The convergence and divergence of impulsivity facets in daily life

Acting impulsively when "upset": Examining associations among negative urgency, undifferentiated negative affect, and impulsivity using momentary and experimental methods

INTRODUCTION

Negative urgency is a personality pathway toward impulsive behavior that increases risk for transdiagnostic psychopathology. Limited research supports the core tenant of urgency theory, that is, that individuals with high trait negative urgency act more impulsive when experiencing increased negative emotion. We hypothesized that it may not be negative emotion intensity, but difficulty in differentiating among negative emotions, that prompts impulsive behavior among individuals with elevated negative urgency.

METHODS

We tested this hypothesis in 200 undergraduates using both ecological momentary assessment (measured momentary undifferentiated negative affect and impulsivity) and experimental methods (manipulated emotion differentiation and measured behavioral impulsivity).

RESULTS

Momentary undifferentiated negative affect predicted impulsivity in the specific domains of work/school and exercise, but interactions between momentary undifferentiated negative affect and negative urgency were not supported. Manipulated emotion differentiation did not impact behavioral impulsivity regardless of negative urgency scores.

CONCLUSION

Inconsistent with theory, the impulsive behavior of individuals with negative urgency may not be conditional on elevated or undifferentiated negative affect.

Urgency as a predictor of change in emotion dysregulation in adolescents

Introduction

Adolescence is a key developmental period characterized by increased maladaptive risky behaviors. Two related but distinct constructs, urgency (the tendency to act rashly in response to strong negative or positive emotions) and emotion dysregulation, are important risk factors for engaging in maladaptive risky behaviors. Thus far, research has largely agreed that these two risk factors are highly correlated. However, the causal direction between these constructs is less understood. The goal of the current study is to determine whether urgency predicts emotion dysregulation change among adolescents.

Method

This project is an analysis of 544 youth (49.8% female, Mage=14.22, SD=0.52). We tested whether urgency at baseline predicts change in emotion dysregulation over a nine-week period, and whether that relationship differs across boys and girls.

Results

Two multigroup latent change score path analyses found that negative, but not positive, urgency significantly predicted emotion dysregulation change (negative urgency: b= -0.57, p=0.001; positive urgency: b=0.22, p=0.06). There was no evidence of moderation by gender.

Discussion

This work provides initial evidence of a temporal relationship between higher negative urgency and increased emotion dysregulation. The next step is to determine whether negative urgency imparts risk for maladaptive behaviors through its effect on emotion dysregulation. The long-term goal of this program of research is to design and test interventions to reduce the impact of negative urgency for adolescent risk-taking.

The relation between stress-induced dopamine release in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, fronto-striatal functional connectivity, and negative urgency: A multimodal investigation using [18F]Fallypride PET, MRI and experience sampling

Negative urgency (NU), or the tendency to act rashly when stress of negative affect is high, could be the result of an insufficient control of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) over the striatum, through an impaired dopamine (DA) transmission. Therefore, we investigated in vivo human stress-induced DA release in the vmPFC, its relation with fronto-striatal functional connectivity (FC), and NU in daily life. In total, 12 female healthy participants performed a simultaneous [18 F]fallypride PET and fMRI scan during which stress was induced. Regions displaying stress-induced DA release were identified and used to investigate stress-induced changes in fronto-striatal FC. Additionally, participants enrolled in an experience sampling study, reporting on daily life stress and rash actions over a 12-month-long period. Mixed models explored whether stress-induced DA release and FC moderated NU in daily life. Stress led to a lower FC between the vmPFC and dorsal striatum, but a higher FC between the vmPFC and contralateral ventral striatum. Participants with a higher FC between the vmPFC and dorsal striatum displayed more NU in daily life. A higher stress-induced DA release in the vmPFC was related to a higher stress-induced change in FC between the vmPFC and striatum. Participants with a higher DA release in the vmPFC displayed more NU in daily life. In conclusion, stress could differentially impact fronto-striatal FC whereby the connectivity with the dorsal striatum is especially important for NU in daily life. This could be mediated by a higher, but not a lower, stress-induced DA release in the vmPFC.

Negative urgency as a state-level process

OBJECTIVE

Test whether global self-reports of urgency moderated the within-person associations of affect and impulsive behaviors.

BACKGROUND

Negative urgency is a personality trait that is a risk factor for a range of psychopathology. Although it is assumed that global self-reports of urgency measure individual tendencies to act more impulsively in the face of negative emotions, evidence from ecological momentary assessment studies is mixed.

METHOD

In this Registered Report, we used ecological momentary assessment data from a large sample of young adults (n = 496, age 18-22, 5 surveys per day for 40 days).

RESULTS

All forms of momentary impulsivity were impaired in moments when people reported more intense negative emotions, but global self-reports of urgency did not explain individual differences in this association. Moreover, averaged affective states, rather than specific dimensions, affective circumplex, or appraisals, best predicted impulsive states.

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that face-valid interpretations of global self-report of urgency are inaccurate, and it may be important to understand how some people come to understand themselves as high on urgency rather than assuming that people's self-reports of their motivations are accurate. Momentary experiences of emotions globally impact multiple weakly to moderately associated impulsive behaviors, and future research should seek to understand both when and for whom these associations are strongest.

