Anxiety Sensitivity and Decision Making
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Summer 8-19-2016 Anxiety Sensitivity and Decision Making: Positive and Negative Risk Taking in Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings Amanda Kutz University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Clinical Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Kutz, Amanda, "Anxiety Sensitivity and Decision Making: Positive and Negative Risk Taking in Laboratory and Naturalistic Settings" (2016). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2483. http://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/2483 This Open-Access Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. ANXIETY SENSITIVITY AND DECISION MAKING: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE RISK TAKING IN LABORATORY AND NATURALISTIC SETTINGS By Amanda M. Kutz B.S. University of Vermont, 2009 M.A. University of Maine, 2013 A DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Psychology) The Graduate School The University of Maine August 2016 Advisory Committee: K. Lira Yoon, Associate Professor of Psychology, Notre Dame University, Co-Advisor Emily P. Haigh, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Co-Advisor Sandra T. Sigmon, Professor Emerita of Psychology Geoffrey L. Thorpe, Professor Emeritus of Psychology Jordan LaBouff, Assistant Professor of Psychology ii DISSERTATION ACCEPTANCE STATEMENT On behalf of the Graduate Committee for Amanda M. Kutz, I affirm that this manuscript is the final accepted dissertation. Signatures of all committee members are on file with the Graduate School at the University of Maine, 5755 Stodder Hall, Orono, Maine 04469. 4/29/16 Dr. K. Lira Yoon, Associate Professor of Psychology 4/29/16 Dr. Emily P. Haigh, Assistant Professor of Psychology iii © 2016 Amanda Kutz All Rights Reserved LIBRARY RIGHTS STATEMENT In presenting this dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Maine, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for “fair use” copying of this dissertation for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Librarian. It is understood that any copying or publication of this dissertation for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Signature: Date: ANXIETY SENSITIVITY AND DECISION MAKING: POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE RISK TAKING IN LABORATORY AND NATURALISTIC SETTINGS By Amanda M. Kutz Dissertation Co-Advisors: K. Lira Yoon and Emily P. Haigh An Abstract of the Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Psychology) August 2016 As a group, anxiety disorders represent the most prevalent mental health condition. A hallmark feature of anxiety disorders is avoidant behavior. Along with this, anxious individuals have been shown to exhibit a risk aversion in decision making. However, anxiety disorders are simultaneously highly co-morbid with substance use disorders (e.g., Grant, Stinson, Dawson, & Chou, 2004), suggesting that certain individuals with anxiety disorders engage in particular forms of risk taking. However, much of the current literature on anxiety and risk taking has focused on risk aversion in anxiety, presupposing an inhibited model of anxious responding. In addition, there is little literature which explicitly differentiates between adaptive and maladaptive risk taking or the relevance of context in risk taking, variables which were predicted to be highly important when attempting to interpret risk taking behavior in anxious individuals. There were three overarching aims of the current study: 1) Investigate etiological and maintenance factors, particularly motivation and emotion regulation, hypothesized to play a role in risk taking behavior in individuals with heightened anxiety; 2) Differentiate between maladaptive (negative) and adaptive (positive) risk taking to examine if type of risk taking behavior is differentially influenced by anxiety; and 3) Investigate the relation between risk taking in the laboratory and naturalistic settings to identify the role of context. Participants included undergraduate college students enrolled in psychology courses (N = 143). Participants completed a laboratory portion of the study where they completed three computerized tasks to assess risk taking behavior and self-report inventories. The Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) was utilized due to its clinical relevance in anxiety disorders. Following the laboratory session, participants completed a naturalistic portion of the study where they completed a week-long diary of their engagement in and perception of different risk taking behaviors. Contrary to much of the literature on anxiety and risk