Original ArticlesThought-Action Fusion Across Anxiety Disorder Diagnoses Specificity and Treatment EffectsThompson-Hollands, Johanna MA; Farchione, Todd J. PhD; Barlow, David H. PhD Author Information Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, Boston University, Massachusetts. Send reprint requests to Johanna Thompson-Hollands, MA, Boston University, 648 Beacon St, 6th Floor, Boston, MA 02115. E-mail: [email protected]. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 201(5):p 407-413, May 2013. | DOI: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e31828e102c Buy Metrics Abstract Thought-action fusion (TAF) is a cognitive error that has been frequently investigated within the context of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, evidence suggests that this error may also be present in disorders other than OCD, indicating that TAF is related to higher order factors rather than a specific diagnosis. We explored TAF in a sample of patients with mixed diagnoses undergoing treatment with a transdiagnostic CBT protocol. Elevated TAF levels at baseline were not specific to patients with OCD. However, the presence of any generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) diagnosis was unexpectedly the strongest predictor of likelihood TAF. Likelihood TAF, a particular component of TAF, was reduced after transdiagnostic treatment, and this reduction was not affected by the presence of a GAD diagnosis. Results indicate that TAF is responsive to treatment and should be assessed and, perhaps, treated in disorders beyond OCD. © 2013 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
