Background & objectives: Obsessive-compulsive disorders are common in the society and have negative effects on individual’s function. Prevailing theories indicate that these disorders are influenced by biological factors. However, cognitive models of obsessive-compulsive disorder have emphasis on cognitive factors. This study was carried out to investigate the cognitive predictors of obsessive- compulsive symptoms in students.          

Methods: In this correlational study 300 students (243 female and 57 male) in the fields of psychology, education, agricultural engineering, computer science, management and law from Lorestan Pyam-e-Noor University, Iran were selected by multistage cluster sampling in the second semester of academic year 2014-15. The students completed Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R), Meta Cognition Questionnaire (MCQ-30), Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF) and Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ). Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and simultaneous multiple regression analysis by SPSS-16.

Results: Findings indicated that worry, meta-cognitive beliefs and maladaptive schemas significantly correlated with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (p<0.001). Results from simultaneous multiple regression analysis also revealed that 64.8% of the total variance of obsessive-compulsive symptoms can be explained by worry, meta-cognitive beliefs and maladaptive schemas.

Conclusion: According to effective role of study variables with obsessive-compulsive, holding the periodic training coping skills with obsessive-compulsive disorder for students and providing solutions promoting mental health during academic period should be considered by health custodians in universities.