Urgency Theory in the context of broader emotion theories: a conceptual review

Negative and positive urgency are two closely related personality traits that reflect the tendency for an individual to engage in maladaptive risk-taking in response to extreme negative and positive emotions, respectively. However, other prominent emotion theories describe how emotions contribute to adaptive, rather than maladaptive, decision-making. This conceptual review considers how Urgency Theory can be integrated with these broader existing emotion theories. We proceed as follows: a) briefly define what is meant by emotions in science and summarize basic human neuroscience underlying emotions; b) briefly describe select theories and research linking emotions to adaptive decision-making, including brain correlates of this effect; c) review Urgency Theory, including contrasting evidence that emotions lead to maladaptive outcomes and brain correlates of this effect; d) discuss how urgency can be integrated into theories that view emotions as both adaptive and maladaptive for decision-making; and e) propose future directions to advance research in this field. We identified four, not mutually exclusive, viable options to integrate Urgency Theory into existing theories: urgency as model-free emotion regulation, urgency as being driven by incidental emotions, urgency as a reflexive response to emotions, or urgency as an individual difference factor. We conclude that although all four options are viable, individual difference and model-free emotion regulation have the most empirical support to date. Importantly, the other two options are less well-researched. Direct tests comparing these integrations is necessary to determine the most accurate way to integrate urgency with existing emotion theories. We believe that this research can identify mechanisms underlying urgency and help inform future intervention and prevention development to reduce negative effects of urgency across numerous maladaptive behaviors and clinical disorders.

Personality Pathology and Momentary Stress Processes

The expression of personality pathology differs between people and within a person in day-to-day life. Personality pathology may reflect, in part, dysregulation in basic behavioral processes. Thus, a useful approach for studying maladaptive trait expression comes from literature on stress and daily hassles, which provide dynamic accounts for the relations between individual differences and maladaptive dysregulation. This study sought to integrate maladaptive traits and dynamic stress processes to further dynamic models of personality pathology. In a combined clinical/community sample (N=297) oversampled for interpersonal problems, we used ecological momentary assessment (observation N=19,968) to investigate how maladaptive traits moderated the processes of stress generation, stress reactivity, and affective spillover/inertia. Tests of our preregistered hypotheses provided a mix of supportive and null findings for stress processes identified in past research, and mixed support for the moderating role of personality. The results provide insights into the relations between everyday stressors and personality pathology.

"I'm so dumb and worthless right now": factors associated with heightened momentary self-criticism in daily life

Self-criticism is a trait associated with increased psychopathology, but self-criticism is also a personality state reflecting an action that people do in moments of time. In the current study, we explored factors associated with heightened self-criticism in daily life. Participants (N = 197) received five random prompts per day for one week on their mobile phones, where they reported their current affect (negative and positive affect), willpower self-efficacy, distress intolerance, degree of support and criticism from others, current context (location, activity, hunger, tiredness) and momentary self-criticism. We first demonstrated that self-criticism varies over time and across contexts, and is associated with heightened trait self-criticism. Then, using multilevel modelling, we explored the contextual factors associated with greater self-criticism. We found that self-criticism was higher when people were at home, and more tired. We also found higher self-criticism to be associated with greater negative and lower positive affect, greater distress intolerance, lower willpower and greater perceived criticism from others. In addition, self-criticism predicted subsequent distress intolerance, willpower and positive affect in lagged analyses. This study provides evidence that both environmental and psychological factors are associated with the dynamics of self-critical thoughts.

Emotion-related impulsivity across transdiagnostic dimensions of psychopathology

OBJECTIVE

Several dimensions have received attention for their potential role in explaining shared variance in transdiagnostic symptoms of psychopathology. We hypothesized emotion-related impulsivity, the trait-like tendency toward difficulty restraining responses to emotion, would relate to symptoms of psychopathology, with two separable dimensions of emotion-related impulsivity relating distinctly to internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

METHOD

Across two studies, we tested hypotheses using structural equation models of emotion-related impulsivity and multiple indicators of internalizing, externalizing, and thought symptoms.

RESULTS

In Study 1 (658 undergraduates), emotion-related impulsivity was highly correlated with the general psychopathology (p) factor. In study 2 (421 Mechanical Turk participants), models did not support a general p factor; however, we replicated the hypothesized associations of emotion-related impulsivity dimensions with internalizing and externalizing factors. Across both studies, forms of emotion-related impulsivity uniquely and differentially related to internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings indicate emotion-related impulsivity may help explain transdiagnostic dimensions of psychopathology, such as the p factor.

The relation between stress and impulsivity during the first year of college

OBJECTIVE

Previous research has established that short-term and persistent stress negatively impact mental health, with one proposed consequence being increased impulsivity. The present study tests the short-term and persistent associations between stress and three facets of global self-reports of impulsivity: negative urgency, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance, among young adults across 6 months of their first year of college.

METHOD

College freshmen (n = 362) completed self-report questionnaires assessing stress, negative urgency, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance three times over a 6-month period. Pre-registered analyses were conducted using multilevel growth curve models.

RESULTS

Confirmatory analyses suggested that persistent stress was associated with higher levels of negative urgency and trajectories of worsening lack of perseverance over time, while short-term stress was associated with higher negative urgency. Lack of premeditation was not robustly associated with stress.

