Thoughts about harming another person are a common phenomenon and can be understood through two different constructs: aggressive intrusive thoughts and aggressive scripts. Aggressive intrusive thoughts are commonly investigated in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and aggressive scripts are reported by offender populations. The current review explores whether aggressive intrusive thoughts and aggressive scripts share similarities with regards to well established features from intrusive thought research, including frequency, intrusiveness, influence of maladaptive appraisals, associated emotional experiences, and thought control strategies. A targeted systematic review was deemed inappropriate due to the nature of the review and the lack of specific literature in the area. To inform this critical review, a literature search was conducted using relevant key words, and references from established research in the area were examined. Findings from this study identify that some features including frequency, distress, and thought control strategies are relevant to aggressive scripts.Understanding the relationship these features have with aggressive scripts may prove beneficial for not only differentiating this construct from intrusive thoughts but for also informing risk assessment and intervention for those who experience them.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a debilitating illness affecting 2% of the population. Psychological treatments consisting of exposure and response prevention (ERP) and cognitive behavioral based methods are efficacious for most individuals with OCD and have been found to yield long-term positive outcomes. Most research on such outcomes have focused on individual treatment and the outcomes associated with group-based treatments are less well established. Further, the mechanisms that account for outcomes of individual and group based treatments for OCD remain unclear. Cognitive theories suggest that changes in cognitive structures including self-related beliefs may account for treatment related changes, yet limited research has empirically examined such suggestions. This study examined the outcomes of a low-intensity 10-session group CBT program for OCD in real-world effectiveness. The final sample consisted of 78 participants (M = 34.9 years, 50% Males), who answered symptom and cognition measures following each session. Overall, using hierarchical linear modelling, it was found that the program was effective in reducing symptoms (modelled fall of 7.64 on the YBOCS). In addition, both OCD-relevant beliefs and self-ambivalence also reduced significantly, and both significantly related to symptom level. Implications are discussed.

Experiencing a thought about harming or injuring another person is commonly reported by the general population. Aggressive intrusive thoughts (AITs) and aggressive scripts are two constructs commonly used to define the experience of thinking about harming another person. However, they are generally investigated separately and with two significantly different population groups; respectively, individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder and people with a history of violent behavior. AITs and aggressive scripts are assumed to have very different implications for violence risk assessment, but conceptual overlap and an absence of empirical research renders this assumption premature. Using a battery of self-report measures, this study aimed to investigate the differential predictors of AITs and aggressive script rehearsal in a nonclinical sample. Additionally, using regression analyses, the predictors of self-reported aggressive behavior were explored in a sample of 412 adults (73% females; Mage  = 31.96 years, SD = 11.02). Violence-supportive beliefs and frequency of anger rumination predicted the frequency of aggressive script rehearsal, and aggressive script rehearsal, anger rumination, and violence-supportive beliefs predicted a history of aggressive behavior. In contrast, obsessive beliefs were predictive of AITs, and only AITs were related to ego-dystonicity. Both AITs and aggressive script rehearsal were related to the use of thought control strategies. These findings support the contributions that maladaptive beliefs have in the experience of aggressive scripts and AITs. Beliefs about violence, a history of aggressive behavior, and ego-dystonicity appear to differentiate aggressive scripts from AITs.

Feared self beliefs have been found to relate with OCD, whereby fears of who one is or might become have had implications for the experience of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The present study aimed to further the investigation of the fear of self to different OCD-symptom dimensions, including the understudied dimensions of relationship OCD and sexual orientation OCD, and compare this to prediction by other specific and general OCDrelevant beliefs. The final sample comprised 264 non-clinical participants (48.9% males) with a mean age of 34.65 years (SD = 12.01), who completed a battery of self-report measures. We found that different cognitions may contribute to OCD symptom presentations. General maladaptive beliefs were predictive of general OCD symptoms, while specific sexual-orientation beliefs were predictive of SO-OCD, over-and-above the more general beliefs noted in the cognitive appraisal model of OCD. The "feared self" was found to relate significantly to all OC symptoms dimensions including relationship OCD and sexual orientation OCD, and predicted significant additional variance in all symptom dimensions except for contamination and partner-focussed obsessions. The findings suggest that beliefs centred on feared self-perceptions and inner-self concerns may be important in understanding the appraisal process of intrusions.

Endometriosis is a common gynecological condition associated with debilitaing pain and poor mental health. This review examines the evidence for psychological and mind-body (PMB) interventions to improve endometriosis pain, psychological distress, sleep and fatigue. Electronic databases searched included PsychINFO, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Scopus, and PubMed. Inclusion criteria were women with endometriosis, and interventions that used psychological or mind-body interventions; there were no exclusion criteria regarding study design. Studies were identified and coded using standard criteria, and risk of bias was assessed with established tools relevant to the study design. A total of 12 publications relating to 9 separate studies were identified:- 3 randomized controlled trials, 1 controlled trial, 2 single-arm studies, 1 retrospective cohort study, and 2 case series. Interventions included yoga, mindfulness, relaxation training, cognitive behavioural therapy combined with physical therapy, Chinese medicine combined with psychotherapy, and biofeedback. Results indicate that no studies have yet used gold-standard methodology and, thus, definitive conclusions cannot be offered about PMB efficacy. However, the results of these pilot studies suggest that PMB interventions show promise in alleviating pain, anxiety, depression, stress and fatigue in women with endometriosis, and future well-designed RCTs including active control groups are warranted.