MODERATED-MEDIATION MODEL OF PERSONALITY AND ALCOHOL

poster abstractPrevious work has shown that both positive (PUR) and negative urgency (NUR) (tendency to act rashly in the face of extreme emotions), predict problematic alcohol consumption (Cyders et al., 2009), and that this relationship is mediated through enhancement and coping motives (Settles et al., 2010). Moreover, research shows that there is a negative relationship between risk and involvement, and that there is a positive relationship between benefit and involvement (Siegel et al., 1994). However, there has not been a lot of research done that looks at the moderational role of risk and perception benefit on the relationship between personality and alcohol, as well as motives and alcohol consumption. Thus, we hypothesize that (1) the relationship between PUR and NUR will be mediated by enhancement and coping motives (respectively); (2) the relationship between coping and enhancement motives and alcohol consumption will be moderated by perception of risk and benefit. 447 first year students participated in the study (75.3% female; mean age=21.02, SD=4.96), and the majority of the sample was Caucasian. We conducted a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses (according to Cohen et al., 2003), as well as the moderated-mediation analyses (Preacher et al., 2007). Both NUR and PUR significantly predicted alcohol consumption (NUR: β=.330, p<.000; PUR: β=.317, p<.000), and this relationships were mediated by coping (β=.415, p<.000) and enhancement motives (β=.507, p<.000) respectively. The indirect relationship between PUR and alcohol, mediated through enhancement motives, was moderated through perception of benefit (t=2.03, p=.044) and risk (t= -2.67, p=.01) (benefit: from z=4.73, p=.000 when PUR is 1 SD below the mean to z=5.64, p=.000 when PUR is 1 SD above the mean; risk: from z= -1.04, p=.30 when PUR is 1 SD below the mean to z= -3.63, p=.000 when PUR is 1 SD above the mean), whereas only perception of benefit significantly moderated the indirect relationship between NUR and alcohol use (t=1.68, p=.09) mediated through coping motives (from z=3.96, p=.000 when PUR is 1 SD below the mean to z=5.62, p=.000 when PUR is 1 SD above the mean). Therefore, the mediational relationship between urgency and alcohol use through motives seem to be moderated by one’s perception of benefit and risk

THE NEURAL CORRELATES OF EMOTION REGULATION AND URGENCY

poster abstractRecent studies have indicated five distinct facets of impulsivity related personality traits—each differentially related to risky behaviors. These facets are: sensation seeking, positive and negative urgency, premeditation, and perseverance. Urgency, defined as a tendency to behave impulsively in face of strong emotions, has been found to be the most consistent predictor of a number of problematic risky behaviors—including problematic substance use, pathological gambling, and problematic eating behaviors. It has been theorized that this relationship between urgency and problematic risky be-haviors can be attributed to an underlying dysfunction in the ability to regu-late emotions. No studies have examined the neural correlates of the urgen-cy facets. However, prior studies have looked at the neural correlates of emotion regulation, which is an aspect of the urgency facets. The intention of this poster is to review the neural correlates of emotion regulation in or-der to elucidate the neural mechanisms underlying the urgency facets. Our review of the literature indicates that the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex are involved in emotion regulation. Particularly, emotion regulation processes may be attributed to the independent and syn-ergistic functioning of these regions. These findings indicate that urgency and possibly other impulsivity related personality traits may have measura-ble neural correlates. Moreover, these findings also introduce the possibility of targeting neural dysfunctions in order to reduce emotionally driven impul-siveness and consequent problematic behaviors