CONCLUSIONS

While both persistent and short-term exposure to stress may be associated with some facets of global self-reports of impulsivity, the relations vary across facets of impulsivity. Overall, negative urgency was the most robustly associated with stress on both time scales, which suggests that this facet of impulsivity may be the most impacted in the context of stress in the first year of college.

The distinction between irritability and anger and their associations with impulsivity and subjective wellbeing

Irritability, anger, and impulsivity have important associations with psychological well-being. However, studying the internal relationships between such emotional constructs is challenging, largely because of the lack of precise operational definitions and extensively validated measurement tools. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between the above emotional constructs and how they relate to satisfaction with life and perceived negative impact on different life domains. Participants (N = 471) completed a self-report questionnaire online. Correlational analyses showed that higher levels of irritability and trait anger were associated with lower life satisfaction. Impulsivity displayed complex relationships with life satisfaction, with some aspects (sensation seeking) showing a positive relationship and others (urgency, lack of perseverance) showing a negative relationship. A two-factor Confirmatory Factor Analysis treating irritability and anger as separate constructs showed a better fit compared with a one-factor model, indicating that irritability and anger should be treated as separate constructs. An exploratory moderation analysis showed that higher irritability predicted increased anger only for participants scoring average to high on urgency (a facet of impulsivity). Our findings increase the understanding of the relationship between these dispositional constructs and supports the conceptualization of irritability and anger as related but distinct constructs.

Emotion-related impulsivity moderates the role of arousal on reflection impulsivity

Emotion-related impulsivity is an important behavioural phenotype in clinical psychology and public health. Here, we test the hypothesis that emotion-related impulsivity moderates the effects of arousal on cognition using pharmacological manipulation. Participants completed a measure of emotion-related impulsivity, four cognitive tasks tapping onto different facets of impulsive behaviours, and a blinded arousal manipulation using yohimbine hydrochloride, which acts on noradrenergic receptors. Our findings suggest that emotion-related impulsivity moderates the role of arousal on impulsive performance on the Information Sampling Task. As expected, more severe emotion-related impulsivity was related to more impulsive decisions in the yohimbine but not in the placebo group. Results provide some of the first experimental evidence that emotion-related impulsivity is related to differential behavioural responses in the face of high arousal. Despite this preliminary support, we discuss findings for one task that did not fit hypotheses, and provide suggestions for replication and extension.

Turkish adaptation and validation of the Short-UPPS-P in adolescents and examination of different facets of impulsivity in adolescents with ADHD

The short form of the Impulsive Behavior scale (S-UPPS-P) is a widely used scale to measure multiple impulsive personality traits; although it has been translated into many languages, no Turkish translation has been studied to date. Our study had two aims. First, we tested the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the S-UPPS-P for adolescents. Second, we examined impulsive trait characteristics exhibited by adolescents with ADHD, compared to a community sample. We evaluated the psychometric properties of the Turkish S-UPPS-P scale in 384 adolescents aged 11-18 and tested correlations with ADHD symptoms by assessing 41 adolescents diagnosed with ADHD. Our results showed that with a few slight modifications the Turkish translation of the S-UPPS-P scale can validly assess impulsive trait characteristics for Turkish adolescents. The subscales of lack of premeditation, positive urgency, and negative urgency efficiently distinguished between adolescents with ADHD and control subjects. This is the first scale to evaluate the multidimensional nature of impulsivity in Turkish adolescents. This scale is capable of screening various facets of impulsivity in typically developing adolescents as well as those with ADHD, enabling us to enhance our understanding of possible risks for comorbid diseases in the latter group.

Emotion-related impulsivity and risky decision-making: A systematic review and meta-regression

Emotion-related impulsivity, the trait-like tendency toward regrettable behavior during states of high emotion, is a robust predictor of internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Despite substantial evidence that emotion-related impulsivity is important transdiagnostically, relatively little is known about its cognitive correlates. This systematic review and meta-regression investigates one such candidate, risky decision-making. We analyzed 195 effect sizes from 51 studies of 14,957 total participants, including 105 newly calculated effect sizes that were not reported in the original publications. The meta-regression demonstrated evidence for a small, positive relationship of emotion-related impulsivity with behavioral indices of risky decision-making (ß = 0.086). Effects generalized across sample age, gender, Positive versus Negative Urgency, and clinical versus nonclinical samples. The average effect size varied by task type, with stronger effects for the Iowa Gambling Task and Delay Discounting Task. Experimental arousal manipulation was nearly a significant moderator, with stress and pharmacological manipulations yielding significant effect sizes. Analyses indicated that publication bias did not skew the current findings. Notwithstanding limitations, the data suggest that risky decision-making is a cognitive domain that relates to emotion-related impulsivity. We conclude with recommendations regarding the specific types of tasks and arousal inductions that will best capture emotion-related impulsivity in future experimental research.