taking, anxiety sensitivity was not found to be associated with reduced or heightened risk taking for either adaptive or maladaptive risk taking domains. Anxiety sensitivity also did not influence risk taking in laboratory or naturalistic settings. With regards to original aims, it was found that: 1) Anxiety did not interact with predicted moderating variables to influence risk taking behavior; 2) On laboratory tasks, positive risk taking was differentiated from negative risk taking; however, this distinction was not made in naturalistic settings; and 3) Risk taking in the laboratory was not associated with risk taking in real world settings, suggesting that it should not be assumed that findings from laboratory tasks will readily generalize to real world behavior. iv DEDICATION To my parents, grandmother and brother, for all their support. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to the chair of my dissertation committee and graduate advisor, K. Lira Yoon, Ph.D. Her expertise, guidance and support along with encouragement to always pursue my own line of research have been invaluable to my development as a clinical researcher. I am thankful for the countless hours she has put in to helping developing and implementing research ideas through the years. I would also like to thank my other committee members. Drs. Sigmon and Haigh have aided me in so many different throughout my graduate career. They have both been invaluable resources and mentors across various areas of my professional growth. I am so thankful for Drs. Thorpe and LaBouff for dedicating their time to aiding with my dissertation, offering instrumental feedback and insights. My committee overall has provided a warm and supportive environment while also providing crucial feedback. I am also so thankful for my amazing lab mate- Desirae Vidaurri. She helped me talk through ideas and provided an incredible source of support. I would like to thank my wonderful and dedicated research assistants who helped in my dissertation project. I am especially grateful for Emma McWilliams, Breanna Williams and Alex Wentworth who stuck through to the end and picked up hours to run subjects on top of very busy semesters. Finally, I would like to thank my family and non-psychology friends who have been tirelessly supportive and encouraging of my educational path. My father and late mother always made my education a priority and unflinchingly believed in my ability to succeed, which has been invaluable in my moments of doubt. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF TABLES xii LIST OF FIGURES xiii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Anxiety 5 Anxiety Sensitivity 5 Etiological and Maintenance Factors 9 Motivation 9 Emotion Regulation 12 Antecedent-focused ER 12 Avoidance 14 Response-focused ER 17 Emotion Regulation and Motivation 18 Decision Making 19 Theories 20 Emotions and Decision Making 24 Anxiety 26 Risk Aversion 27 Loss Aversion 31 Risk Seeking 33 vii Maladaptive and Adaptive Risk Taking 37 Negative Risk Taking 37 Positive Risk Taking 39 Hypotheses 41 2. METHOD 44 Participants 44 Measures 45 Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3 (ASI-3) 45 State-Trait Anxiety Inventory- Trait Version (STAI-T) 47 Social Phobia Scale (SPS) 48 Behavioral Inhibition/Activation Scale (BIS/BAS) 48 Center of Epidemiology Survey- Depression (CES-D) 49 Ruminative Response Scale (RRS) 50 Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) 50 Regulatory Focus Pride (RFQ) 51 Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale- Short Form (IUS-12) 52 Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11) 52 Galassi College Self-Expression Scale (College Self-Expression Scale) 53 viii Diary Measures 54 Cognitive Appraisal of Risky Events Questionnaire (CARE) 54 Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) 55 Computer Tasks 56 Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) 56 BART: Psychometrics 56 BART: Procedure 57 Iowa Gambling Task 60 IGT: Psychometrics 60 IGT: Procedure 62 Passive Avoidance 65 Passive Avoidance: Psychometrics 65 Passive Avoidance: Procedure 66 Diary 68 General Procedure 68 3. RESULTS 71 Participant Characteristics 71 Demographics 71 Preliminary Data Preparation and Analyses 72 Self-Report Measures 72 Computerized Decision Making Tasks 75 Daily Decision Making Diary 76 Moderated Regression Analyses 78 ix Hypothesis One 79 Hypothesis One- A 79 Interaction between AS and Approach Motivation 80 BAS Drive by AS 81 Reward Responsiveness by AS 82 BAS Total by AS 83 Interaction between AS and Avoidance Motivation 84 Hypothesis One- B 85 Rumination by AS 86 Hypothesis One- C 87 Interaction between AS and Approach Motivation