Trait mindfulness has been found to be a beneficial characteristic of athletes. However, the research on mindfulness interventions has been limited, poorly described, and poorly designed. The current study sought to determine whether a brief mindfulness intervention improves distress tolerance among athletes. In addition, this experiment tested the impact of cultivating mindfulness on psychological variables that may be important for sport such as anxiety, happiness and capacity for stress. Athletes were randomly assigned to one of the three intervention conditions (brief mindfulness, sham mindfulness and no-intervention control). All participants completed distress tolerance measures, a motor performance measure under distressing conditions, and self-reported psychological measures. These measures were administered at pre- and post-intervention. Results indicated that the brief mindfulness intervention did not result in significant improvements in the primary outcome variables, in comparison to the sham mindfulness and no-intervention control groups. Strengths and limitations of the study, as well as future directions are provided.

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Distress tolerance is often defined as one’s ability to tolerate and withstand negative and/or uncomfortable emotional states (Simons & Gaher, 2005; Zvolensky et al., 2001). However, after nearly two decades of research, there is still no consensus on how to best conceptualize and measure distress tolerance. A historical account of the conceptualization and measurement of distress tolerance demonstrates that the distress tolerance literature may have missed a crucial step in theory development: obtaining a thorough understanding of the concept in question (Dubin, 1969). Without adequately addressing this important step in theory development, it is likely that continued efforts to research distress tolerance will ultimately fail to progress science in a meaningful way. Thus, the goal of this study was to conduct an in-depth, mixed methods investigation into how individuals define key terms used in self-report measures of distress tolerance: “distress” and “upset,” and what (if any) intraindividual or domain-specific differences they report. Thematic analysis showed no consensus on participants’ understandings of the key terms—a finding that poses deep questions regarding its potential utility to advance knowledge in the field of psychopathology. The thematic analysis revealed important intraindividual differences in distress tolerance that can aid in future investigation.

Maternal responsiveness to infant needs is critical to child development. Few studies have attempted to identify basic processes that underlie responsiveness. Parenting theory suggests that distress tolerance (DT) may be important to understanding dysfunctional parenting. Distress tolerance refers to an individual’s ability to withstand subjective internal distress (e.g., uncomfortable thoughts, feelings). Despite its significance in the study of psychopathology, DT is not a well validated construct. Thus, the primary objectives of the present study were 1) to validate the construct of DT in a sample of perinatal women, and 2) to examine the concurrent and longitudinal associations between perinatal DT and maternal responsiveness. Eighty-six pregnant women in their third trimester and their respective informants completed an online survey of DT. At 4-months postpartum, a research team collected observational assessments of maternal responsiveness and a second assessment of self-reported DT. Factorial validity of DT was demonstrated through confirmatory factor analysis and suggested that DT is best represented as a multidimensional construct. Convergent validity of DT was demonstrated by small to moderate correlations (r’s = .16-.53) between self- and informant ratings of DT. Results of path analyses demonstrated a small association (r=.19) between prenatal DT and responsiveness; however, no association was found between postpartum DT and responsiveness. These findings suggest that targeting DT during pregnancy may improve outcomes for women and their infants. Distress tolerance skills are used in a number of empirically supported psychotherapies. Similarly, these skills could be incorporated into existing prenatal programs and parenting interventions to increase responsiveness and, ultimately, improve child outcomes.

Distress tolerance (DT) is considered to be a trait-like factor encompassing an individual’s behavioral and/or perceived ability to withstand negative affective states. Behavioral measures of DT are being increasingly utilized, however, these tasks have been implemented in studies prior to thoroughly establishing the psychometric properties. The present study aimed to evaluate the reliability of two DT behavioral tasks (Breath-Holding Task [BHT], computer-based Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task [PASAT-C]) in different settings (laboratory, online) among a sample of college students. Participants completed the tasks during two sessions, approximately one week apart. 52 participants were in the laboratory condition, and 65 were in the online condition. There were three main findings: a) test-retest reliability estimates were within acceptable ranges for both the BHT and PASAT-C, b) BHT performance differed significantly by modality while PASAT-C performance did not, c) number of distractors endorsed was not significantly associated with quit latency on either task.