Impulsivity Classification Using EEG Power and Explainable Machine Learning

Impulsivity is a multidimensional construct often associated with unfavorable outcomes. Previous studies have implicated several electroencephalography (EEG) indices to impulsiveness, but results are heterogeneous and inconsistent. Using a data-driven approach, we identified EEG power features for the prediction of self-reported impulsiveness. To this end, EEG signals of 56 individuals (18 low impulsive, 20 intermediate impulsive, 18 high impulsive) were recorded during a risk-taking task. Extracted EEG power features from 62 electrodes were fed into various machine learning classifiers to identify the most relevant band. Robustness of the classifier was varied by stratified [Formula: see text]-fold cross validation. Alpha and beta band power showed best performance in the classification of impulsiveness (accuracy = 95.18% and 95.11%, respectively) using a random forest classifier. Subsequently, a sequential bidirectional feature selection algorithm was used to estimate the most relevant electrode sites. Results show that as little as 10 electrodes are sufficient to reliably classify impulsiveness using alpha band power ([Formula: see text]-measure = 94.50%). Finally, the Shapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) analysis approach was employed to reveal the individual EEG features that contributed most to the model's output. Results indicate that frontal as well as posterior midline alpha power seems to be of most importance for the classification of impulsiveness.

Emotion-related impulsivity and suicidal ideation: Towards a more specific model

OBJECTIVES

Suicidal ideation is a pervasive and painful experience that varies considerably in its phenomenology. Here, we consider how one key risk variable might inform our understanding of variation in suicidal ideation: emotion-related impulsivity, the trait-like tendency towards unconstrained speech, behaviour, and cognition in the face of intense emotions. We hypothesized that emotion-related impulsivity would be tied to specific features, including severity, perceived lack of controllability, more rapidly fluctuating course, higher scores on a measure of acute suicidal affective disturbance, and more emotional and cognitive disturbance as antecedents.

METHODS

We recruited two samples of adults (Ns = 421, 221) through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), with oversampling of those with suicidal ideation. Both samples completed psychometrically sound self-report measures online to assess emotion- and non-emotion-related dimensions of impulsivity and characteristics of suicidal ideation.

RESULTS

One form of emotion-related impulsivity related to the severity, uncontrollability, dynamic course, and affective and cognitive precursors of ideation.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite limitations of the cross-sectional design and self-report measures, the current findings highlight the importance of specificity in considering key dimensions of impulsivity and suicidal ideation.

The interplay of daily affect and impulsivity measured by mobile surveys in bipolar disorder

Background

Impulsivity is a prominent feature of bipolar disorder associated with various negative sequelae; moreover, it may be a precursor to shifts in affect or mood, but little is known about its association with affect on a day-to-day timescale. Ecological momentary assessments (a method that captures moment-to-moment ratings of psychological states by repeatedly sampling the same individual) of impulsivity and affect using mobile surveys allow for more nuanced examination of mechanisms of mood and behavior dysregulation. However, few existing studies have validated an ecological momentary assessment of impulsivity in bipolar disorder and examined its time-lagged associations with positive and negative affect. 70 participants with bipolar disorder and 102 healthy comparisons participated in an intensive longitudinal study: they underwent 14 days of ecological momentary assessment data collection annually for 1–4 years. Multiple measures of impulsivity and affect were collected using self-report, behavioral, and ecological momentary assessment modalities; these measures were compared, and levels of impulsivity were compared between bipolar disorder and healthy comparison groups. Time-lagged analyses using daily means explored the next-day predictive relationship of impulsivity on positive/negative affect, and vice versa.

Results

The ecological momentary measure of impulsivity was moderately correlated with the self-report but not behavioral impulsivity measure. Bipolar disorder participants evinced higher self-report, behavioral, and daily impulsivity than healthy comparison participants. Time-lagged analyses revealed a bi-directional association between high impulsivity and high next-day negative (but not positive) affect. Post hoc analyses showed that impulsivity specifically predicted next-day anger and anxiety.

Conclusions

Our multimodal assessment of impulsivity allowed for an examination of the day-to-day course of impulsivity and affect, crucial steps toward understanding the mechanisms of mood symptom and episode onset in bipolar disorder.

When the UPPS-P Model of Impulsivity Meets a Revised Approach: The Development and Validation of the TRUE Multidimensional Impulsivity Scale

There is inconsistency in the measurement of impulsivity resulting from the diversity in its conceptualization. We aimed to develop a revised measure based on the Urgency, Premeditation (lack of), Perseverance (lack of), Sensation Seeking - Positive Urgency (UPPS-P) model (i.e., TRUE Multidimensional Impulsivity Scale; TRUE-MIS) considering the limitations and strengths of the existing measures. We conceptualized impulsivity as a personality trait referring to the inability to restrain one's urges without thinking about the future consequences in various contexts. A total of 535 adults (262 females, M = 34.1, SD = 12.7) participated in Study 1. Principal component analyses indicated a four-factor structure (internal urgency, social urgency, lack of premeditation, and lack of perseverance) with satisfactory internal consistency and validity evidence by significant relations with self-control. Confirmatory factor analysis in Study 2 confirmed the factor structure obtained in Study 1. Hierarchical linear regression analyses provided further validity evidence through establishing differential links between the subscales and Big Five personality traits, emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, and smartphone addiction in a sample of 556 adults (368 females, M = 24.0, SD = 7.4). Overall, TRUE-MIS is a valid and reliable measure of impulsivity addressing the arguments regarding the conceptual structure of the construct.