SEXTING BEHAVIORS, ALCOHOL USE, AND IMPULSIVITY

poster abstractThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the prevalence of “sexting” among college students and examine the relationship between individuals’ drinking behaviors, sensation-seeking (SS), and sexting behaviors. Sexting refers to exchanging sexually provocative picture or text messages via mo-bile phone or Internet; it has received much attention in the media due to the risks associated with the behavior, such as unwanted attention and so-cial humiliation. Participants (n = 575 undergraduates; 58.7% female; 61.9% Caucasian; mean age = 21.1, SD age = 5.05) completed the AUDIT (Babor et al., 2001), the UPPS-P Impulsive Behaviors Scale (Lynam et al., 2009), and the Sexting Behaviors Scale. We conducted correlation and multiple regression analyses to test the fol-lowing study hypotheses: We predicted that SS would significantly relate to sexting and drinking behaviors, and that drinking behavior would mediate the relationship between SS and sexting. Hypotheses were supported. Drinking behavior and SS significantly correlated with sexting (r = .270, p < .01 and r = .243, p < .01, respectively). Additionally, drinking behaviors partially mediated the relationship between SS and sexting (Sobel test sta-tistic = 3.275; p = .001). The data, although cross-sectional, suggest that SS influences sexting behaviors, in part because of its influence on alcohol use. Alcohol use further increases the likelihood of sexting behaviors. These relationships suggest that people are sexting while drinking, and it’s possible that although sexting can occur without the consumption of al-cohol, drinking leads to more risky sexting. Although the direction of this causal pathway cannot be determined with the current cross-sectional de-sign, the pattern of results is consistent with this interpretation. The implica-tions of these findings are important because of the potential sexting risks, and sexting while drinking may be a more dangerous combination based on alcohol’s relation to other risky behaviors

The Creation and Validation of the Activation-Valence Affective Traits Survey (AVATS)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)Aim: The goals of the current studies were to (a) create a measure of affective traits that can assess both the discrete and the underlying dimensions of affective traits and (b) examine the reliability and validity of the scale in two independent samples. Participants: Participants were undergraduate students at a large, public US mid-western university (Study 1 N = 616; Study 2 N = 510). The mean age for Study 1 was 21.10 (SD = 5.05) and 21.02 for Study 2 (SD = 4.96). Design: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine internal factor structure of the scale. A series of correlational, reliability, and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine convergent, divergent, and criterion-related validity of the new scale. Findings: Activation-Valence Affective Traits Survey (AVATS) had good reliability and adequate construct, convergent, and discriminant validity as a measure of affective traits. Conclusions: This study introduces a new scale for measuring affective traits that offers more information on both the categorical and dimensional conceptualizations of affective traits, which also has predictive utility in relation to problem-related alcohol consumption

THE ROLE OF IMPULSIVITY AND TRIGGERS IN EXERCISE DEPENDENCE

poster abstractExercise dependence is denoted by incessant desire to exercise, even when detrimental to one’s health. Research on this topic is sparse, and we have yet to understand the onset, maintenance, and risk factors of the disorder. The study sought to determine if impulsivity, a personality facet often present in addictive behaviors, plays a role in exercise dependence. Negative urgency, an impulsivity facet exemplified by the tendency to act rashly under negative affect, was hypothesized to predict exercise dependence. Additionally, the study sought to determine triggers for exercise dependence. We developed the Exercise Dependence Trigger Questionnaire (EDTQ), with items in six different categories: body image, mood, compensatory reactions, exercise restriction, exercise cues, and cognitive factors. We expected that mood, body image, and compensatory reactions would predict exercise dependence. Data were collected from 203 diverse participants via online surveys, including the Impulsive Behavior Scale (UPPS-P) (Cyders & Smith, 2008), EDTQ, and the Exercise Dependence Scale (EDS-21) (Hausenblas & Downs, 2002). The proposed relationship between negative urgency and exercise dependence was not supported; however, results maintained that body image, mood, and compensatory reactions have significant positive relationships with exercise dependence. Exploratory factor analyses of the EDTQ revealed seven factors; the original factors were maintained; however, mood was divided into two unique factors: positive and negative mood. The findings have implications for approaches to treatment and prevention of exercise dependence. Avenues for future research include examination of triggers in laboratory settings, attentional biases to exercise stimuli, and personality risk factors for exercise dependence

