Sensation seeking and visual selective attention in adults with HIV/AIDS

Impulsivity, Sensation Seeking, and Risk-Taking Behaviors among HIV-Positive and HIV-Negative Heroin Dependent Persons

Objective. The aim of this study was to compare impulsivity and risky decision making among HIV-positive and negative heroin dependent persons. Methods. We compared different dimensions of impulsivity and risky decision making in two groups of 60 HIV-positive and 60 HIV-negative male heroin dependent persons. Each group was comprised of equal numbers of current (treatment seeker) and former (abstinent) heroin addicts. Data collection tools included Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS), and Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS). Results. In SSS, comprised of four subscales including thrill and adventure seeking (TAS), experience seeking (ES), disinhibition (DIS), and boredom susceptibility (BS), there was a borderline difference in DIS (P = 0.08) as HIV-positive group scored higher than HIV-negative group. Also, ES and total score were significantly higher among HIV-positive patients. In BART, HIV-positive subjects scored higher in risk taking than HIV-negative subjects as reflected in higher Average Number of puffs in Successful Balloons (ANSB). In BIS, HIV-positive group scored significantly higher in cognitive impulsivity (CI) (P = 0.03) and nonplanning impulsivity (NPI) (P = 0.05) in comparison to HIV-negative group. Also, current heroin addicts scored significantly higher in NPI compared to former addict HIV-negative participants (P = 0.015). IGT did not show any significant difference between groups. Conclusion. Higher levels of impulsivity and risk taking behaviors among HIV-positive heroin addicts will increase serious concerns regarding HIV transmission from this group to other opiate dependents and healthy people.

Can Speed of Processing Training Ameliorate Depressive Symptomatology in Adults with HIV?

Despite advances in combination Antiretroviral Therapy (cART), adults with HIV continue to experience cognitive impairments. In addition to these cognitive impairments, research suggests as many as 40% and 20% of adults with HIV are diagnosed with depression and anxiety, respectively. The impact of these cognitive and emotional deficits increases caregiver burden, impairs occupational and driving performance, contributes to poor emotional processing, increases cognitive complaints, and reduces quality of life. Fortunately, cognitive remediation therapy improves targeted cognitive abilities along with general cognitive processes. Speed of processing training, a type of cognitive remediation therapy, has been shown to improve cognitive performance on measures of visual attention, speed of processing, and timed-task performances. Furthermore, studies suggest that speed of processing training could also enhance neuromodulatory systems which have direct implications for improving mood functions (depression and anxiety). The benefits of the improvement in these cognitive and emotional systems are a decrease or slowing in cognitive decline along with the potential to protect against clinically significant depressive symptoms. Studies support the need for deeper investigation into the short-term and long-term benefits of speed of processing training as a behavioral adjunct for the pharmacologically-burdened HIV population.

Prepulse inhibition in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders

Sensorimotor inhibition, or the ability to filter out excessive or irrelevant information, theoretically supports a variety of higher-level cognitive functions. Impaired inhibition may be associated with increased impulsive and risky behavior in everyday life. Individuals infected with HIV frequently show impairment on tests of neurocognitive function, but sensorimotor inhibition in this population has not been studied and may be a contributor to the profile of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). Thirty-seven HIV-infected individuals (15 with HAND) and 48 non-infected comparison subjects were assessed for prepulse inhibition (PPI), an eyeblink startle paradigm measuring sensorimotor gating. Although HIV status alone was not associated with PPI deficits, HIV-positive participants meeting criteria for HAND showed impaired PPI compared to cognitively intact HIV-positive subjects. In HIV-positive subjects, PPI was correlated with working memory but was not associated with antiretroviral therapy or illness factors. In conclusion, sensorimotor disinhibition in HIV accompanies deficits in higher-order cognitive functions, although the causal direction of this relationship requires investigation. Subsequent research on the role of sensorimotor gating on decision-making and risk behaviors in HIV may be indicated.

Which behavioral and personality characteristics are associated with difficulties in selective attention?

OBJECTIVE

The present study investigated the behavioral and personality profile associated with difficulties in selective attention.

METHOD

A group of participants with ADHD were assessed for ADHD behaviors. Adults with ADHD (n=22) and without ADHD (n=84) were tested on the conjunctive visual-search task for selective attention and behavioral measures, including ADHD behaviors, Big Five dimension of personality, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms, and sensation-seeking behavior.

RESULTS

Correlations and multiple regression analysis (group was dummy coded) showed that ADHD behaviors were not related to search performance. However, poorer search performance was related to greater neuroticism, agreeableness, introversion, lower sensation seeking, and, marginally, to OCD symptoms.

CONCLUSION

The study findings suggested that difficulties in selective attention are probably not associated with ADHD behaviors, but rather with personality traits characterized by preserving and avoiding high-stimulation behaviors.

Measurement of constructs using self-report and behavioral lab tasks: is there overlap in nomothetic span and construct representation for impulsivity?

There has been little empirical evidence examining the overlap in nomothetic span for self-report measures and construct representation for behavioral lab tasks in most psychological constructs. Using the personality trait of impulsivity as an example, the authors completed a meta-analysis of 27 published research studies examining the relationship between these methods. In general, although there is a statistically significant relationship between multidimensional self-report and lab task impulsivity (r = 0.097), practically, the relationship is small. Examining relationships among unidimensional impulsivity self-report and lab task conceptualizations indicated very little overlap in self-report and behavioral lab task constructs. Significant relationships were found between lack of perseverance and prepotent response inhibition (r = 0.099); between lack of planning and prepotent response inhibition (r = 0.106), delay response (r = 0.134), and distortions in elapsed time (r = 0.104); between negative urgency and prepotent response inhibition (r = 0.106); and between sensation seeking and delay response (r = 0.131). Researchers should take care to specify which particular unidimensional constructs are operationalized with not only impulsivity, but with all traits. If self-report and lab task conceptualizations measure disparate aspects of impulsivity, we, as a field, should not expect large conceptual overlap between these methods.

Parents and vehicle purchases for their children: a surprising source of weight bias

According to current estimates, 68% of the population in United States is considered either overweight or obese. Despite its relative frequency, prejudice and discrimination against overweight and obese Americans is a common occurrence. This study seeks to build on previous findings that overweight individuals are more likely than their skinnier peers to rely on themselves, rather than family, to fund their education. We examined whether this trend continued in car-buying practices. Results suggest that overweight and obese individuals differentially rely on their own sources of income to finance a car, even after controlling for socioeconomic differences. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.