Emotion-related impulsivity: Testing a model of arousal effects on cognitive control

The trait-based tendency to respond rashly to emotions is robustly tied to many forms of psychopathology and poor behavioural outcomes, including aggression and suicidality. Researchers have found associations between response inhibition and emotion-related impulsivity; however, effect sizes are often small. Because emotion-related impulsivity emerges in the context of heightened positive and negative emotions, arousal is a candidate trigger of impulsivity. The goals of the present study were to (1) replicate the association between emotion-related impulsivity and response inhibition, and (2) test whether emotion-related impulsivity is associated with arousal-induced decays in response inhibition performance. Participants (N = 55) completed a self-report measure of emotion-related impulsivity, and then completed a computer-based response inhibition task (the antisaccade task, in which participants must make a rapid saccadic eye movement away from a cue rather than toward it) before and after a well-validated stress induction (the Trier Social Stress Test). Psychophysiological indices of arousal were measured throughout the session. Findings provide partial support for the association between emotion-related impulsivity and pre-stress response inhibition. Contrary to hypotheses, emotion-related impulsivity did not interact with arousal to predict post-stress response inhibition performance after controlling for pre-stress response inhibition performance. Future research is needed to consider clinical samples and to assess whether emotion-related impulsivity is related to deficits in other facets of cognitive control and decision-making.

Momentary dynamics of emotion-based impulsivity: Exploring associations with dispositional measures of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology

Emotion-based impulsivity has emerged as an important transdiagnostic risk factor for both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. However, it is unclear how this dynamic process unfolds within individuals. We measured urgency within-persons as the momentary association between impulsivity and contemporaneous negative and positive affect in 4 ecological momentary assessment samples (N = 233[16,202 observations]; N = 302[11,360]; N = 311[17,517]; N = 291[20,297]) that span clinical, community, and student populations. Based on reflexive responding to emotion (RRE) and urgency frameworks, we hypothesized a) that significant individual differences in the dynamic association between affect and impulsivity would emerge, and b) that individual differences in positive and negative urgency pathways would be associated with externalizing and internalizing psychopathology. Within-person associations between negative affect and impulsivity consistently emerged; however, the association between positive affect and impulsivity was inconsistent across samples. Although average effects were small, significant individual differences existed in both urgency pathways. Consistent with prior studies, within-person urgency pathways were unassociated with global or dispositional measures of impulsivity. Contrary to expectation, within-person urgency was also unassociated with between-person measures of either internalizing or externalizing psychopathology. Yet, robust associations were seen between the same measures and average levels of momentary impulsivity and negative affect. We discuss results in terms of their relevance to both urgency and RRE frameworks and propose future directions to help disentangle emotion-based impulsivity and psychopathology in the moment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-reported impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, affective responding, and subjective well-being: A Swedish survey

A rapid stream of research confirms that the COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat to mental health and psychological well-being. It is therefore important to identify both hazardous and protective individual factors during the pandemic. The current research explored the relationships between self-reported affective responding, perceived personal consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subjective well-being. An online survey (N = 471) conducted in Sweden between June and September, 2020, showed that higher levels of irritability, impulsivity, and the tendency to experience and express anger were generally associated with more severe personal consequences of the pandemic, particularly in areas related to family life, work/study, and finances. While more severe impacts of the pandemic in these areas of life were directly associated with lower subjective well-being, emotion regulation through cognitive reappraisal appeared to moderate the extent to which consequences of the pandemic in other areas of life (i.e., social, free-time and physical activities) translated into decreased well-being. This suggests that cognitive reappraisal may serve to protect against some of the debilitating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health. Overall, the results indicate that the perceived consequences of the pandemic are multifaceted and that future research should examine these consequences using a multidimensional approach.

Impulsivity, Affect, and Stress in Daily Life: Examining a Cascade Model of Urgency

Using multilevel structural equation modeling, the authors examined within- and between-person predictors of daily impulsivity, with a particular focus on testing a cascade model of affect and daily stress in a 100-day daily diary study of 101 psychiatric patients with personality disorder diagnoses. On average (i.e., fixed effect), within-person increases in daily stress were associated with increased daily impulsivity, both independently and as accounted for by positive associations with increased negative and positive affect. Higher Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) Impulsivity scores were associated with amplified within-person links between impulsivity and daily stress and negative affect, but not the links between daily stress and either positive or negative affect. The results of this cascade model are consistent with the hypothesized links between daily affect and stress and daily impulsivity while providing further evidence for the validity of the PID-5 Impulsivity scale and its ability to predict daily impulsivity above and beyond fluctuations in affect and stress.

Positive and negative urgency as a single coherent construct: Evidence from a large-scale network analysis in clinical and non-clinical samples

Aims

Negative and positive urgency are emotion‐related impulsivity traits that are thought to be transdiagnostic factors in psychopathology. However, it has recently been claimed that these two traits are closely related to each other and that considering them separately might have limited conceptual and methodological value. The present study aimed to examine whether positive and negative urgency constructs constitute separate impulsivity traits.

Methods

In contrast to previous studies that have used latent variable approaches, this study employed an item‐based network analysis conducted in two different samples: a large sample of non‐clinical participants (N = 18,568) and a sample of clinical participants with psychiatric disorders (N = 385).

Results

The network analysis demonstrated that items denoting both positive and negative urgency cohere as a single cluster of items termed “general urgency” in both clinical and non‐clinical samples, thereby suggesting that differentiating positive and negative urgency as separate constructs is not necessary.

