Do Lesbian and Gay Discrimination Experiences Increase Delay Discounting for Sexual and Non-Sexual Outcomes?
Shelby Pemberton, MA
Abstract: Discrimination experiences among individuals who identify as lesbian and gay are associated with an increased risk of substance use and risky sexual behavior, but behavioral mechanisms that underlie this relationship are unclear. Delay Discounting (DD) is a behavioral measure of impulsive choice and may represent a meaningful factor that underlies this relationship, given the empirical relationship between DD, substance abuse, and sexual risk-taking. A national sample of adults (N = 270) who identify as lesbian or gay recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) will be randomly assigned to a discrimination manipulation where they will type for 10 minutes about (1) a time they were treated unfairly due to their sexual orientation; or (2) their common daily routine. Participants will complete measures of daily heterosexist experiences, the degree to which they are public about their sexual identity, and alcohol and drug use. Participants also will be randomized to complete a delay discounting task either (1) monetary or (2) sexual outcomes. A 2x2 factorial ANOVA will analyze main effects of the discrimination manipulation and discounting commodity, as well as any interactions. The findings are relevant to how discrimination may be associated with human health problem behaviors among lesbian and gay adults.
Assessing the Psychometric Validity of a Brief Measure of Impulsive Sexual Decision Making
Jaylan Aliev
Abstract: Sexual impulsivity is associated with sexual risk behavior. This study examined the content validity of a brief measure of impulsive sexual choice based on the delay discounting paradigm, which is a behavioral-economic transdiagnostic measures of impulsive choice. Undergraduate students (N = 172) completed the Sexual Choice Questionnaire (SCQ) and several other measures of sexual and non-sexual outcomes. Findings indicated partial support for convergent validity, full support for discriminant validity, but no support for concurrent validity. The current findings suggest modest support for the content validity of the SCQ, but also suggest that more research on the psychometric properties of this measure are warranted.
Decision-Making and Perceptions of Death and Dying
Wesley Malvini
Abstract: One of the strongest predictors of suicidal behavior is suicide ideation but the majority of individuals who experience suicidal ideation never engage in an attempt to die by suicide. Impulsive and risky choice may be important factors for why a person may transition from having thoughts of suicide to engaging in a suicidal act. The current study will examine if impulsive and risky choice patterns predict the acquired capacity for suicide after accounting for painful and provocative experiences and if they add to our ability to predict the severity of suicidality after accounting for both acquired capacity for suicide and painful and provocative experiences. A sample of adults recruited from a national sample using an online platform (Amazon Mechanical Turk) will answer questions about their suicidality, alcohol and substance use, interpersonal needs (thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness), and the acquired capability for suicide (painful and provocative experiences and fearlessness about death. They will also complete two different behavioral measures of impulsive and risky decision-making. Analysis of the data will determine if these behavioral measures provide incremental validity to the IPTS model's ability to predict severity of suicidality. If so, future research will be better equipped to broaden our understanding of what drives someone to transition from suicide ideation to the suicide act and may provide a more defined roadmap of the suicide continuum.
The Effect of Sexual Arousal on Monetary and Sexual Decision Making in College Men
Brittney Holcomb, PhD
Abstract: Sexual arousal is associated with increases in a variety of impulsive choices, such as engaging in unprotected sex, having sex with strangers, and more frequent sexual activity. Little is known about sexual arousal’s association with impulsive choice for domain-specific outcomes using a laboratory measure of impulsive choice. This study investigated sexual arousal’s impact on delay discounting—which measures impulsive behavioral choice—for both monetary and sexual outcomes. Participants (N=70) were assigned randomly to one of two video groups (erotic or control) and completed delay discounting tasks for either money or sexual activity. Repeated-measures ANCOVA tested the first hypothesis and found a domain-specific effect of video group on discounting task, when controlling for sexual risk taking, such that watching an erotic video (as compared to a neutral video) was associated with significantly more impulsive (i.e., more discounted) decision-making for sexual activity but not money (F(1,32)=14.071, p<.01, partial h2=.305) using k as an estimate of discounting rate. Repeated-measures ANOVA found the same effect using Area Under the Curve (AUC) to measure discounting rate (F(1,33)=7.038, p<.05, partial h2=.305). A simple mediation model could not be properly analyzed to test the second hypothesis due to significant multicollinearity between the independent variable, video group, and the mediator, sexual arousal. However, sexual arousal better accounted for variance in sexual activity discounting scores using k and AUC, compared to video group. Sexual arousal, elicited in this case by viewing erotica, appears to have a domain-specific effect on college men’s impulsivity for sexual decisions, rather than a more general impact on behavioral choice. This proclivity to make short-sighted sexual decisions under sexually aroused conditions may be associated with negative health outcomes. Future studies should extend these findings to diverse samples in more ecologically valid settings using a range of outcomes.
