Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T19:42:05.388Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A Preliminary Experimental Investigation of Emotion Dysregulation and Impulsivity in Risky Behaviours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2015

Nicole H. Weiss ,
Matthew T. Tull ,
Lindsey T. Davis ,
Jasmin Searcy ,
Iman Williams  and
Kim L. Gratz
Nicole H. Weiss*
Affiliation:
Yale University, School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Matthew T. Tull
Affiliation:
University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Lindsey T. Davis
Affiliation:
Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Savannah Primary Care Clinic, Savannah, Georgia, USA
Jasmin Searcy
Affiliation:
Jackson State University, Department of Psychology, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Iman Williams
Affiliation:
Jackson State University, Department of Psychology, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
Kim L. Gratz
Affiliation:
University of Mississippi Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Jackson, Mississippi, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Nicole H. Weiss, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 389 Whitney Ave, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA. Email: nhweiss7@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

This prospective experimental study sought to examine the unique effects of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity on risky behaviours over time. To this end, 20 African American women enrolled in a historically Black university in the southern United States were randomly assigned to receive one of two brief empirically supported skills training modules (i.e., emotion modulation [EM] or impulsivity reduction [IR]). Participants completed measures of emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, and past-week risky behaviours before (pre-) and one week after (post-) the experimental manipulation. Participants assigned to the EM condition reported significant improvements from pre- to post-manipulation in overall emotion dysregulation (as well as all specific dimensions of emotion dysregulation other than lack of emotional awareness), as well as two dimensions of impulsivity: negative and positive urgency. Participants assigned to the IR condition reported a significant decrease in one dimension of impulsivity (lack of premeditation) from pre- to post-manipulation. Findings also revealed a significant effect of time on risky behaviours, with participants reporting significantly fewer past-week risky behaviours at the post- (vs. pre-) manipulation assessment. Finally, changes in emotion dysregulation from pre- to post-manipulation accounted for the observed reduction in risky behaviours over time (above and beyond changes in impulsivity dimensions). Results highlight the relevance of emotion dysregulation to risky behaviours and suggest that treatments targeting emotion dysregulation may be useful in reducing risky behaviours.

Keywords

emotion dysregulationimpulsivityrisky behavioursAfrican Americanexperimental design
Type
Standard Papers
Information
Behaviour Change , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 127 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnett, J. (1992). Reckless behavior in adolescence: A developmental perspective. Developmental Review, 12, 339–373.Google Scholar
Bachman, J.G., Johnston, L.D., O'Malley, P.M., & Schulenberg, J.E. (1996). Transitions in alcohol and other drug use and abuse during late adolescence and young adulthood. In Graber, J., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Petersen, A.C. (Eds.), Transitions through adolescence: Interpersonal domains and contexts (pp. 111–140). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Bender, T.W., Gordon, K.H., Bresin, K., & Joiner, T.E. (2010). Impulsivity and suicidality: The mediating role of painful and provocative experiences. Journal of Affective Disorders, 129, 301–307.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonn-Miller, M.O., Vujanovic, A.A., & Zvolensky, M.J. (2008). Emotional dysregulation: Association with coping-oriented marijuana use motives among current marijuana users. Substance Use and Misuse, 43, 1656–1668.Google Scholar
Coffey, S.C., Stasiewicz, P.R., Hughes, P.M., & Brimo, M.L. (2006). Trauma-focused imaginal exposure for individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence: Revealing mechanisms of alcohol craving in a cue reactivity paradigm. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 20, 425–435.Google Scholar
Cyders, M.A., Flory, K., Rainer, S., & Smith, G.T. (2009). The role of personality dispositions to risky behavior in predicting first-year college drinking. Addiction, 104, 193–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cyders, M.A., & Smith, G.T. (2007). Mood-based rash action and its components: Positive and negative urgency. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 839–850.Google Scholar
