Impulsivity and sensitivity to reward as mediating factors of the negative relationship between emotional intelligence and health-related risk-taking: evidence from a sample of university students

BACKGROUND

Better abilities in emotional intelligence (EI) have been linked to a decreased tendency to engage in health-related risk behaviour. However, the processes underlying this relationship are still unclear. The aim of this research was to examine the role of impulsivity and sensitivity to reward as mediating factors in the relationship between EI and health risk-taking.

METHODS

Two hundred and fifty participants (Mage = 23.60, age range = 18-59; SD = 6.67; 71.60% women) were assessed on ability EI levels, risk-taking in health contexts, impulsivity, and sensitivity to reward. Unlike previous studies in the literature, we employed a performance-based ability measure to assess EI (Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, MSCEIT).

RESULTS

The results confirmed the negative relationship between EI and health risk-taking and revealed the existence of a significant negative indirect effect of EI on health-risk taking through various dimensions of impulsivity and sensitivity to reward. EI abilities -particularly the ability to manage emotions- were associated with lower levels of impulsivity under positive and negative emotional states, a better management of the tendency towards sensation seeking, and a decreased emotional reactivity to rewards.

CONCLUSIONS

The present research provides a better understanding of the processes underlying the negative relationship between EI and health risk-taking. Our findings suggest that having higher levels of EI abilities would allow for a more objective evaluation of risk scenarios and a more appropriate and safer decision making through its influence on the levels of impulsivity and emotional reactivity to rewards. Practical implications, limitations, and future lines of research are discussed.

Reward sensitivity, eating behavior, and obesity-related outcomes: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Previous research has identified reward sensitivity as an important factor that may contribute to the engagement in eating behavior (e.g., binge eating, emotional eating, etc.) and increase obesity risk. In the current study, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to determine the relationships between reward sensitivity, eating behavior, and obesity-related outcomes. The study focused on two commonly used measures of reward sensitivity in the literature: the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ) and the Behavioral Inhibition Scale/Behavioral Activation Scale (BIS/BAS Scale).

METHOD

We conducted a systematic search to identify studies that analyzed reward sensitivity as a predictor of eating behavior or obesity-related outcomes, and measured reward sensitivity using the SPSRQ or BIS/BAS Scale. The search yielded N=19 total publications included in the review.

RESULTS

Findings indicated that reward sensitivity, primarily measured by summary scores on the SPSRQ or BIS/BAS Scale, were positively associated with a variety of eating behaviors and obesity-related outcomes with small to moderate effect sizes. Findings were most consistent across studies that examined the association between reward sensitivity and eating behavior outcomes (e.g., binge eating, emotional eating) (r values= .08 to .41; p values < .001 to p < .05) and food consumption outcomes (e.g., palatable food intake) (r values = .21 to .40; p < .001 to p values < .05). Findings were less consistent for food craving and BMI outcomes, and revealed these relationships may depend on individual-level factors and/or environment-related factors, (e.g., food cues). A quality evaluation using the Critical Appraisal Tool for Cross-Sectional Studies (AXIS tool) indicated that most studies were rated as moderate to strong quality (84%).

CONCLUSION

Findings indicate that elevated reward sensitivity may be a risk factor for engagement in eating behaviors that may increase obesity risk.

Can temporal self-regulation theory and 'sensitivity to reward' predict binge drinking amongst university students in Australia?

OBJECTIVES

Many university students consume more alcohol than their non-student peers, engaging in binge drinking episodes that increase the likelihood of experiencing both mental and physical harm. The aim of the current study was to test the predictive utility of temporal self-regulation theory (TST), and the additional construct of 'sensitivity to reward', in accounting for variance in binge drinking behavior amongst Australian university students.

DESIGN

A prospective correlational design with two time points one week apart.

METHODS

A convenience sample of 491 university students were recruited to an online survey. At time one, participants completed self-report measures assessing TST constructs (intention, behavior prepotency, self-regulation), as well as 'sensitivity to reward'. One week later at time two, 392 participants (18-62 years, 76.8% female) completed an online account of their alcohol use over the previous seven days.

RESULTS

Using hierarchical multiple regression analyses, TST significantly predicted binge drinking behaviors (binge drinking episodes: R² = 0.41, p < .001; peak consumption: R² = 0.41, p < .001), with equally large effect sizes for both, f² = 0.69. 'Sensitivity to reward' did not account for significant variance. Intention and behavioral prepotency independently predicted binge drinking behaviors with different components of behavioral prepotency predicting different behaviors. There were no moderation effects.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicated TST, incorporating deliberate and automatic processes, provided a good understanding of behavior. Behavior prepotency (habit, cues to action, past behavior) also impacted the two binge drinking behaviors differently. Finally, this study offers direction into future research regarding interventions surrounding habitual drinking behaviors whilst studying at university.

