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Is “not just right experience” (NJRE) in obsessive-compulsive disorder part of an autistic phenotype?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 November 2016

Josselyn Hellriegel ,
Caroline Barber ,
Maheshi Wikramanayake ,
Naomi A. Fineberg  and
William Mandy
Josselyn Hellriegel*
Affiliation:
Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
Caroline Barber
Affiliation:
Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
Maheshi Wikramanayake
Affiliation:
National OCDs Specialist Service, Herts. Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, UK
Naomi A. Fineberg
Affiliation:
National OCDs Specialist Service, Herts. Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, Welwyn Garden City, Herts, UK
William Mandy
Affiliation:
Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr. Josselyn Hellriegel, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1N 6BT, UK.(Email: j.hellriegel@ucl.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Objective

Harm avoidance (HA) and “not just right experience” (NJRE) have been proposed to be 2 core motivational processes underlying obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The objective of this study was to explore whether NJRE demarcates a neurodevelopmental OCD subgroup distinct from HA related to autistic traits and/or to a broader phenotype of cognitive rigidity and sensory processing difficulties associated with an earlier age of OCD onset.

Methods

A correlational design investigated whether NJRE and HA are distinct entities in OCD and explored their relationship to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits measured by the Autism Quotient (AQ), sensory processing, set-shifting, and age of OCD onset in an OCD sample (N=25).

Results

NJRE was only moderately (r=.34) correlated to HA and not significant in this study. Consistent with predictions, NJRE was associated with sensory processing difficulties and an earlier age of OCD onset. No significant relationships were found between NJRE and ASD traits as measured by the AQ or set-shifting difficulties.

Conclusions

These preliminary findings suggest a lack of evidence demonstrating NJRE as a manifestation of core autistic traits as measured by the AQ. However, NJRE was associated with sensory abnormalities and an earlier age of OCD onset. The role of NJRE as a developmental, and possibly neurodevelopmental, risk factor for OCD possibly warrants further investigation.

Keywords

age of obsessive-compulsive disorder onsetautistic traitsharm avoidance“not just right experience”obsessive-compulsive disordersensory processingset-shifting
Type
Original Research
Information
CNS Spectrums , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 2017 , pp. 41 - 50
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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Footnotes

We would like to express our appreciation to the Cambridge Cognition team, who helpfully provided consultation in selecting outcome variables to address the research question. Furthermore, we would also like to thank Dr. Laura Summerfeldt for providing us with the Obsessive-Compulsive Trait Core Dimensions Questionnaire, which she developed.

Grant: Graduate School Research Projects Fund Reference 3.12/13.RP.LMS.

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