Cyders, M.A., & Smith, G.T. (2008a). Clarifying the role of personality dispositions in risk for increased gambling behavior. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 503–508.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cyders, M.A., & Smith, G.T. (2008b). Emotion-based dispositions to rash action: The trait of urgency. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 807–828.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cyders, M.A., Smith, G.T., Spillane, N.S., Fischer, S., Annus, A.M., & Peterson, C. (2007). Integration of impulsivity and positive mood to predict risky behavior: Development and validation of a measure of positive urgency. Psychological Assessment, 19, 107–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dariotis, J.K., Sifakis, F., Pleck, J.H., Astone, N.M., & Sonenstein, F.L. (2011). Racial and ethnic disparities in sexual risk behaviors and STDs during young men's transition to adulthood. Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health, 43, 51–59.Google Scholar
Donohew, L., Zimmerman, R., Cupp, P.S., Novak, S., Colon, S., & Abell, R. (2000). Sensation seeking, impulsive decision making, and risky sex: Implications for risk-taking and design of interventions. Personality and Individual Differences, 28, 1079–1091.Google Scholar
Evenden, J.L. (1999). Varieties of impulsivity. Psychopharmacology 146, 348–361.Google Scholar
Eysenck, S.B., & Eysenck, H.J. (1977). The place of impulsiveness in a dimensional system of personality description. British Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 16, 57–68.Google Scholar
Fenton, K.A., Johnson, A.M., McManus, S., & Erens, B. (2001). Measuring sexual behavior: Methodological challenges in survey research. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 77, 84–92.Google Scholar
Fischer, S., Smith, G.T., Spillane, N., & Cyders, M.A. (2005). Urgency: Individual differences in reaction to mood and implications for addictive behaviors. In Clark, A.V. (Ed.), The psychology of mood (pp. 85–107). New York, New York: Nova Science Publishers.Google Scholar
Fox, H.C., Axelrod, S.R., Paliwal, P.P., Sleeper, J.J., & Sinha, R.R. (2007). Difficulties in emotion regulation and impulse control during cocaine abstinence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 89, 298–301.Google Scholar
Fox, H.C., Hong, K.A., & Sinha, R.R. (2008). Difficulties in emotion regulation and impulse control in recently abstinent alcoholics compared with social drinkers. Addictive Behaviors, 33, 388–394.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., Bornovalova, M.A., Delany-Brumsey, A., Nick, B., & Lejuez, C.W. (2007). A laboratory-based study of the relationship between childhood abuse and experiential avoidance among inner-city substance users: The role of emotional non-acceptance. Behavior Therapy, 38, 256–268.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., & Gunderson, J.G. (2006). Preliminary data on an acceptance-based emotion regulation group intervention for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality disorder. Behavior Therapy, 37, 25–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gratz, K.L., Paulson, A., Jakupcak, M., & Tull, M.T. (2009). Exploring gender differences in the relationship between childhood maltreatment and intimate partner abuse: The mediating role of emotion dysregulation. Violence and Victims, 24, 68–82.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26, 41–54.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., & Roemer, L. (2008). The relationship between emotion dysregulation and deliberate self-harm among female undergraduate students at an urban commuter university. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 37, 14–25.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., Rosenthal, M.Z., Tull, M.T., Lejuez, C.W., & Gunderson, J.G. (2006). An experimental investigation of emotion dysregulation in borderline personality disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 850–855.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., & Tull, M.T. (2010a). The relationship between emotion dysregulation and deliberate self-harm among inpatient substance users. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 34, 544–553.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., & Tull, M.T. (2010b). Emotion regulation as a mechanism of change in acceptance-and mindfulness-based treatments. In Baer, R.A. (Ed.), Assessing mindfulness and acceptance: Illuminating the processes of change (pp. 107–134). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.Google Scholar
Gratz, K.L., & Tull, M.T. (2011). Extending research on the utility of an adjunctive emotion regulation group therapy for deliberate self-harm among women with borderline personality pathology. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2, 316–326.Google Scholar
Heatherton, T.E., & Baumeister, R.F. (1991). Binge eating as an escape from self-awareness. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 86–108.Google Scholar
Johnson, M.E., Fisher, D.G., Montoya, I., Booth, R., Rhodes, F., Andersen, M., . . . Williams, M. (2000). Reliability and validity of not-in-treatment drug users’ follow-up self-reports. AIDS and Behavior, 4, 373–380.Google Scholar
