Abstract
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Highlights
● Nearly all participants reported experiencing at least one type of unwanted intrusive thoughts.
● The highest and lowest prevalence of unwanted intrusive thoughts belonged the doubt category and the sexual and victim categories, respectively.
● Participants reported more intolerance of anxiety, uncertainty, and responsibility as thought reappraisals.
● Participants used more thought replacement, distraction, self-reassurance, and avoidance as thought control strategies
Plain Language Summary
Unwanted intrusive thoughts are found in clinical obsessive and nonclinical people. They are essentially similar in content but are different in their processing. In other words, intrusions are not problematic, rather the ways we react to, interpret, appraise, and or attempt to control them can cause distress. So, the present study investigated prevalence, appraisal, and control strategies of intrusions in the Iranian population. The International Intrusive Thoughts Interview Schedule (IITIS) was implemented in a sample of Iranian university students (n=50). Results showed nearly all participants reported experiencing at least one type of unwanted intrusive thoughts. The highest prevalence of Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts belonged to the doubt category, and the lowest prevalence of UITs was observed in the sexual and victim categories. Participants reported intolerance of anxiety, uncertainty, and responsibility more as a reason for noticing intrusions and they also were more likely to use thought replacement, distraction, self-reassurance, and avoidance for controlling intrusions. The results showed that unwanted intrusive thoughts, responses to these thoughts (thought reappraisals) and strategies to control them in Iranian- nonclinical population are almost similar to these in clinical OCD population. There were also some significant cross-cultural differences in prevalence, appraisal, and control strategies of unwanted intrusive thoughts.