A Preliminary Study of Anxiety, Negative Affect, Experiential Avoidance, and Delaying of Aversive Events

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault ◽  
James W. Diller

The current study examined the role of anxiety, negative affect, and trait experiential avoidance in choices between immediate and delayed aversive outcomes. Undergraduate students (N = 34) completed self-report measures and a laboratory-based delay-discounting task in which they made choices between electric shocks delivered immediately versus shocks delivered after various time delays. The hypotheses that higher levels of anxiety, greater negative affectivity, and greater tendency to engage in experiential avoidance would predict choices of an objectively worse delayed aversive stimulus over an immediate (but less severe) aversive stimulus were supported. These findings may have implications for interventions that target behavioural and experiential avoidance in anxiety.

2006 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemille Cribb ◽  
Michelle L. Moulds ◽  
Sally Carter

AbstractRecent investigations have demonstrated a renewed interest in the role of avoidance in depression; however, little is known of which specific forms of avoidance — cognitive, behavioural or experiential — are important in this context. This study examined (a) the relationship between depression, rumination and these subtypes of avoidance, and (b) the proposal that the abstract/analytical nature of ruminative thought is linked to experiential avoidance. A nonclinical sample (N = 101) of undergraduate students completed self-report measures of depression, rumination, avoidance and mood state and viewed a low mood emotion-eliciting video stimulus. Participants' written summary of the film clip was independently rated for the degree to which it was abstract or concrete. Rumination, depression and cognitive, behavioural and experiential avoidance were all significantly correlated and remained so when anxiety was controlled. Further, reduced concreteness of description of the film clip was associated with experiential avoidance and rumination. Taken together, the findings underscore the value of clinicians being attentive to experiential avoidance in the assessment and treatment of depression.


2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Clare Louise Rhoden ◽  
Julia West ◽  
Andrew Renfree ◽  
Mark Corbett ◽  
Alan St Clair Gibson

Background. By incorporating pre-performance or retrospective recall measurement methods, research has shown positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) to operate as both a precursor to, and as a consequence of performance in line with goal achievement. The extent of this affective change within sport is unclear, as measurement of affect within acute settings has yet to be adopted fully.Objective. To conduct exploratory research examining affect and goal achievement during self-paced cycling to understand further their role during performance.Methods. The positive and negative affect schedule (PANAS), Worcester affect scale (WAS) and ratings of goal achievement were completed by seven trained cyclists prior to two separate 20 km laboratory time trials. The WAS and ratings of goal achievement were also rated during each trial.Results. Micro-oscillations in affect occurred throughout time trials and to a greater degree where participants were unsuccessful in reaching their goals. Successful trials were characterised by higher PA (p=0.000) and lower NA (p=0.000), with higher goal expectations from the start (p=0.008).Conclusion. In unsuccessful trials, an overly aggressive start, perhaps due to inaccurate goal setting, led to an inability to maintain performance, with reductions in power output. Further clarification of the catalyst to the performance demise requires a parallel analysis of psychological and physiological parameters. In so doing, a greater understanding of the combined role of affect and goal expectation in pacing and performance will ensue; a benefit to both cyclist and coach alike.


2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Dewey ◽  
David Schuldberg ◽  
Renee Madathil

This study investigated whether specific peritraumatic emotions differentially predict PTSD symptom clusters in individuals who have experienced stressful life events. Hypotheses were developed based on the SPAARS model of PTSD. It was predicted that the peritraumatic emotions of anger, disgust, guilt, and fear would significantly predict re-experiencing and avoidance symptoms, while only fear would predict hyperarousal. Undergraduate students ( N = 144) participated in this study by completing a packet of self-report questionnaires. Multiple regression analyses were conducted with PCL-S symptom cluster scores as dependent variables and peritraumatic fear, guilt, anger, shame, and disgust as predictor variables. As hypothesized, peritraumatic anger, guilt, and fear all significantly predicted re-experiencing. However, only fear predicted avoidance, and anger significantly predicted hyperarousal. Results are discussed in relation to the theoretical role of emotions in the etiology of PTSD following the experience of a stressful life event.


2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianping Wang ◽  
Wei Xu ◽  
Zhongfang Fu ◽  
Wei Yu ◽  
Li He ◽  
...  

The Affective Style Questionnaire is a self-report instrument for assessing affective style. Study 1 investigated the psychometric properties of the Chinese Affective Style Questionnaire in a sample of 459 Chinese participants. The confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure. Study 1 indicated that the Chinese Affective Style Questionnaire can be used as a simple, reliable, and valid scale for measuring individual differences in affective style. Study 2 examined the moderating role of different affective styles in the relationship between stress and negative affect. Concealing and tolerating moderated the relationship between stress and anxiety, and adjusting moderated the relationship between stress and depression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ortal Slobodin ◽  
Tamar Icekson ◽  
Lee Herman ◽  
Ofri Vaknin

Research has increasingly recognized the adverse effects of perceived discrimination on the academic outcomes of children and adolescents from ethnic and racial minority backgrounds. However, little is known about the association between perceived discrimination and the motivation of ethnic minority students to pursue higher education. Guided by an academic resilience framework, the current study examined the relationship between perceived discrimination and two types of motivation to pursue higher education (personal/career-driven and expectation-driven) among Ethiopian undergraduate students in Israel. In addition, we examined the role of ethnic identity as a potential moderator of this relationship. Participants were 183 undergraduate students of Ethiopian origin (77% females) who studied in 18 different higher-education institutes. Participants completed self-report questionnaires concerning their experiences of perceived discrimination, affiliation with their Ethiopian identity, and their reasons for pursuing higher education. Results showed that frequent discrimination experiences were positively related to a stronger ethnic identity and to higher levels of personal/career motivation to pursue higher education. Ethnic identity moderated the relationship between perceived discrimination and personal/career motivation so that the association was significant under low and moderate levels of ethnic identity but not under high levels. Our findings suggest that the awareness of discrimination may motivate students to pursue higher education and succeed in academia. However, the motivating force of perceived discrimination diminishes under high levels of ethnic identification. Further investigation is needed to explore how discrimination and ethnic identity work together to impact academic motivation in different developmental stages and socio-cultural contexts.


