Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The relationship between positive urgency, a personality trait reflecting rash action during extreme positive emotional states, and risk-taking has previously been experimentally examined. However, how positive urgency is related to risk-taking while under the acute influence of alcohol has not been examined. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to generate behavioral evidence concerning how the interaction between positive urgency and alcohol consumption influences risk-taking via changes in emotional arousal. In this study, 59 community dwelling adults (mean age = 29.45 (SD = 10.96), 32.2% women, 78% White) completed mood induction procedures (positive or neutral) while consuming a beverage (alcohol or placebo) and then completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) as a measure of risk-taking. The positive mood induction was effective in inducing high arousal positive emotions. Overall, study hypotheses were not supported; however, because of low power, effect sizes and patterns of relationship are reported. The relationship between positive urgency and risk-taking was positive and small in the positive mood condition but negative and small in the neutral mood condition. The alcohol group and the placebo group showed similar patterns of risk-taking that are positive and small. Finally, the relationship between positive urgency changes in emotional arousal was positive and small only in the positive/alcohol condition; however, there was no relationship between changes in emotional arousal and risk-taking. These findings suggest that, while changes in emotional arousal may result from a combination of positive urgency and alcohol consumption, it may not be a focal mechanism that explains the relationship between positive urgency and risk-taking. Further, positive urgency is a risk factor whether or not alcohol consumption is present. Although the small sample size limited the power to test the hypotheses, the effect size estimates obtained in this study provide preliminary data for a more properly powered future study. The pattern of findings suggests the viability of further developing the current positive mood induction to establish a lab-based paradigm for positive urgency and the use of a different experimental risk-taking task to examine positive emotion-based risk-taking.

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Bullying victimization is a common experience for many students (Hoover, Oliver, & Hazler, 1992; Lund & Ross, 2017; Modecki, Minchin, Harbaugh, Guerra, & Runions, 2014). The vast majority of studies on the subject have focused on children and adolescents, but research shows that bullying victimization may continue into adulthood for some (Chapell, Casey, & De la Cruz, 2004; Finn, 2004). This suggests that certain students are at risk throughout their lifetime likely due to stable or innate risk factors. Researchers have proposed that personality traits, specifically neuroticism, and emotion regulation deficits are risk factors for bullying victimization (Hemphill, Tollit, Kotevski, & Heerde, 2015; Mynard & Joseph, 1997; Nielsen & Knardahl, 2014). The current study assessed bullying victimization for students attending a public Midwestern university. The rates for college students, influence of prior bullying victimization, and common associated difficulties were assessed. In addition, the current study measured difficulties in emotion regulation and changes in affect in response to bullying victimization vignettes. The results from the current study indicated that bullying continues into college for some students and is best predicted by bullying victimization in primary and secondary school. Results from this study supported the use of a vignette as a mood induction procedure for both victimized and non-victimized students. When taken together, these findings have implications for future research and intervention efforts, which are discussed.

<p>The relationship between positive urgency, a personality trait reflecting rash action during extreme positive emotional states, and risk-taking has previously been experimentally examined. However, how positive urgency is related to risk-taking while under the acute influence of alcohol has not been examined. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to generate behavioral evidence concerning how the interaction between positive urgency and alcohol consumption influences risk-taking via changes in emotional arousal. In this study, 59 community-dwelling adults (mean age = 29.45 (SD = 10.96), 32.2% women, 78% White) completed mood induction procedures (positive or neutral) while consuming a beverage (alcohol or placebo) and then completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) as a measure of risk-taking. The positive mood induction was effective in inducing high arousal positive emotions. Overall, study hypotheses were not supported; however, because of low power, effect sizes and patterns of relationship are reported. The relationship between positive urgency and risk-taking was positive and small in the positive mood condition but negative and small in the neutral mood condition. The alcohol group and the placebo group showed similar patterns of risk-taking that are positive and small. Finally, the relationship between positive urgency changes in emotional arousal was positive and small only in the positive/alcohol condition; however, there was no relationship between changes in emotional arousal and risk-taking. These findings suggest that, while changes in emotional arousal may result from a combination of positive urgency and alcohol consumption, it may not be a focal mechanism that explains the relationship between positive urgency and risk-taking. Further, positive urgency is a risk factor whether or not alcohol consumption is present. Although the small sample size limited the power to test the hypotheses, the effect size estimates obtained in this study provide preliminary data for a more properly powered future study. The pattern of findings suggests the viability of further developing the current positive mood induction to establish a lab-based paradigm for positive urgency and the use of a different experimental risk-taking task to examine positive emotion-based risk-taking.</p>

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This study aims to investigate cognitive response styles to positive affect. A Swedish version of the Responses to Positive Affect questionnaire (RPA) was psychometrically evaluated and experimentally tested as participants were mood induced. The 3-factor model for the RPA questionnaire (Self-focused positive rumination, Emotion-focused positive rumination and Dampening) was replicated, and the RPA was further explored through analyses of convergent and incremental validity. The experimental results revealed that the two positive rumination subscales had a strong relationship with each other and current positive affect. However, none of the RPA subscales functioned as moderators in the relationship between cognitive response style and participants’ mood reactivity.

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) will soon represent the most costly and debilitating disorder in the world. Yet, a clear model of the mechanisms underlying MDD remains elusive. This lack of clarity obscures efforts to prevent and treat MDD more effectively. This dissertation seeks to advance an integrated model of the mechanisms underlying MDD across cognitive, neural, and genetic levels of analysis. Building on the empirical foundation of cognitive theories of MDD, the dissertation includes three studies that help address questions about the cognitive mechanisms underlying depression vulnerability and maintenance. Specifically, the three studies focus on identifying 1) how elaborative processing biases, including attentional biases and rumination, give rise to specific symptoms of MDD and 2) elucidating biological mechanisms that may give rise to these biases. Together, these studies help advance an integrated model of MDD that, ultimately, may help facilitate the prevention and treatment of this costly and debilitating disorder. / text

Selective attention is a mechanism used to allocate resources to information processing. Both mood states and emotionally salient stimuli can influence which information is selectively attended. This information is subsequently processed in a more elaborative manner and affects task performance. The experiments presented in this thesis explore the influence of mood and emotional stimuli on selective attention and consequently task performance. Mood induction procedures were used to induce transient neutral, sad, and happy mood states in healthy volunteers. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 41 studies using sad mood induction procedures showed cognitive impairments in performance in the context of task neutral stimuli. In contrast biases in attention towards mood-congruent negative stimuli led to improved task performance. A series of three behavioural experiments with 197 participants demonstrated that participants made decisions on the basis of less information when that information was preceded by emotional but not neutral stimuli. Induced mood state did not affect performance. The behavioural and neural correlates of visual attentional processing to emotional stimuli were explored using magnetoencephalography in 24 healthy participants following sad, happy, and neutral mood induction procedures. The M300, a component associated with selective attention, had greater amplitude following presentation of negative compared with positive stimuli, which was associated with improved task performance. Reduced M300 amplitude and impairments in performance occurred following sad mood induction procedures. The experiments presented in this thesis demonstrate prioritized processing of emotional information and provide some evidence for impaired performance following sad mood induction procedures.