Background: An inflated sense of responsibility is characteristic of obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD). No previous studies have investigated its origins. Five potential pathways to
inflated responsibility beliefs have been proposed; these are tested in this study. Method: A
novel measure, the Origins Questionnaire for Adolescents (OQA), was developed to assess
experiences on these five pathways. Reliability of the OQA was investigated. The experiences
on the five pathways to inflated responsibility beliefs of sixteen adolescents with a history of
OCD were compared to sixteen adolescents with no history of OCD. Parents also reported on
adolescents’ experiences on the five pathways. Results: Inter-rater reliability was high. The
internal consistency of the subscales were only partly satisfactory. The groups differed on one
pathway; the clinical group reported a higher sense of responsibility for significant incidents with
a negative outcome prior to onset of OCD. Conclusions: An inflated sense of responsibility, in
combination with the occurrence of specific incidents, might act as a vulnerability factor for
development of OCD. Future research should consider how to measure the subtle effects of
experiences of responsibility over the course of development
