Cross-sectional direct and indirect relationships between the corrupted feared self and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in a clinical sample: The role of mental contamination.

The fear of being corrupted may be associated with feelings of contamination in the absence of direct contact with a contaminant, which may then predict OCD symptoms of repugnant obsessional thoughts and contact contamination concerns. The corrupted feared self and mental contamination should therefore be targeted in treatments for repugnant obsessions and contamination-related OCD.