Onof Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USAUniversity, Boston, MA, USAAbstractThis study examined the psychometric properties of the 19-item Thought ction Fusion (TAF) Scale, a measure of maladaptive cognitive intrusions, in a large clinical sample (N = 700). An exploratory factor analysis (n = 300) yielded two interpretable factors: TAF Moral (TAF-M) and TAF Likelihood (TAF-L). A confirmatory bifactor analysis was conducted on the second portion of the sample (n = 400) to account for possible sources of item covariance using a general TAF factor (subsuming TAF-M) alongside the TAF-L domain-specific factor. The bifactor model provided an buy Resiquimod acceptable fit to the sample data. Results indicated that global TAF was more strongly associated with a measure of obsessive-compulsiveness than measures of general worry and depression, and the TAF-L dimension was more strongly related to obsessive-compulsiveness than depression. Overall, results support the bifactor structure of the TAF in a clinical sample and its close relationship to its neighboring obsessive-compulsiveness construct.Keywords thought ction fusion; obsessive-compulsive disorder; obsessions; psychometrics; bifactor analysis A central tenet of current cognitive-behavioral theories is that pathological anxiety arises from and is maintained by disorder-specific misinterpretations of physical sensations, situations, and thoughts (Clark, 1999). Although misinterpretations of physiological reactions are the core feature of panic disorder and distorted situational appraisals are a central difficulty in social phobia, ego-dystonic cognitive intrusions are thought to play a key role in the maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The quality of intrusive, negative thoughts in OCD (e.g., preoccupation with distressing cognitions and subsequent neutralization behaviors) implicates the role of thought ction fusion (TAF) as a relevant cognitive construct (Berle Starcevic, 2005; Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group, 1997). The term TAF was coined by?The Author(s) 2012 Corresponding Author: Timothy A. Brown, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA. [email protected]. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the R848 solubility research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.Meyer and BrownPageRachman (1993) and was first discussed in the clinical literature as an observation that patients with OCD tend to view their thoughts as actions taking place in the external world, often assigning personal responsibility or special meaning to intrusive thoughts and engaging in self-blame for perceived harm inflicted on themselves or others (Salkovskis, 1985). Contemporary studies linking TAF and OCD typically rely on a two-part assumption (Abramowitz, Whiteside, Lynam, Kalsy, 2003): (a) subjective distress is generated when an individual conflates thinking about a harmful or immoral action with actually committing the act, and (b) compulsive behaviors emerge from an individual’s attempts to neutralize perceived negative outcomes, which are viewed as more likely by simply having thought of them. Some contemporary researchers stress that the central pernicious element in TAF is the person’s belief about both the meaning and the consequences of negative thoughts (Abramowitz et al., 2003). A potential.Onof Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USAUniversity, Boston, MA, USAAbstractThis study examined the psychometric properties of the 19-item Thought ction Fusion (TAF) Scale, a measure of maladaptive cognitive intrusions, in a large clinical sample (N = 700). An exploratory factor analysis (n = 300) yielded two interpretable factors: TAF Moral (TAF-M) and TAF Likelihood (TAF-L). A confirmatory bifactor analysis was conducted on the second portion of the sample (n = 400) to account for possible sources of item covariance using a general TAF factor (subsuming TAF-M) alongside the TAF-L domain-specific factor. The bifactor model provided an acceptable fit to the sample data. Results indicated that global TAF was more strongly associated with a measure of obsessive-compulsiveness than measures of general worry and depression, and the TAF-L dimension was more strongly related to obsessive-compulsiveness than depression. Overall, results support the bifactor structure of the TAF in a clinical sample and its close relationship to its neighboring obsessive-compulsiveness construct.Keywords thought ction fusion; obsessive-compulsive disorder; obsessions; psychometrics; bifactor analysis A central tenet of current cognitive-behavioral theories is that pathological anxiety arises from and is maintained by disorder-specific misinterpretations of physical sensations, situations, and thoughts (Clark, 1999). Although misinterpretations of physiological reactions are the core feature of panic disorder and distorted situational appraisals are a central difficulty in social phobia, ego-dystonic cognitive intrusions are thought to play a key role in the maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). The quality of intrusive, negative thoughts in OCD (e.g., preoccupation with distressing cognitions and subsequent neutralization behaviors) implicates the role of thought ction fusion (TAF) as a relevant cognitive construct (Berle Starcevic, 2005; Obsessive Compulsive Cognitions Working Group, 1997). The term TAF was coined by?The Author(s) 2012 Corresponding Author: Timothy A. Brown, Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Department of Psychology, Boston University, 648 Beacon Street, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02215, USA. [email protected]. Declaration of Conflicting Interests The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.Meyer and BrownPageRachman (1993) and was first discussed in the clinical literature as an observation that patients with OCD tend to view their thoughts as actions taking place in the external world, often assigning personal responsibility or special meaning to intrusive thoughts and engaging in self-blame for perceived harm inflicted on themselves or others (Salkovskis, 1985). Contemporary studies linking TAF and OCD typically rely on a two-part assumption (Abramowitz, Whiteside, Lynam, Kalsy, 2003): (a) subjective distress is generated when an individual conflates thinking about a harmful or immoral action with actually committing the act, and (b) compulsive behaviors emerge from an individual’s attempts to neutralize perceived negative outcomes, which are viewed as more likely by simply having thought of them. Some contemporary researchers stress that the central pernicious element in TAF is the person’s belief about both the meaning and the consequences of negative thoughts (Abramowitz et al., 2003). A potential.