Psychometric properties of a behavioral test of contamination-related obsessive-compulsive symptoms

Abstract

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. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010.