Conclusion

These findings have important implications for the conceptualization and assessment of urgency and, more broadly, for future research on impulsivity, personality, and psychopathology.

mPulse Mobile Sensing Model for Passive Detection of Impulsive Behavior: Exploratory Prediction Study

BACKGROUND

Mobile health technology has demonstrated the ability of smartphone apps and sensors to collect data pertaining to patient activity, behavior, and cognition. It also offers the opportunity to understand how everyday passive mobile metrics such as battery life and screen time relate to mental health outcomes through continuous sensing. Impulsivity is an underlying factor in numerous physical and mental health problems. However, few studies have been designed to help us understand how mobile sensors and self-report data can improve our understanding of impulsive behavior.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility of using mobile sensor data to detect and monitor self-reported state impulsivity and impulsive behavior passively via a cross-platform mobile sensing application.

METHODS

We enrolled 26 participants who were part of a larger study of impulsivity to take part in a real-world, continuous mobile sensing study over 21 days on both Apple operating system (iOS) and Android platforms. The mobile sensing system (mPulse) collected data from call logs, battery charging, and screen checking. To validate the model, we used mobile sensing features to predict common self-reported impulsivity traits, objective mobile behavioral and cognitive measures, and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) of state impulsivity and constructs related to impulsive behavior (ie, risk-taking, attention, and affect).

RESULTS

Overall, the findings suggested that passive measures of mobile phone use such as call logs, battery charging, and screen checking can predict different facets of trait and state impulsivity and impulsive behavior. For impulsivity traits, the models significantly explained variance in sensation seeking, planning, and lack of perseverance traits but failed to explain motor, urgency, lack of premeditation, and attention traits. Passive sensing features from call logs, battery charging, and screen checking were particularly useful in explaining and predicting trait-based sensation seeking. On a daily level, the model successfully predicted objective behavioral measures such as present bias in delay discounting tasks, commission and omission errors in a cognitive attention task, and total gains in a risk-taking task. Our models also predicted daily EMA questions on positivity, stress, productivity, healthiness, and emotion and affect. Perhaps most intriguingly, the model failed to predict daily EMA designed to measure previous-day impulsivity using face-valid questions.

CONCLUSIONS

The study demonstrated the potential for developing trait and state impulsivity phenotypes and detecting impulsive behavior from everyday mobile phone sensors. Limitations of the current research and suggestions for building more precise passive sensing models are discussed.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03006653; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03006653.

The Digital Marshmallow Test (DMT) Diagnostic and Monitoring Mobile Health App for Impulsive Behavior: Development and Validation Study

Background

The classic Marshmallow Test, where children were offered a choice between one small but immediate reward (eg, one marshmallow) or a larger reward (eg, two marshmallows) if they waited for a period of time, instigated a wealth of research on the relationships among impulsive responding, self-regulation, and clinical and life outcomes. Impulsivity is a hallmark feature of self-regulation failures that lead to poor health decisions and outcomes, making understanding and treating impulsivity one of the most important constructs to tackle in building a culture of health. Despite a large literature base, impulsivity measurement remains difficult due to the multidimensional nature of the construct and limited methods of assessment in daily life. Mobile devices and the rise of mobile health (mHealth) have changed our ability to assess and intervene with individuals remotely, providing an avenue for ambulatory diagnostic testing and interventions. Longitudinal studies with mobile devices can further help to understand impulsive behaviors and variation in state impulsivity in daily life.

Objective

The aim of this study was to develop and validate an impulsivity mHealth diagnostics and monitoring app called Digital Marshmallow Test (DMT) using both the Apple and Android platforms for widespread dissemination to researchers, clinicians, and the general public.

Methods

The DMT app was developed using Apple’s ResearchKit (iOS) and Android’s ResearchStack open source frameworks for developing health research study apps. The DMT app consists of three main modules: self-report, ecological momentary assessment, and active behavioral and cognitive tasks. We conducted a study with a 21-day assessment period (N=116 participants) to validate the novel measures of the DMT app.

Results

We used a semantic differential scale to develop self-report trait and momentary state measures of impulsivity as part of the DMT app. We identified three state factors (inefficient, thrill seeking, and intentional) that correlated highly with established measures of impulsivity. We further leveraged momentary semantic differential questions to examine intraindividual variability, the effect of daily life, and the contextual effect of mood on state impulsivity and daily impulsive behaviors. Our results indicated validation of the self-report sematic differential and related results, and of the mobile behavioral tasks, including the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and Go-No-Go task, with relatively low validity of the mobile Delay Discounting task. We discuss the design implications of these results to mHealth research.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates the potential for assessing different facets of trait and state impulsivity during everyday life and in clinical settings using the DMT mobile app. The DMT app can be further used to enhance our understanding of the individual facets that underlie impulsive behaviors, as well as providing a promising avenue for digital interventions.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03006653; https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03006653

Cross-Study, Cross-Method Associations Between Negative Urgency and Internalizing Symptoms

There is a small body of research that has connected individual differences in negative urgency, the tendency to report rash actions in response to negative emotions, with self-report depressive and anxiety symptoms. Despite the conceptual overlap of negative urgency with negative emotionality, the tendency to experience frequent and intense negative emotions, even fewer studies have examined whether the association of negative urgency with internalizing symptoms hold when controlling for negative emotionality. In the current study, we estimated the bivariate association between negative urgency and internalizing symptoms, tested whether they remained significant after partialling out negative emotionality, and tested whether these effects generalized to real-time experiences of negative emotions. We used data from five independent samples of high school and college students, assessed with global self-report (n = 1,297) and ecological momentary assessment (n = 195). Results indicated that in global self-report data, negative urgency was moderately and positively associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and the partial association with depressive symptoms (but not anxiety symptoms) controlling for negative emotionality remained significant and moderate in magnitude. This pattern was replicated in ecological momentary assessment data. Negative urgency may convey risk for depressive symptoms, independent of the effects of negative emotionality.