Author(s):  
Yongfeng Ma ◽  
Chunhua Ma ◽  
Xiaoyu Lan

Does teacher autonomy support significantly facilitate the social competence of undergraduate students in a collective cultural context? Does this study association vary by individual characteristics, such as grit and students’ gender? To answer these research questions, we examine the association between teacher autonomy support and social competence. Moreover, we ascertain whether two dimensions of grit (perseverance and consistency) and/or gender may moderate this association. A convenience sample of 1009 Chinese undergraduate students (Mage = 20.66; SD = 1.30, 47.4% female) was involved in this study, and they were asked to complete a set of self-report questionnaires online. Results of linear regression analyses revealed that (a) teacher autonomy support was positively associated with social competence, and (b) when reporting higher levels of consistency, this association was significantly positive for both males and females; by contrast, when reporting lower levels of consistency, this association was only significant for males but not for females. The current study indicates the beneficial role of teacher autonomy support in undergraduate students’ social competence in a collective cultural context. Furthermore, university-based intervention or prevention programs should focus on facilitating teacher autonomy support for all students; it is noteworthy that, for female students, enhancing consistency should also be incorporated into these programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-394
Author(s):  
James J Palestro ◽  
Molly M. Jameson

A clear inverse relationship exists between efficacy and anxiety and anxiety and performance in mathematics. However, efficacy is domain- and task-specific, so the role that specific types of efficacy play in the anxiety-performance relationship is less clear. Emotional self-efficacy moderates this relationship in children, but research has not yet examined its role with math anxiety and performance in undergraduate students who have more developed emotional regulation. Further, understanding the role of self-efficacy for different tasks (i.e., efficacy for math versus for emotion regulation) is important to understanding math anxiety and how to intervene for math anxious individuals. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to explore the moderating and/or mediating role of both math self-efficacy and emotional self-efficacy in undergraduate students using indirect effects analyses. One hundred and fifteen students at a mid-sized state university in the Midwest United States completed self-report measures of emotional self-efficacy, math self-efficacy, and math anxiety before completing a standardized measure of math performance. Results of indirect effects analyses determined that math self-efficacy had an indirect effect on the anxiety-performance relationship while emotional self-efficacy had neither indirect nor moderating effects on the math anxiety-performance relationship.


2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 284-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Galván ◽  
Kristine M. McGlennen

Neurodevelopmental changes in mesolimbic regions are associated with adolescent risk-taking behavior. Numerous studies have shown exaggerated activation in the striatum in adolescents compared with children and adults during reward processing. However, striatal sensitivity to aversion remains elusive. Given the important role of the striatum in tracking both appetitive and aversive events, addressing this question is critical to understanding adolescent decision-making, as both positive and negative factors contribute to this behavior. In this study, human adult and adolescent participants performed a task in which they received squirts of appetitive or aversive liquid while undergoing fMRI, a novel approach in human adolescents. Compared with adults, adolescents showed greater behavioral and striatal sensitivity to both appetitive and aversive stimuli, an effect that was exaggerated in response to delivery of the aversive stimulus. Collectively, these findings contribute to understanding how neural responses to positive and negative outcomes differ between adolescents and adults and how they may influence adolescent behavior.


2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 334-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sukumarakurup Krishnakumar ◽  
Kay Hopkins

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of emotion perception ability through two different paradigms (self-report and ability-based) on an individual's motivation to lead, an individual's desire to assume leadership roles. Design/methodology/approach – The authors have used a survey method in this study. The authors collected data from 172 undergraduate students. Findings – The findings indicate that emotion perception ability was significantly related to MTL. The authors also found that emotion perception ability was more substantially related to the non-calculative dimension of MTL than others. Originality/value – To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to show the relationship of emotion perception ability to motivation to lead. Organizations can use the finding to screen and train future leaders using an ability-based test of emotion perception similar to one the authors have presented.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly E. Atwood

Binge eating is a core diagnostic feature of several eating disorders; however, controversy exists regarding the extent to which the size of an eating episode is important in the definition of a binge. The present study examined the relationship between subjective binge eating episodes (SBEs: experiencing loss of control while eating relatively small amounts of food) and eating disorder pathology, general pathology, and eating disorder-specific and general cognitive distortions in female undergraduate students (N=116) via self-report measures. In addition, negative affect and stress were examined as proximal antecedents of SBEs using naturalistic prospective monitoring. Findings indicated SBEs are associated with broad markers of eating disorder pathology and aspects of general pathology, and that eating disorder-specific cognitive distortions mediate the relationship between dietary restraint and SBE frequency. In addition, higher levels of negative affect were found to precede SBEs; however, stress was not identified as a statistically significant proximal antecedent. Findings are interpreted in light of methodological limitations, and clinical implications are discussed.


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