Sensitivity to reward and punishment and alcohol outcomes: Metacognition as a moderator

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to examine associations between inhibitory (sensitivity to punishment [SP], adaptive metacognition) and facilitatory (sensitivity to reward [SR], maladaptive metacognition) factors of alcohol consumption and problems among young adults.

Methods

Three hundred fifty-five young adults (ages 18–25, 61% female) recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and a large public midwestern university in the United States self-administered a Web survey. Two multiple regression models were tested.

Results

SR significantly moderated the effects of SP and the maladaptive metacognition (MC) subscale Uncontrollability/Danger on alcohol consumption. Alcohol problems were also significantly predicted by SR and Uncontrollability/Danger. The interaction between SR and SP on alcohol problems was conditional upon levels of the maladaptive MC subscale Lack of Cognitive Confidence, with a significant moderating effect only at high levels of Lack of Cognitive Confidence.

Conclusions

Consistent with the literature, individuals with high levels of SR coupled with low SP are at risk for increased alcohol consumption. This effect on drinking behaviors is further influenced by maladaptive MC, such that individuals characterized by high SR and low SP are significantly more likely to report more alcohol-related problems if they believe that worrying is dangerous and uncontrollable or lack cognitive confidence; however as SP increases, this effect significantly diminishes.

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The association between SP and alcohol consumption is moderated by SR.

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Beliefs of uncontrollability and SR increase alcohol consumption and problems.

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The interaction of SR, SP, and alcohol problems is moderated by cognitive confidence.

The contribution of optimism and hallucinations to grandiose delusions in individuals with schizophrenia

Grandiose delusions (GDs) are defined as false beliefs about having an inflated worth, power, or a special identity which are firmly sustained despite undeniable evidence to the contrary. Although it is the second most commonly encountered delusional beliefs, GDs have received little attention. Thus, in this study, we explored the role of future expectations and sensitivity to reward in GDs in schizophrenia (SZ) disorder. In total, 115 SZ patients completed measures of positive and negative symptoms, sensitivity to reward, depression, and a task in which individuals were asked to estimate the probability that positive, negative and neutral events will occur in the future. Correlation and Linear Regression analyses were performed in order to determine whether sensitivity to reward and future expectations are associated with GDs. Regressions showed that hallucinations and future positive expectations were significantly associated with GDs. In conclusion, the present study showed that higher optimism regarding the future might be important psychological processes associated with the maintenance of GDs in SZ patients. Moreover, it is possible that patients experiencing hallucinations may interpret this phenomenon as a kind of special ability or power, resulting in turn in GDs maintenance. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.

Which drivers are at risk? Factors that determine the profile of the reoffender driver

Finding appropriate assessment tools to predict recidivism is a difficult aim, which may lead to actions with unintended consequences. Aims don't have consequences. At times, the research has been used to justify penalising reoffenders with punitive measures rather than treating them with effective psychological interventions. This study aims to contribute to untangling and assessing the potential predictors of reoffender drivers. In this study, 296 drivers: 86 reoffenders (7 women and 79 men) and 206 non-reoffenders (105 women and 101 men) responded to a battery of assessment questionnaires in which they were asked for demographic data (i.e. gender and age), alcohol consumption habits, driving styles, general estimation of risk in everyday life, sensitivity to reward and punishment and anger while driving. The results provided a logistical regression model capable of predicting reoffending and explaining 34% of variability, successfully classifying 77.6% of participants. In this model, the best predictor of reoffending is higher consumption of alcohol (Alcohol Use Disorders, AUD), followed by incautious driving (since cautious driving style correlates negatively with reoffending) and to a lesser extent, infraestimation of recreational risk and a greater sensitivity to reward. Relying on results to predict recidivism could be important to plan better interventions to prevent it.