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Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with increased engagement in health risk behaviors, particularly in college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by low distress tolerance and significant difficulty managing emotions. However, research has not examined how these factors impact propensity to engage in health risk behaviors in college students with ADHD. Thus, this study examined the independent and joint effects of ADHD status, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance on the propensity of college students to engage in health risk behaviors (alcohol use, impulsive eating, and drug behaviors). Participants included 143 undergraduate students (81.8% female; 44.1% with ADHD) who completed an online questionnaire via REDCap. Individuals with ADHD reported significantly higher use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and lower levels of distress tolerance than the comparison sample. Moderation models using the PROCESS macro for SPSS examined whether the associations between emotion regulation abilities and distress tolerance with health risk behavior engagement were moderated by ADHD diagnostic history. The relation between distress tolerance and engagement in drug use behaviors was moderated by ADHD status, such that for individuals with ADHD, poorer distress tolerance was associated with more drug use. ADHD status also moderated the association between maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and cognitive restraint in eating. For individuals without ADHD, more maladaptive emotion regulation was marginally predictive of less engagement in cognitive restraint around food, but this relation, was not significantly for college students with ADHD. Findings from this study provide insight into intervention targets for college students with ADHD, ultimately resulting in significantly decreased societal and personal health costs. / M.S. / Emerging adulthood is a developmental period associated with increased engagement in health risk behaviors, particularly in college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a disorder characterized by low distress tolerance and significant difficulty managing emotions. However, research has not looked at how these factors impact odds of engaging in health risk behaviors in college students with ADHD. Thus, this study examined the independent and combined effects of ADHD status, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance on the propensity of college students to engage in health risk behaviors (alcohol use, impulsive eating, and drug behaviors). Participants included 143 undergraduate students (81.8% female; 44.1% with ADHD) who completed an online questionnaire via REDCap. Individuals with ADHD reported higher use of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and decreased ability to tolerate distress than the comparison sample. The relation between distress tolerance and engagement in drug use behaviors was moderated by ADHD status, such that for individuals with ADHD, poorer ability to tolerate distress was associated with more drug use. ADHD status also moderated the association between maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and cognitive restraint in eating. For individuals without ADHD, more maladaptive emotion regulation was slightly predictive of less cognitive restraint around food, but this relation was not significant for college students with ADHD. Findings from this study provide insight into intervention targets for college students with ADHD, ultimately resulting in significantly decreased societal and personal health costs.

Wildnerness therapy is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment for adolescents. It has been established as an efficacious treatment in previous literature, but the mechanisms as to why have thus far remained a mystery. This research is looking at the connection between wilderness therapy and DBT, another evidence-based treatment. This study will examine 156 adolescents, comparing the efficacy of wilderness therapy to traditional inpatient and intensive outpatient. Pre-treatment assessments of suicidal ideation, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance will be taken. It is expected that there will be main effects for each of the treatments, but that wilderness therapy will be strongest. Additionally, it is expected that emotion regulation and distress tolerance will act as mediators, and their effect on suicidal ideation will be even greater than that of treatment.

Black individuals have been disproportionately targeted by law enforcement, most notably in shooting deaths at the hands of police, and has contributed to a general distrust of law enforcement. A rise in citizen journalism has helped document excessive use of force by police on video; however, little is known how individuals respond to viewing this type of media. A history of race-based stress is likely to contribute to an expectation of racism and may impact how individuals respond to videos of the treatment of unarmed Black men at the hands of police, with some evidence suggesting ethnic identity may moderate this relationship. Additionally, stress has been previously associated with risky health behaviors and risk-taking more generally; however, little is known whether the response to race-related stressors is in line with past work and whether distress tolerance may moderate this relationship. This study sought to contribute to this literature by examining if racial differences exist in the stress response to a video of police fatally wounding an unarmed black man and if this response (1) was predicted by stigma-related stressors (discrimination, anticipatory racism); (2) was associated with risk-taking; and (3) was moderated by ethnic identity and distress tolerance. Results showed that White respondents evidence greater galvanic skin response than Black respondents; however, there were no other significant racial differences in heart rate variability, systolic blood pressure, or negative affect via facial electromyography in response to the video. The stress response did not predict risk-taking nor was distress tolerance a significant moderator of this relationship. Among Black respondents, stigma-related stressors did not predict the stress response. Levels of ethnic identity commitment marginally interacted with discrimination in predicting heart rate variability, such that individuals with greater levels of commitment evidenced lower heart rate variability as experiences of discrimination increased compared to those with lower levels of commitment. There were no other significant or marginally significant interactions of ethnic identity with stigma-related stressors in predicting the stress response. Stigma-related stressors did not predict risk-taking nor were there indirect effects through the stress response. Health implications and directions for future research are discussed.