Was mixed. Specifically, TAF-L was significantly more strongly related to OCI-R

Was mixed. Specifically, TAF-L was significantly more strongly related to OCI-R scores than BDI-II scores as expected, but the differential magnitude between TAF-L and OCI-R and between TAF-L and PSWQ was nonsignificant. The latter finding suggests TAFL concerns are similarly related to obsessive-compulsiveness and general worry, in accordAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAssessment. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 May 04.Meyer and BrownPagewith the notion that anxiety associated with a perceived increased probability of harm inflicted on the self or close others may occur in the context of uncontrollable worry (i.e., in GAD). This type of worry is conceptually consistent with TAF-L content whereas depressive symptoms, such as self-blame and low self-worth, are more consonant with non?TAF-L content relevant to self-deprecation. Taken together, these results provide BRDU web encouraging evidence for a more parsimonious latent structure of the TAFS. Given that general TAF (a) evidenced high reliability and (b) was more strongly related to OCD features than symptoms of worry and depression endorsed by clinical participants, the use of a total TAF score may prove more valuable than domainspecific scores in future studies. These observations attest to the notable overlap among the different qualitative features of TAF, be they related to self or to others, and imply that the subdomains synergistically contribute to observed heterogeneity in TAF expression. To date, this study marks the first application of a bifactor CFA to the TAFS and the first empirical support for the TAF total score. Future replications using clinical and nonclinical samples are needed to cross-validate this more parsimonious factor structure. With regard to clinical implications, evidence for the presence and superiority of a TAF total score (general factor) promotes a more parsimonious use of this measure in future treatment studies (e.g., using TAFS as a process or outcome measure). Optimal measurement of TAF is paramount, especially since this construct continues to be (a) investigated in applied clinical research settings and (b) used by practicing clinicians (and not strictly psychometrically oriented psychologists) in the assessment of maladaptive cognitive correlates of OCD that may require special attention and intervention strategies (e.g., cognitive challenging and restructuring) during the course of treatment. If future research is able to replicate the present findings, which represent an application of Occam’s razor to potentially unnecessary construct specification complexity, cognitive-behavioral clinical researchers can look forward to conceptualizing the latent structure of TAF in a more economically compressed manner. This, in turn, will ultimately benefit practicing clinicians through the provision of cleaner, more efficient measurement of the scope and severity of these distressing and potentially impairing cognitive distortions. To the extent that treatment-seeking patients endorse distressing and interfering TAF-like symptoms, cognitive-behavioral interventions may be used effectively. For example, a study of undergraduate students endorsing elevated TAF scores revealed a significant reduction in reported anxiety and TAF severity following an educational intervention relative to controls (Zucker, 11-DeoxojervineMedChemExpress Cyclopamine Craske, Barrios, Holguin, 2002). General “anti-TAF” strategies, such as the one used in the Zucker et al. (2002) s.Was mixed. Specifically, TAF-L was significantly more strongly related to OCI-R scores than BDI-II scores as expected, but the differential magnitude between TAF-L and OCI-R and between TAF-L and PSWQ was nonsignificant. The latter finding suggests TAFL concerns are similarly related to obsessive-compulsiveness and general worry, in accordAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAssessment. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2015 May 04.Meyer and BrownPagewith the notion that anxiety associated with a perceived increased probability of harm inflicted on the self or close others may occur in the context of uncontrollable worry (i.e., in GAD). This type of worry is conceptually consistent with TAF-L content whereas depressive symptoms, such as self-blame and low self-worth, are more consonant with non?TAF-L content relevant to self-deprecation. Taken together, these results provide encouraging evidence for a more parsimonious latent structure of the TAFS. Given that general TAF (a) evidenced high reliability and (b) was more strongly related to OCD features than symptoms of worry and depression endorsed by clinical participants, the use of a total TAF score may prove more valuable than domainspecific scores in future studies. These observations attest to the notable overlap among the different qualitative features of TAF, be they related to self or to others, and imply that the subdomains synergistically contribute to observed heterogeneity in TAF expression. To date, this study marks the first application of a bifactor CFA to the TAFS and the first empirical support for the TAF total score. Future replications using clinical and nonclinical samples are needed to cross-validate this more parsimonious factor structure. With regard to clinical implications, evidence for the presence and superiority of a TAF total score (general factor) promotes a more parsimonious use of this measure in future treatment studies (e.g., using TAFS as a process or outcome measure). Optimal measurement of TAF is paramount, especially since this construct continues to be (a) investigated in applied clinical research settings and (b) used by practicing clinicians (and not strictly psychometrically oriented psychologists) in the assessment of maladaptive cognitive correlates of OCD that may require special attention and intervention strategies (e.g., cognitive challenging and restructuring) during the course of treatment. If future research is able to replicate the present findings, which represent an application of Occam’s razor to potentially unnecessary construct specification complexity, cognitive-behavioral clinical researchers can look forward to conceptualizing the latent structure of TAF in a more economically compressed manner. This, in turn, will ultimately benefit practicing clinicians through the provision of cleaner, more efficient measurement of the scope and severity of these distressing and potentially impairing cognitive distortions. To the extent that treatment-seeking patients endorse distressing and interfering TAF-like symptoms, cognitive-behavioral interventions may be used effectively. For example, a study of undergraduate students endorsing elevated TAF scores revealed a significant reduction in reported anxiety and TAF severity following an educational intervention relative to controls (Zucker, Craske, Barrios, Holguin, 2002). General “anti-TAF” strategies, such as the one used in the Zucker et al. (2002) s.