Exploring the Relationship between Reward and Punishment Sensitivity and Gambling Disorder in a Clinical Sample: A Path Modeling Analysis

Most individuals will gamble during their lifetime, yet only a select few will develop gambling disorder. Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory holds promise for providing insight into gambling disorder etiology and symptomatology as it ascertains that neurobiological differences in reward and punishment sensitivity play a crucial role in determining an individual's affect and motives. The aim of the study was to assess a mediational pathway, which included patients' sex, personality traits, reward and punishment sensitivity, and gambling-severity variables. The Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire, the South Oaks Gambling Screen, the Symptom Checklist-Revised, and the Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised were administered to a sample of gambling disorder outpatients (N = 831), diagnosed according to DSM-5 criteria, attending a specialized outpatient unit. Sociodemographic variables were also recorded. A structural equation model found that both reward and punishment sensitivity were positively and directly associated with increased gambling severity, sociodemographic variables, and certain personality traits while also revealing a complex mediational role for these dimensions. To this end, our findings suggest that the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire could be a useful tool for gaining a better understanding of different gambling disorder phenotypes and developing tailored interventions.

Behavioral measures of risk tasking, sensation seeking and sensitivity to reward may reflect different motivations for spicy food liking and consumption

Based on work a quarter century ago, it is widely accepted personality traits like sensation seeking are related to the enjoyment and intake of spicy foods; however, data supporting this belief is actually quite limited. Recently, we reported strong to moderate correlations between remembered spicy food liking and two personality traits measured with validated questionnaires. Here, participants consumed capsaicin-containing strawberry jelly to generate acute estimates of spicy food liking. Additionally, we used a laboratory-based behavioral measure of risk taking (the mobile Balloon Analogue Risk Task; mBART) to complement a range of validated self-report measures of risk-related personality traits. Present data confirm Sensation Seeking correlates with overall spicy meal liking and liking of the burn of a spicy meal, and extends prior findings by showing novel correlations with the liking of sampled stimuli. Other personality measures, including Sensitivity to Punishment (SP), Sensitivity to Reward (SR), and the Impulsivity and Risk Taking subscales of the DSM5 Personality Inventory (PID-5) did not show significant relationships with liking of spicy foods, either sampled or remembered. Our behavioral risk taking measure, the mBART, also failed to show a relationship with remembered or sampled liking. However, significant relationships were observed between reported intake of spicy foods and Sensitivity to Reward, and the Risk Taking subscale of the PID-5 (PID5-RT). Based on the observed patterns among various personality measures, and spicy food liking and intake, we propose that personality measures may exert their influence on intake of spicy food via different mechanisms. We also speculate that Sensation Seeking may reflect motivations for consuming spicy foods that are more intrinsic, while the motivations for eating spicy foods measured by SR and PID5-RT may be more extrinsic.

French validation of the Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire

Background. The Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ) questionnaire investigates the main facets of music experience that could explain the variance observed in how people experience reward associated with music. Currently, only English and Spanish versions of this questionnaire are available. The objective of this study is to validate a French version of the BMRQ. Methods. The original BMRQ was translated and adapted into an international French version. The questionnaire was then administered through an online survey aimed at adults aged over 18 years who were fluent in French. Statistical analyses were performed and compared to the original English and Spanish version for validation purposes. Results. A total of 1,027 participants completed the questionnaire. Most responses were obtained from France (89.4%). Analyses revealed that congruence values between the rotated loading matrix and the ideal loading matrix ranged between 0.88 and 0.96. Factor reliabilities of subscales (i.e., Musical Seeking, Emotion Evocation, Mood Regulation, Social Reward and Sensory-Motor) also ranged between 0.88 and 0.96. In addition, reliability of the overall factor score (i.e., Music reward) was 0.91. Finally, the internal consistency of the overall scale was 0.85. The factorial structure obtained in the French translation was similar to that of the original Spanish and English samples. Conclusion. The French version of the BMRQ appears valid and reliable. Potential applications of the BMRQ include its use as a valuable tool in music reward and emotion research, whether in healthy individuals or in patients suffering from a wide variety of cognitive, neurologic and auditory disorders.

Using food as reinforcer to shape children's non-food behavior: The adverse nutritional effect doubly moderated by reward sensitivity and gender

PURPOSE

Control rules are parental practices that use food, especially those high in fat or sugar, as an instrumental reinforcer to encourage children to behave in a normative manner in non-food domains. Past laboratory experiments show that repeatedly presenting snacks as a reward or associated with adults' attention, increases children's preference for the presented food. This field study aims to examine whether control rules are associated with children's increased everyday intake of food high in sugar/fat, and whether this effect is moderated by individual differences in neurobehavioral sensitivity to reward and in gender.