Deter the emotions: Alexithymia, impulsivity and their relationship to binge drinking

Introduction

The relevance of both emotion processing and impulsivity to alcohol use and misuse is increasingly recognised, yet there is a scarcity of studies addressing their reciprocal interaction. The present study aimed to examine the role that difficulties in emotion processing and trait impulsivity play in explaining binge drinking pattern of alcohol use in student population. We looked at binge drinking, as it is a risk factor to later alcohol abuse and is a common alcohol drinking habit among students. Alexithymia (from Greek as "deter/repel emotions"), a difficulty in identifying and describing feelings in self and others is increasingly recognised as a feature of alcohol misuse.

Methods

One-hundred and seventy-four student alcohol drinkers were assessed for their drinking habits (Alcohol Use Questionnaire), as well as for alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale) and impulsivity trait (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale); facial emotional expression judgements were also tested.

Results

A direct relationships between, both, alexithymia and impulsivity, and binge drinking was found. When combined, trait impulsivity partially mediated the relationship between alexithymia and binge drinking. Facial emotional expression judgements also showed a relationship with binge drinking.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the importance of both emotion processing and impulsivity in understanding binge drinking and indicate potential routes for prevention and intervention techniques, especially towards those who may be at risk of later alcohol abuse.

The difference between trait disinhibition and impulsivity-and why it matters for clinical psychological science

In the psychological science field, there is substantial interest in quantifying individual differences in self-regulatory capacity because of its transdiagnostic relevance to various forms of psychopathology. Trait disinhibition and impulsiveness are popular conceptualizations of dispositions reflecting self-regulation of behavioral and emotional responding. In the literature, these constructs are often treated interchangeably because of their shared focus on general disconstraint and a lack of direct comparisons between measures of each. The current work used structural modeling to examine conceptual and empirical differences between 2 popular operationalizations of these traits in 2 samples (Ns = 400, 308), and employed regression and dominance analyses to compare their predictive relations with criterion measures of externalizing problems and negative affectivity (NA). Impulsigenic traits were related both to externalizing problems and NA, whereas trait disinhibition was selectively associated with externalizing. In a dominance analysis, trait disinhibition exhibited complete dominance over all impulsigenic traits in predicting externalizing problems. Conversely, multiple impulsigenic traits evidenced complete dominance over trait disinhibition in prediction of NA. The current work provides evidence that (a) disinhibition and impulsigenic traits are not interchangeable, (b) disinhibition specifically indexes propensity for externalizing problems, and (c) impulsigenic traits reflect a blend of externalizing and NA that appears relevant to diverse forms of psychopathology. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Neuroanatomical correlates of impulsive traits in children aged 9 to 10

Impulsivity refers to a set of traits that are generally negatively related to critical domains of adaptive functioning and are core features of numerous psychiatric disorders. The current study examined the gray and white matter correlates of five impulsive traits measured using an abbreviated version of the UPPS-P (Urgency, (lack of) Premeditation, (lack of) Perseverance, Sensation-Seeking, Positive Urgency) impulsivity scale in children aged 9 to 10 (N = 11,052) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Linear mixed effect models and elastic net regression were used to examine features of regional gray matter and white matter tractography most associated with each UPPS-P scale; intraclass correlations were computed to examine the similarity of the neuroanatomical correlates among the scales. Positive Urgency showed the most robust association with neuroanatomy, with similar but less robust associations found for Negative Urgency. Perseverance showed little association with neuroanatomy. Premeditation and Sensation Seeking showed intermediate associations with neuroanatomy. Critical regions across measures include the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, lateral temporal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex; critical tracts included the superior longitudinal fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Negative Urgency and Positive Urgency showed the greatest neuroanatomical similarity. Some UPPS-P traits share neuroanatomical correlates, while others have distinct correlates or essentially no relation to neuroanatomy. Neuroanatomy tended to account for relatively little variance in UPPS-P traits (i.e., Model R2 < 1%) and effects were spread throughout the brain, highlighting the importance of well powered samples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Alcohol use in daily life: Examining the role of trait and state impulsivity facets

OBJECTIVES

Using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods we aimed to investigate the influence of trait and state (momentary) impulsivity on alcohol use behaviors in daily life. Facets of the UPPS trait model of impulsivity (Whiteside & Lynam, 2001) have been found to differentially relate to alcohol-related outcomes and behaviors in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. The present work expands on this by assessing UPPS facets in daily life and examining the contributions of trait and state impulsivity facets to daily life drinking behavior.

METHOD

Forty-nine participants were prompted at least 6 times per day for 21 days. A total of 4,548 collected EMA reports were included in analyses. Multilevel models were computed predicting daily life alcohol use behaviors from state and trait impulsivity facets and relevant covariates.

