中華心理衛生協會

 Purpose: The symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder correspond to functional impairment in response inhibition. We explored the effect of mindfulness instruction on the response inhibition of participants with obsessive-compulsive (OC) tendencies. Based on the regulation effect of mindfulness on executive control, we hypothesized that after mindfulness instruction participants with high OC tendencies would significantly reduce their commission errors and increase their response times. Methods: We recruited participants with high/low obsessive-compulsive tendencies, with n = 42 in each group. They completed a motivational go/no-go task. We applied a 2 (OC group: high/low OC tendency) × 2 (instruction: mindfulness/non-mindfulness) × 2 (feedback: reward/punishment) × 2 (response style: go bias/no go bias) four-factor mixed design. Feedback and response style were within-subject variables, and the change in score for commission errors and reaction times were the dependent variables. Results: After mindfulness instruction, participants with high OC tendencies decreased commission errors and increased reaction times. Conversely, after non-mindfulness instruction their commission errors increased and reaction times decreased. Low OC participants also showed the same significant effects, except that the high OC group reduced significantly more commission errors after mindfulness instruction, and responded significantly faster after non-mindfulness instruction. Conclusions: The results supported the hypotheses. Specifically, mindfulness instruction can reduce the impairment in response inhibition of participants with high OC tendencies, while non-mindfulness instruction worsens impairment. Mindfulness instruction can also enhance the response inhibition function of participants with low OC tendencies, albeit to a lesser degree. In summary, mindfulness instruction can aid in reducing response inhibition impairment and in promoting response inhibition functions.