Lejuez, C.W., Aklin, W.M., Jones, H.A., Richards, J.B., Strong, D.R., Kahler, C.W., & Read, J.P. (2003). The Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) differentiates smokers and nonsmokers. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 11, 26–33.Google Scholar
Linehan, M.M. (1993). Cognitive behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Messman-Moore, T.L., Walsh, K., & DiLillo, D. (2010). Emotion dysregulation and risky sexual behavior in revictimization. Child Abuse & Neglect, 34, 967–976.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mulia, N., Ye, Y., Greenfield, T.K., & Zemore, S.E. (2009). Disparities in alcohol-related problems among White, Black, and Hispanic Americans. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 33, 654–662.Google Scholar
Peñas-Lledó, E., & Waller, G. (2001). Bulimic psychopathology and impulsive behaviors among nonclinical women. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 29, 71–75.Google Scholar
Perry, J., & Carroll, M. (2008). The role of impulsive behavior in drug abuse. Psychopharmacology, 200, 1–26.Google Scholar
Rossotto, E., Yager, J., & Rorty, M. (1998). The Impulsive Behavior Scale. In Vanderlinden, J. & Vandereycken, W. (Eds.), Trauma, dissociation, and impulse dyscontrol in eating disorders. Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel.Google Scholar
Ryb, G.E., Dischinger, P.C., Kufera, J.A., & Read, K.M. (2006). Risk perception and impulsivity: Association with risky behaviors and substance abuse disorders. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 38, 567–573.Google Scholar
Tucker, L.R., Damarin, F., & Messick, S.A. (1966). A base-free measure of change. Psychometrika, 31, 457–473.Google Scholar
Tull, M.T., Gratz, K.L., Latzman, R.D., Kimbrel, N., & Lejuez, C.W. (2010). Reinforcement sensitivity theory and emotion regulation difficulties: A multimodal investigation. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 989–994.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tull, M.T., Weiss, N.H., Adams, C.E., & Gratz, K.L. (2012). The contribution of emotion regulation difficulties to risky sexual behavior within a sample of patients in residential substance abuse treatment. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 1084–1092.Google Scholar
Vasilev, C.A., Crowell, S.E., Beauchaine, T.P., Mead, H.K., & Gatzke-Kopp, L.M. (2009). Correspondence between physiological and self-report measures of emotion dysregulation: A longitudinal investigation of youth with and without psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50, 1357–1364.Google Scholar
Webster, C.D., & Jackson, M.A. (1997). Impulsivity: Theory, assessment, and treatment. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Wechsler, H., Davenport, A., Dowdall, G., Moeykens, B., & Castillo, S. (1994). Health and behavioral consequences of binge drinking in college: A national survey of students at 140 colleges. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272, 1672–1677.Google Scholar
Weinhardt, L.S., Carey, K.B., & Carey, M.P. (2000). HIV-risk sensitization following a detailed sexual behavior interview: A preliminary investigation. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 23, 393–398.Google Scholar
Weiss, N.H., Tull, M.T., Anestis, M.D., & Gratz, K.L. (2013). The relative and unique contributions of emotion dysregulation and impulsivity to posttraumatic stress disorder among substance dependent inpatients. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 128, 45–51.Google Scholar
Weiss, N.H., Tull, M.T., Viana, A.G., Anestis, M.D., & Gratz, K.L. (2012). Impulsive behaviors as an emotion regulation strategy: Associations between PTSD, emotion dysregulation, and impulsive behaviors among substance dependent inpatients. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 453–458.Google Scholar
Whiteside, U., Chen, E., Neighbors, C., Hunter, D., Lo, T., & Larimer, M. (2007). Difficulties regulating emotions: Do binge eaters have fewer strategies to modulate and tolerate negative affect? Eating Behaviors, 8, 162–169.Google Scholar
Whiteside, S.P., & Lynam, D.R. (2001). The five factor model and impulsivity: Using a structural model of personality to understand impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 669–689.Google Scholar
Whiteside, S.P., & Lynam, D.R. (2003). Understanding the role of impulsivity and externalizing psychopathology in alcohol abuse: Application of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 11, 210–217.Google Scholar
Whiteside, S.P., Lynam, D.R., Miller, J.D., & Reynolds, S.K. (2005). Validation of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale: A four-factor model of impulsivity. European Journal of Personality, 19, 559–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zapolski, T.C.B., Cyders, M.A., & Smith, G.T. (2009). Positive urgency predicts illegal drug use and risky sexual behavior. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23, 348–354.Google Scholar
Zuckerman, M. (1984). Sensation seeking: A comparative approach to a human trait. Behavioural and Brain Sciences, 7, 413–471.Google Scholar