RESULTS

Individual facets of momentary impulsivity differentially related to alcohol outcomes, such that (lack of) premeditation and, to a lesser extent, sensation seeking showed unique patterns of association with drinking and drinking quantity. Only trait levels of (lack of) premeditation were related to drinking behavior in daily life; no other trait UPPS scale significantly related to alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS

These results highlight state difficulties with premeditation as particularly relevant to drinking behavior in daily life. Our results also support the incremental validity of state impulsivity facets over trait level measures in relation to drinking behavior in daily life. These findings offer important insight into the phenomenology of daily life alcohol use and highlight possible avenues for intervention and prevention efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

A State Model of Negative Urgency: Do Momentary Reports of Emotional Impulsivity Reflect Global Self-Report?

Negative urgency is a trait that is a risk factor for a range of psychopathology. Yet, little research has tested whether global self-report measures of negative urgency truly reflect a heightened association between real-world negative emotions and impulsive behaviors. In a sample of young adults (N = 222) assessed 3 times per day for 10 days, we tested whether negative emotions were associated with multiple facets of impulsivity at the state-level, and whether those associations were moderated by global self-report of negative urgency. Our findings suggest a robust within-person association between negative affect and acting on impulse. However, global self-report of negative urgency did not moderate any emotion-impulsivity association we tested.

Within-person variability in sensation-seeking during daily life: Positive associations with alcohol use and self-defined risky behaviors

Sensation-seeking is the seeking of varied, novel, and intense experiences and the willingness to take risks to engage in these experiences. Sensation-seeking is associated with engagement in risky behaviors but questions remain concerning the role of within-person variability in sensation-seeking. We use data from a 21-day daily diary from 167 participants (mean age = 25.37, SD = 7.34) to test within-person associations between sensation-seeking and both alcohol use and self-reported risk-taking. Participants also reported the riskiest behavior they engaged in each day, allowing insight into the perceived risky behaviors that participants take during daily life. Results indicate those days of higher than usual sensation-seeking are more likely to be days on which alcohol is consumed relative to days of no alcohol use. The association between day's sensation-seeking and alcohol use does not extend to the quantity of alcohol consumed. Risk-taking is higher than usual on days of higher than usual sensation-seeking. Using network science tools, we reduce 2,490 self-reports of the day's riskiest behavior to 20 communities reflecting a wide range of risk domains, including social, school, work, and drug use risks. Creating a risk-taking diversity score based on the identified domains of risk behaviors, we find that trait sensation-seeking is positively associated with greater diversity in the types of risks reported. In summary, we observe that sensation-seeking and both alcohol use and other risky behaviors are associated at the within-person level, and provide insight into the types of risks taken during the course of daily life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Turning the UPPS down: Urgency predicts treatment outcome in a partial hospitalization program

BACKGROUND

Impulsivity in response to negative mood (negative urgency) and positive mood (positive urgency) is common in psychiatric disorders. The aims of this study were to test if urgency predicts treatment response during partial hospitalization in a transdiagnostic sample, and if urgency is malleable over the course of brief treatment.

METHOD

Participants (N = 348, 55% female, M age = 32.9) were patients presenting to a CBT-based partial hospitalization program. Urgency and a range of symptoms were assessed with self-report measures during treatment.

RESULTS

Higher negative urgency scores predicted worse outcome for depression and anxiety symptoms. Negative urgency (p < .001, Cohen's d_z = 0.61) and positive urgency (p < .001, Cohen's d_z = 0.39) significantly decreased during treatment.

DISCUSSION

Findings suggest that participants report decreases in urgency during brief partial hospitalization treatment. Higher negative urgency predicted poorer treatment response for symptoms of depression and anxiety, demonstrating the need for novel treatments for urgency.

Impulsive reactivity to emotion and vulnerability to psychopathology

Impulsiveness has been studied as an aspect of personality and psychopathology for generations. There are longstanding disagreements about how to define it and whether it should be viewed as one construct or several. This article begins by briefly reviewing some earlier and some more recent work on impulsiveness. Several approaches have recently converged to focus on a distinction between impulsive reactions to emotion and impulsive properties that are not initiated by emotion. From this review, we turn to psychopathology. It is well known that impulsiveness is related to externalizing psychopathology, but some have concluded that a similar relation does not exist for internalizing psychopathology. A recent literature is described that challenges the latter conclusion, linking impulsive reactivity to emotion to both externalizing and internalizing aspects of psychopathology. Discussion then turns to emotion-related impulsiveness and other constructs to which it is conceptually and empirically related, reexamining whether other conceptual targets should be added to the discussion. The article closes with a consideration of how important it is to continue to remain open to new conceptual perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Neurocognitive mechanisms of emotion-related impulsivity: The role of arousal

Prior research suggests that a traitlike tendency to experience impulsivity during states of high emotion is robustly associated with many forms of psychopathology. Several studies tie emotion-related impulsivity to response inhibition deficits, but these studies have not focused on the role of emotion or arousal within subjects. The present study tested whether arousal, measured by pupil dilation, amplifies deficits in response inhibition for those high in emotion-related impulsivity. Participants (N = 85) completed a measure of emotion-related impulsivity, underwent a positive mood induction procedure that reduced heterogeneity in mood states, and completed a response inhibition task. Pupil dilation was used to index arousal during the response inhibition task. Generalized linear mixed effect modeling yielded the hypothesized interaction between arousal (pupil dilation) and emotion-related impulsivity in predicting response inhibition performance at the trial level. Emotion-related impulsivity relates to more difficulties with response inhibition during moments of high arousal.