The comparison of cognitive flexibility, theory of mind and working memory in students with symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and normal group

The comparison of cognitive and emotional factors in patients with anxiety disorders is a new approach with therapeutic applications. This study aims to compare the cognitive flexibility, theory of mind and working memory in two groups of obsessive compulsive syndrome and normal students.
In this study, a random selection of 200 students were asked to complete the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (MOCI). Then, the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), theory of mind (TOM) task and Wechsler Memory Test were conducted for participants and data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA).
The findings showed that there is a significant difference between the groups on cognitive flexibility and the working memory, but there is no significant difference between the groups in theory of mind.
The results showed that people with obsessive-compulsive syndrome, cognitive flexibility and working memory are weaker than in healthy controls. They also seemed to have repetitive behaviors due to an inability to recall previous actions.