I Think I Can: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Exposure to Contamination

Introduction: Self-efficacy (SE) has been explored extensively within the field of psychology. Despite a rich literature demonstrating its positive effect on various behavioral outcomes, including psychological treatment outcomes, little is known about the impact of SE on outcomes related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. To fill this critical gap in the literature, this study aims to examine the relationship between SE beliefs and contamination-related approach behavior and to determine whether increasing SE may improve engagement in exposure-based interventions for contamination fears. Method: Participants (N = 120) were randomly assigned to complete a contamination-related behavioral approach task (CR-BAT) immediately following either a SE-boosting exercise or a non-SE related control. Results: Self-reported contamination-relevant SE was positively correlated with approach behavior during the CR-BAT. However, there were no differences between conditions in contamination-related SE or approach behavior during the CR-BAT. Nevertheless, participants in the SE-boosting condition reported lower levels of anxiety during the CR-BAT than did those in the control condition, suggesting that the manipulation was effective in reducing subjective distress. Discussion: Future research using more effective methods to manipulate SE is required to examine the causality of this relationship.