Herman, Aleksandra M, Critchley, Hugo D and Duka, Theodora (2018) Risk-taking and impulsivity; the role of mood states and interoception. Frontiers in Psychology, 9 (1625). pp. 1-11. ISSN 1664-1078

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Abstract

Objectives: The consequences of impulsive decisions and actions represent a major source of concern to the health and well-being of individuals and society. It is, therefore, crucial to understand the factors which contribute to impulsive behaviors. Here, we examined how personality traits of behavioral tendencies, interoceptive sensibility as well as transient mood states predict behavioral performance on impulsivity and risk-taking tasks.

Method: 574 (121 males; age 18-45) individuals completed self-report personality measures of impulsivity, reward sensitivity, punishment avoidance as well as interoceptive sensibility, undertook a mood assessment and performed a set of cognitive tasks: delay discounting (temporal impulsivity), probability discounting (risk-taking), and reflection impulsivity task. Data were interrogated using principal component analysis, correlations and regression analyses to test mutual relationships between personality traits, interoceptive sensibility, mood state and impulsive behaviors.

Results: We observed a clear separation of measures used, both trait and behavioral. Namely, sensation-seeking, reward sensitivity and probability discounting reflected risk-taking. These were separate from measures associated with impulsivity, both trait (negative and positive urgency, premeditation, perseverance) and behavioral (delayed discounting and reflection impulsivity). This separation was further highlighted by their relationship with the current emotional state: positive affect was associated with increased risk-taking tendencies and risky decision-making, while negative emotions were related to heightened impulsivity measures. Interoceptive sensibility was only associated with negative emotions component.

Conclusions: Our findings support the proposal that risk-taking and impulsivity represent distinct constructs that are differentially affected by current mood states. This novel insight enhances our understanding of impulsive behaviors.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	UPPS-P, sensation seeking, delay discounting, probability discounting, reflection impulsivity, interoceptive sensibility, emotional state.
Schools and Departments:	Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Brighton and Sussex Medical School Brighton and Sussex Medical School > Neuroscience School of Psychology > Psychology
Research Centres and Groups:	Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science Sussex Addiction Research and Intervention Centre (SARIC)
Depositing User:	Aleksandra Maria Herman
Date Deposited:	22 Aug 2018 13:42
Last Modified:	29 Oct 2018 16:35
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/78046

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