & Hand, I. (2007). Enhanced perceived responsibility decreases metamemory but not memory accuracy in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2044–2052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2007.03.003

Moritz. S., Xie, J., Lion, D., Penney, D., Jelinek, L. (2021). Impaired test performance yet spared neurocognitive functioning in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder: the role of performance mediators. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 26, 394–407. https://doi.org/10.1080/13546805.2021.1967733

Semantic networks/Attention

Jelinek, L., Hauschildt, M., Hottenrott, B., Kellner, M., & Moritz, S. (2014). Further evidence for biased semantic networks in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): When knives are no longer associated with buttering bread but only with stabbing people. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 45, 427–434. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2014.05.002

Jelinek, L., Hottenrott, B., & Moritz, S. (2009). When cancer is associated with illness but no longer with animal or zodiac sign: investigation of biased semantic networks in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23, 1031–1036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2009.07.003

Moritz, S., Von Muhlenen, A., Randjbar, S., Fricke, S., & Jelinek, L. (2009). Evidence for an attentional bias for washing- and checking-relevant stimuli in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15, 365–371. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617709090511

Dysfunctional beliefs

Cludius, B., Landmann, S., Külz, A. K., Takano, K., Moritz, S., & Jelinek, L. (2022). Direct and indirect assessment of perfectionism in patients with depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. PLoS One, 17(10), e0270184.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270184

Miegel, F., Jelinek, L., Yassari, A. H., Balzar, A., & Moritz, S. (2022). Core dysfunctional beliefs in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder are shared with patients with anxiety disorder according to the revised Beliefs Questionnaire. Current Psychology, 0123456789. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03464-6

Miegel, F., Jelinek, L., & Moritz, S. (2018). Dysfunctional beliefs in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression as assessed with the Beliefs Questionnaire (BQ). Psychiatry Research, 272, 265–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2018.12.070

Miegel, F., Daubmann, A., Moritz, S., Balzar, A., Yassari, A.-H., & Jelinek, L. (2023). Obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions and their relationships with obsessive beliefs: A structural equation modeling analysis. Psychiatric Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-023-10037-8

Interpersonal attitudes

Cludius, B., Schmidt, A. F., Moritz, S., Banse, R., & Jelinek, L. (2017). Implicit aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as assessed by an Implicit Association Test. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 55, 106–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2018.05.004

Michnevich, T., Schmidt, A. F., Scheunemann, J., Moritz, S., Miegel, F., & Jelinek, L. [split last authors] (2021). Aggressiveness in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder as assessed by the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 21, 176–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.06.008

Moritz, S., Kempke, S., Luyten, P., Randjbar, S., & Jelinek, L. (2011). Was Freud partly right on obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)? Investigation of latent aggression in OCD. Psychiatry Research, 187, 180–184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2010.09.007

COVID-19 pandemic

Jelinek, L., Göritz, A., Miegel, F., Moritz, S., & Kriston, L. (2021). Predictors of trajectories of obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in the general population in Germany. Translational Psychiatry, 11(1), 323. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01419-2

Jelinek, L., Moritz, S., Miegel, F., & Voderholzer (2021). Obsessive-compulsive disorder during COVID-19: Turning a problem into an opportunity? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 77, 102329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102329

Jelinek, L, Moritz, S., Voderholzer, U., Göritz, A., Riesel, A., Yassari, A. H., Miegel, F. (2022). Unrealistic pessimism and obsessive-compulsive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic: Two longitudinal studies. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61, 816–835. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12362

Jelinek, L, Voderholzer, U., Moritz, S., Carsten, H. P., Riesel, A., & Miegel, F. (2021). When a nightmare comes true: Change in obsessive-compulsive disorder over the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2021.102493


Publications – Psychotherapy Process Research

Claus, N., Miegel, F., Jelinek. L., Landmann, S., Moritz, S., Külz, A.-K., Rubel, J., & Cludius, B. (2023). Perfectionism as possible predictor for treatment success in third-wave treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 47, 439–453. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-023-10361-0

Miegel, F., Cludius, B., Hottenrott, B., Demiralay, C., & Jelinek, L. (2020). Session-specific effects of the Metacognitive Group Training for Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder: Significant results for thought control. Scientific Reports, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73122-z

Miegel, F, Rubel, J., Ching, T., Yassari, A.-H., Bohnsack, F., Duwe, M., & Jelinek, L. (2023). How to assess and analyze session-specific effects and predictors using the example of the metacognitive training for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpp.2876

Miegel, F., Schröder, J., Schultz, J., Müller, J. C., & Jelinek, L. (2023). Expected increase in health competence improves over modules of an unguided internet‐based cognitive‐behavioral therapy for obsessive‐compulsive disorder. International Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12919