ABSTRACT
Objectives
Group Radical Openness (GRO) is a group therapy program targeting costly and harmful overcontrol. This service review psychometrically evaluated GRO’s outcome measures as part of the clinical team’s ongoing deliberation about their suitability. Particular attention was given to the Five Factor Obsessive–Compulsive Inventory–Short Form (FFOCI–SF), the program’s primary measure of overcontrol.
Method
Routine pre-intervention clinical outcome data from 241 GRO participants were analysed. Internal consistency was examined for all outcome measures. Associations between the FFOCI-SF and theoretically-related secondary measures were calculated to assess convergent validity. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on the 48 FFOCI-SF items. Associations of emergent factors with secondary measures were also computed.
Results
The FFOCI-SF showed excellent internal consistency (α = 0.92) and small-to-moderate associations with secondary measures of rigidity, relationship distance, and emotional suppression, supporting convergent validity. Reliability of secondary measures was more variable, with some subscales below accepted thresholds. EFA of the FFOCI-SF revealed a four-factor solution—Excessively High Standards, Need for Structure, Overthinking, and Disconnection from Self/Others—each factor yielding good-to-excellent internal consistency and theoretically consistent associations with the secondary measures.
Conclusion
These findings support the current outcome-measurement framework used in GRO while highlighting areas where refinement of secondary measures may be warranted. They also extend understanding of overcontrol by identifying a four-factor structure within the FFOCI-SF that aligns with GRO’s therapeutic model and provides a foundation for future measure development and evaluation.