Mechanisms Underlying the Relationship between Negative Affectivity and Problematic Alcohol Use

poster abstractResearch has long supported the role of negative affectivity for problematic alcohol consumption (Bechara, 2005; Dolan, 2007; Larsen, 2000; Tice & Bratslavsky, 2000; Tice, Bratslavsky, & Baumeister, 2001). However, the mechanisms that underlie how negative affective traits influence problematic alcohol use and attentional biases are not well understood. These inconsistencies can be attributed to three possible reasons: (1) research has often utilized broad measures of negative affective traits that can mask the effect of specific underlying unidimensional traits (Smith, Fischer & Fister, 2003), (2) research has tended to utilize only the valence of traits and has often failed to consider how activation of traits might predict behavioral outcomes, and (3) research has not fully incorporated other aspects of affective traits (e.g. affective lability and emotion-based rash action) that could be serving as mechanisms in predicting problematic alcohol use. The current study sought to characterize mechanisms that drive problematic alcohol use and attentional biases. Three undergraduate student studies were conducted (n = 510, 429, and 38). Negative urgency partially mediated the effects of negative affectivity (B for indirect effect = .119, CI = .09 – .16) and affect lability (B for indirect effect = .928, CI = .47 – 1.45) on problematic alcohol use. Activation level of hostility predicted increased variance in problematic alcohol consumption (R2 change = .01, β = .16, p = .02) above trait valence. Negative urgency predicted alcohol attentional biases over and above valence and activation (β = 2.23, p = .05). Negative urgency is a prime mechanism by which negative affective traits influence problematic alcohol consumption. This suggests that the relationship between negative urgency or lack of planning and problematic alcohol consumption could be driven, in part, by increases in attentional biases when cued with alcohol stimuli, although this was not directly tested in the current study

Negative urgency and ventromedial prefrontal cortex responses to alcohol cues: FMRI evidence of emotion-based impulsivity

BACKGROUND: Recent research has highlighted the role of emotion-based impulsivity (negative and positive urgency personality traits) for alcohol use and abuse, but has yet to examine how these personality traits interact with the brain's motivational systems. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we tested whether urgency traits and mood induction affected medial prefrontal responses to alcohol odors (AcO). METHODS: Twenty-seven social drinkers (mean age = 25.2, 14 males) had 6 fMRI scans while viewing negative, neutral, or positive mood images (3 mood conditions) during intermittent exposure to AcO and appetitive control (AppCo) aromas. RESULTS: Voxel-wise analyses (p AppCo] activation throughout medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and ventromedial PFC (vmPFC) regions. Extracted from a priori mPFC and vmPFC regions and analyzed in Odor (AcO, AppCo) × Mood factorial models, AcO activation was greater than AppCo in left vmPFC (p AppCo] activation. Negative urgency also mediated the relationship between vmPFC activation and both (i) subjective craving and (ii) problematic drinking. CONCLUSIONS: The trait of negative urgency is associated with neural responses to alcohol cues in the vmPFC, a region involved in reward value and emotion-guided decision-making. This suggests that negative urgency might alter subjective craving and brain regions involved in coding reward value

Investigation of NF-B1 and NF-BIA Gene Polymorphism in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is a complex, multifactorial disease which is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women. NF-B is a transcription factor which is known to affect the expression of more than 150 genes related to inflammation, lymphocyte activation, cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis, as well as contributing to cell apoptosis and survival. However, NF-BIA (I B ) is the inhibitor of the transcription factor. The -94ins/delATTG polymorphism of the NF-B1 gene promoter region which causes a functional effect and NF-BIA 3 UTR A → G polymorphism has been shown to be related to various inflammatory diseases and cancer. Ninety-five NSCLC patients and 99 healthy controls were included in study. The NF-B1 -94ins/delATTG and NF-BIA 3 UTR A → G polymorphism have been studied by using PCR-RFLP method. It was found that the NF-B1 -94ins/delATTG DD genotype and D allele frequencies were higher in patients than healthy controls and the presence of the DD genotype has a 3.5-fold increased risk of the disease (P: 0.014). This study is the first to investigate the NF-B1 -94ins/delATTG and NF-BIA 3 UTR A → G polymorphism together in the Turkish population. According to the results, the NF-B1 -94ins/del ATTG promoter polymorphism may have a role in lung carcinogenesis and prognosis