The Mediating Role of Impulsive Choice between Childhood Maltreatment and Criminal Thinking
Kathi Smith, PhD
Abstract: Incarcerated individuals experience childhood maltreatment (i.e., verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) at disproportionate rates compared to individuals who have never been in jail or prison. Childhood maltreatment increases the risk for criminal thinking, an established risk factor for criminal behavior. Additionally, repeated exposure to traumatic events in childhood negatively impacts self-regulatory behaviors, such as insensitivity to delayed rewards and risk-taking behaviors. Taken together, impulse control and risk-taking are possible mechanisms that underlie the relationship between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking. This study aims to examine the role of impulsivity as an underlying mechanism between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking patterns in incarcerated men. Participants were 125 adult male inmates recruited from two local jails in Southeastern Idaho. It was hypothesized that increased severity of childhood maltreatment and impulsive choice would predict higher levels of criminal thinking patterns. A sequential multiple regression analysis controlling for age, education level, and substance use was used to examine how childhood maltreatment, and impulsive choice predict criminal thinking patterns (i.e., general, reactive, and proactive) in incarcerated adult men. More specifically, this study examined whether impulsive and risk-taking related decision making for monetary outcomes, as measured through delay and probability discounting paradigms mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking in adult male inmates. Analyses indicated probability discounting differentially predicted criminal thinking styles. Decision-making for monetary outcomes did not mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking. Identification of mechanisms leading to criminal thinking is important in order to effectively design and implement intervention and prevention strategies for reducing recidivism and incarceration.
Shelby Pemberton, MA
Abstract: Discrimination experiences among individuals who identify as lesbian and gay are associated with an increased risk of substance use and risky sexual behavior, but behavioral mechanisms that underlie this relationship are unclear. Delay Discounting (DD) is a behavioral measure of impulsive choice and may represent a meaningful factor that underlies this relationship, given the empirical relationship between DD, substance abuse, and sexual risk-taking. A national sample of adults (N = 270) who identify as lesbian or gay recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) will be randomly assigned to a discrimination manipulation where they will type for 10 minutes about (1) a time they were treated unfairly due to their sexual orientation; or (2) their common daily routine. Participants will complete measures of daily heterosexist experiences, the degree to which they are public about their sexual identity, and alcohol and drug use. Participants also will be randomized to complete a delay discounting task either (1) monetary or (2) sexual outcomes. A 2x2 factorial ANOVA will analyze main effects of the discrimination manipulation and discounting commodity, as well as any interactions. The findings are relevant to how discrimination may be associated with human health problem behaviors among lesbian and gay adults.
Assessing the Psychometric Validity of a Brief Measure of Impulsive Sexual Decision Making
Jaylan Aliev
Abstract: Sexual impulsivity is associated with sexual risk behavior. This study examined the content validity of a brief measure of impulsive sexual choice based on the delay discounting paradigm, which is a behavioral-economic transdiagnostic measures of impulsive choice. Undergraduate students (N = 172) completed the Sexual Choice Questionnaire (SCQ) and several other measures of sexual and non-sexual outcomes. Findings indicated partial support for convergent validity, full support for discriminant validity, but no support for concurrent validity. The current findings suggest modest support for the content validity of the SCQ, but also suggest that more research on the psychometric properties of this measure are warranted.