DESIGN

207 six- to twelve-year-old children's parents reported the children's everyday dietary intake through a food frequency questionnaire and provided information regarding the children's sensitivity to rewards as well as the frequency of enforcing control rules.

RESULTS

Children who lived in families with a high frequency of using control rules exhibited more daily fat, carbohydrate, and total energy intake than did children whose parents use control rules less often. Furthermore, the effect of control rules on dietary pattern was particularly strong for children with high reward sensitivity, especially boys.

CONCLUSIONS

Control rules have adverse consequences on children's nutrition. The moderating effects of sensitivity to reward and gender are consistent to a reinforcement learning process--associating the high-fat/sugar food consumption with social-affective pleasure resulting from performing behavior desired by parents--through which parental control rules contribute to children's maladaptive dietary patterns.

Associations between sensitivity to punishment, sensitivity to reward, and gambling

The majority of individuals gamble during their lifetime; however only a subset of these individuals develops problematic gambling. Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory may be relevant to understanding gambling problems. Differences in sensitivity to punishments and rewards can influence an individual's behavior and may be pertinent to the development of gambling problems. This study examined the functional associations between sensitivity to punishment (SP), sensitivity to reward (SR), and gambling problems in a sample of 2254 college students. Zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to predict gambling problems as well as the absence of gambling problems. Gambling problems were hypothesized to be positively associated with SR and inversely associated with SP. In addition, SP was hypothesized to moderate the association between SR and gambling problems, attenuating the strength of the association. As hypothesized, SR was positively associated with gambling problems. However, SP did not moderate the relationship between SR and gambling problems. SP did, however, moderate the relationship between SR and the likelihood of never experiencing gambling problems. The results demonstrate that individual differences in SP and SR are functionally associated with gambling problems.

Cognitive processes underlying impaired decision-making under uncertainty in gambling disorder

OBJECTIVE

Pathological gamblers display at the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) a strong preference for choices featuring high immediate rewards, but higher unpredictable and more delayed losses. The present study aimed, by applying the Expectancy-Valence (EV) model to the IGT, at identifying impaired components of decision-making under uncertainty in pathological gamblers.

METHODS

Twenty pathological gamblers and 20 non-gamblers performed the IGT. The EV model breaks down IGT performance into three cognitive processes: (i) the subjective weight that the individual assigns to gains versus losses (gain/loss parameter), (ii) the degree of prominence given to recently-obtained information, compared to past experience (recency parameter), and (iii) the consistency between learning and responding (consistency parameter).

RESULTS

Pathological gamblers obtained higher scores on the gain/loss parameter as compared to controls, indicating higher sensitivity to monetary gains. This measure was also correlated with the degree of gambling dependence severity. No between-group difference was observed in the recency and the consistency parameters.

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that pathological gamblers' strong preference for choices featuring high rewards but higher losses during the IGT is due to hypersensitivity for large monetary gains, which might reflect a hypersensitivity in their reward systems. In contrast, we found in pathological gamblers no evidence of inability to integrate information across time, a function that has been shown previously to be linked to damage in the prefrontal cortex.

Effects of field-realistic doses of glyphosate on honeybee appetitive behaviour

Glyphosate (GLY) is a broad-spectrum herbicide used for weed control. The sub-lethal impact of GLY on non-target organisms such as insect pollinators has not yet been evaluated. Apis mellifera is the main pollinator in agricultural environments and is a well-known model for behavioural research. Honeybees are also accurate biosensors of environmental pollutants and their appetitive behavioural response is a suitable tool with which to test sub-lethal effects of agrochemicals. We studied the effects of field-realistic doses of GLY on honeybees exposed chronically or acutely to the herbicide. We focused on sucrose sensitivity, elemental and non-elemental associative olfactory conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER), and foraging-related behaviour. We found a reduced sensitivity to sucrose and learning performance for the groups chronically exposed to GLY concentrations within the range of recommended doses. When olfactory PER conditioning was performed with sucrose reward with the same GLY concentrations (acute exposure), elemental learning and short-term memory retention decreased significantly compared with controls. Non-elemental associative learning was also impaired by an acute exposure to GLY traces. Altogether, these results imply that GLY at concentrations found in agro-ecosystems as a result of standard spraying can reduce sensitivity to nectar reward and impair associative learning in honeybees. However, no effect on foraging-related behaviour was found. Therefore, we speculate that successful forager bees could become a source of constant inflow of nectar with GLY traces that could then be distributed among nestmates, stored in the hive and have long-term negative consequences on colony performance.