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The construct of perfectionism has long been related to Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD), though research has not considered how OCPD could distinguish individuals with elevated perfectionism. The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical differences between those with and without OCPD in a sample of individuals with elevated perfectionism. Seventy-four university students with elevated perfectionism completed a diagnostic assessment and several self-report measures of clinical characteristics and were randomly assigned to complete an exposure-based treatment for perfectionism or waitlist. Thirty-four (45.95%) participants met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for OCPD. Compared to those without OCPD, individuals with OCPD had higher levels of general and specific domains of perfectionism and higher levels of social anxiety. OCPD diagnosis was also associated with higher rates of current anxiety disorder. Importantly, those with and without OCPD showed comparable benefits from treatment. This study provides novel evidence of the role of OCPD in perfectionism and demonstrates the efficacy of a perfectionism-oriented treatment in individuals with OCPD. We examined the role of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) in a high perfectionism sample. OCPD was associated with higher perfectionism and personal standards. OCPD was also associated with higher social anxiety and higher rates of current anxiety disorder. Those with and without OCPD had comparable responses to an exposure-based treatment for perfectionism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes that the undifferentiated selfobject is the key to understanding the formation and treatment of disorders that are characterized by preoccupations with destructive thoughts and actions. The undifferentiated selfobject is a fundamental self-sustaining experience of knowing that there are ongoing and unknown happenings to be discovered throughout life that will be surprising, challenging, and self-sustaining. It is an extension of Heinz Kohut's contributions of selfobjects that are necessary to the development of the self. Commonly accepted knowledge that there have been traumatic events in the early life of disordered patients points to disruptions of the development of the undifferentiated selfobject. These disruptions lead to preoccupations that are considered disorders. A treatment example of an obsessive personality disorder clarifies how understanding the undifferentiated selfobject was critical in delinking the patient from his preoccupation and allowing him to perceive and implement new directions in his life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the association between self-reported obsessive-compulsive spectrum symptomatology and cognitive performance in a sample of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Twenty-four adults with a moderate-severe TBI accessing a community brain injury rehabilitation service were recruited. Age ranged between 19 and 69 years. Participants completed a battery of neuropsychological tasks assessing memory, executive functioning, and speed of information processing. Self-report questionnaires assessing obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) traits were also completed. Correlational analyses revealed that deficits in cognitive flexibility were associated with greater self-reported OC symptomatology and severity. Greater OC symptom severity was significantly related to poorer performance on a visual memory task. Verbal memory and speed of information processing impairments were unrelated to OC symptoms. Performance on tasks of memory, executive functioning, and speed of information processing were not associated with OCPD traits. Overall, results indicate that greater OC symptomatology and severity were associated with specific neuropsychological functions (i.e., cognitive flexibility, visual memory). OCPD personality traits were unrelated to cognitive performance. Further research is needed to examine the potential causal relationship and longer-term interactions between cognitive sequelae and obsessive-compulsive spectrum presentations post-TBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core symptoms of obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) often lead to interpersonal difficulties. However, little research has explored interpersonal functioning in OCPD. This study examined interpersonal problems, interpersonal sensitivities, empathy, and systemizing, the drive to analyze and derive underlying rules for systems, in a sample of 25 OCPD individuals, 25 individuals with comorbid OCPD and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and 25 healthy controls. We found that OCPD individuals reported hostile-dominant interpersonal problems and sensitivities with warm-dominant behavior by others, whereas OCPD+OCD individuals reported submissive interpersonal problems and sensitivities with warm-submissive behavior by others. Individuals with OCPD, with and without OCD, reported less empathic perspective taking relative to healthy controls. Finally, we found that OCPD males reported a higher drive to analyze and derive rules for systems than OCPD females. Overall, results suggest that there are interpersonal deficits associated with OCPD and the clinical implications of these deficits are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reduced memory specificity is associated with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and some other forms of psychopathology. Reduced memory specificity is also associated with reduced specificity of envisioned future events. Research in this area has mostly relied on cue-word methods that include explicit instructions to develop specific memories of future events. These methods are limited in their ability to assess how participants habitually remember the past and imagine the future when the specificity constraints inherent in the cue-word task are removed. Sentence completions tasks have been developed that can be used to assess habitual patterns of memory and prospection. Little is known about the association of habitual memory and prospection with concurrently and prospectively assessed psychopathology. In the current study 142 participants completed sentence completion tasks tapping habitual memory and prospection at baseline and completed measures tapping psychological symptoms at baseline and 1 year later. Among other things, it was found that reduced memory specificity (but not reduced future specificity) was associated with concurrent and later depression, as well as with symptom levels of PTSD tapped 1 year beyond baseline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Couple therapy for individuals with severe personality disorders is beginning to be recognized as a valuable therapeutic approach that could meaningfully impact the individuals' personality pathology. This paper highlights the potential role of couple therapy with couples with histrionic/obsessive-compulsive personality disorders and introduces the "paradox" of couples with "healthier" personality features. In spite of healthier personality styles, these couples are often more difficult to engage than couples with more severe personality pathology. Using the attachment concept to understand this paradox, the histrionic/obsessive-compulsive personality disordered couples have more options than more disturbed individuals to resolve marital distress. These options or patterns of relationships will inform the therapist about the possible difficulties ahead in engaging them in therapy. The controlling/triangulated pattern predicts difficulties with engagement while the couple with the distressed presentation engages quickly with couple therapy. Overall, our purpose is to raise awareness about the indications for couple therapy with individuals with personality disorders and to stimulate more empirical study to confirm our clinical observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. Although obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is an Axis II diagnosis that is not commonly associated with behavioral disinhibition, the literature contains reports of occasional explosive aggressive outbursts. Existing explanations of OCPD etiology do not address the coexistence of compulsive and impulsive features witnessed in some subpopulations of patients. In this study, the authors present a compensatory theory of OCPD in an effort to explain clinical observations of an unexpectedly large number of OCPD diagnoses among patients clinic referred and self-referred for aggression problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]