Decision-Making and Perceptions of Death and Dying
Wesley Malvini
Abstract: One of the strongest predictors of suicidal behavior is suicide ideation but the majority of individuals who experience suicidal ideation never engage in an attempt to die by suicide. Impulsive and risky choice may be important factors for why a person may transition from having thoughts of suicide to engaging in a suicidal act. The current study will examine if impulsive and risky choice patterns predict the acquired capacity for suicide after accounting for painful and provocative experiences and if they add to our ability to predict the severity of suicidality after accounting for both acquired capacity for suicide and painful and provocative experiences. A sample of adults recruited from a national sample using an online platform (Amazon Mechanical Turk) will answer questions about their suicidality, alcohol and substance use, interpersonal needs (thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness), and the acquired capability for suicide (painful and provocative experiences and fearlessness about death. They will also complete two different behavioral measures of impulsive and risky decision-making. Analysis of the data will determine if these behavioral measures provide incremental validity to the IPTS model's ability to predict severity of suicidality. If so, future research will be better equipped to broaden our understanding of what drives someone to transition from suicide ideation to the suicide act and may provide a more defined roadmap of the suicide continuum.
The Effect of Sexual Arousal on Monetary and Sexual Decision Making in College Men
Brittney Holcomb, PhD
Abstract: Sexual arousal is associated with increases in a variety of impulsive choices, such as engaging in unprotected sex, having sex with strangers, and more frequent sexual activity. Little is known about sexual arousal’s association with impulsive choice for domain-specific outcomes using a laboratory measure of impulsive choice. This study investigated sexual arousal’s impact on delay discounting—which measures impulsive behavioral choice—for both monetary and sexual outcomes. Participants (N=70) were assigned randomly to one of two video groups (erotic or control) and completed delay discounting tasks for either money or sexual activity. Repeated-measures ANCOVA tested the first hypothesis and found a domain-specific effect of video group on discounting task, when controlling for sexual risk taking, such that watching an erotic video (as compared to a neutral video) was associated with significantly more impulsive (i.e., more discounted) decision-making for sexual activity but not money (F(1,32)=14.071, p<.01, partial h2=.305) using k as an estimate of discounting rate. Repeated-measures ANOVA found the same effect using Area Under the Curve (AUC) to measure discounting rate (F(1,33)=7.038, p<.05, partial h2=.305). A simple mediation model could not be properly analyzed to test the second hypothesis due to significant multicollinearity between the independent variable, video group, and the mediator, sexual arousal. However, sexual arousal better accounted for variance in sexual activity discounting scores using k and AUC, compared to video group. Sexual arousal, elicited in this case by viewing erotica, appears to have a domain-specific effect on college men’s impulsivity for sexual decisions, rather than a more general impact on behavioral choice. This proclivity to make short-sighted sexual decisions under sexually aroused conditions may be associated with negative health outcomes. Future studies should extend these findings to diverse samples in more ecologically valid settings using a range of outcomes.
The Mediating Role of Impulsive Choice between Childhood Maltreatment and Criminal Thinking
Kathi Smith, PhD
Abstract: Incarcerated individuals experience childhood maltreatment (i.e., verbal abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect) at disproportionate rates compared to individuals who have never been in jail or prison. Childhood maltreatment increases the risk for criminal thinking, an established risk factor for criminal behavior. Additionally, repeated exposure to traumatic events in childhood negatively impacts self-regulatory behaviors, such as insensitivity to delayed rewards and risk-taking behaviors. Taken together, impulse control and risk-taking are possible mechanisms that underlie the relationship between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking. This study aims to examine the role of impulsivity as an underlying mechanism between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking patterns in incarcerated men. Participants were 125 adult male inmates recruited from two local jails in Southeastern Idaho. It was hypothesized that increased severity of childhood maltreatment and impulsive choice would predict higher levels of criminal thinking patterns. A sequential multiple regression analysis controlling for age, education level, and substance use was used to examine how childhood maltreatment, and impulsive choice predict criminal thinking patterns (i.e., general, reactive, and proactive) in incarcerated adult men. More specifically, this study examined whether impulsive and risk-taking related decision making for monetary outcomes, as measured through delay and probability discounting paradigms mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking in adult male inmates. Analyses indicated probability discounting differentially predicted criminal thinking styles. Decision-making for monetary outcomes did not mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and criminal thinking. Identification of mechanisms leading to criminal thinking is important in order to effectively design and implement intervention and prevention strategies for reducing recidivism and incarceration.