F16. The Neurobehavioral Basis of Anticipated Regret and Reward in Risky and Ambiguous Decision-Making in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

BackgroundChanges in reflexive emotional responses are hallmarks of depression, but how emotional reflexes make an impact on adaptive decision-making in depression has not been examined formally. Using a Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT) task, we compared the influence of affectively valenced stimuli on decision-making in depression and generalized anxiety disorder compared with healthy controls; and related this to the longitudinal course of the illness.MethodA total of 40 subjects with a current DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of major depressive disorder, dysthymia, generalized anxiety disorder, or a combination thereof, and 40 matched healthy controls performed a PIT task that assesses how instrumental approach and withdrawal behaviours are influenced by appetitive and aversive Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CSs). Patients were followed up after 4–6 months. Analyses focused on patients with depression alone (n = 25).ResultsIn healthy controls, Pavlovian CSs exerted action-specific effects, with appetitive CSs boosting active approach and aversive CSs active withdrawal. This action-specificity was absent in currently depressed subjects. Greater action-specificity in patients was associated with better recovery over the follow-up period.ConclusionsDepression is associated with an abnormal influence of emotional reactions on decision-making in a way that may predict recovery.

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Shared Decision-Making and Information Needs among People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education ◽

10.3390/ejihpe11020031 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 423-435

Author(s):

Vanesa Ramos-García ◽

Amado Rivero-Santana ◽

Andrea Duarte-Díaz ◽

Lilisbeth Perestelo-Pérez ◽

Wenceslao Peñate-Castro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Shared Decision Making ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Information Needs ◽

Treatment Options ◽

The Internet ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Shared Decision ◽

Related Information

Shared decision making (SDM) aims to involve patients in the decisions about their care, considering their preferences, values and concerns about the different treatment options. However, research shows that people with mental health problems have considerable unmet information needs about their condition. This community-based cross-sectional study explores the SDM process and information needs among people with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), as an initial step in the design and development of a Patient Decision Aid for this population. Seventy participants completed an online survey with the Control Preference Scale, and questions about the perceived difficulty of past treatment decisions and the use of the Internet for searching for GAD-related information. Most participants preferred an active (42.9%) or collaborative role (41.4%) in the SDM process, and 53% did not perceive their preferred role. Information provided by healthcare professionals was considered insufficient by 28% of the sample, and over 30% reported using the Internet to look for GAD-related information at least once a week or more. The most relevant GAD-related information needs were general information (71.4%), information on self-help groups (65.7%), recommendations on how to face this disorder (61.4%) and information on treatment options (50%). Exploratory analyses showed that patients who perceived an active participation were more likely to search for information frequently (p = 0.038), and those who felt more involved than desired tended to search for more themes (p = 0.049). In summary, the study showed that a considerable percentage of GAD patients have unmet needs related to decision-making participation and information.

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Stimulus-reinforcement-based decision making and anxiety: impairment in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) but not in generalized social phobia (GSP)

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s003329170800487x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 39 (07) ◽

pp. 1153 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

J. DeVido ◽

M. Jones ◽

M. Geraci ◽

N. Hollon ◽

R. J. R. Blair ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Social Phobia ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Generalized Social Phobia

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The French Version of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS) in a Nonclinical Sample

Swiss Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1024/1421-0185/a000158 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 74 (3) ◽

pp. 119-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Martine Bouvard ◽

Anne Denis ◽

Jean-Luc Roulin

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Confirmatory Factor Analysis ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Child Anxiety ◽

Depression Scale ◽

Anxiety And Depression ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

French Version ◽

Confirmatory Factor

This article investigates the psychometric properties of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS). A group of 704 adolescents completed the questionnaires in their classrooms. This study examines potential confirmatory factor analysis factor models of the RCADS as well as the relationships between the RCADS and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-Revised (SCARED-R). A subsample of 595 adolescents also completed an anxiety questionnaire (Fear Survey Schedule for Children-Revised, FSSC-R) and a depression questionnaire (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, CES-D). Confirmatory factor analysis of the RCADS suggests that the 6-factor model reasonably fits the data. All subscales were positively intercorrelated, with rs varying between .48 (generalized anxiety disorder-major depression disorder) and .65 (generalized anxiety disorder-social phobia/obsessive-compulsive disorder). The RCADS total score and all the RCADS scales were found to have good internal consistency (> .70). The correlations between the RCADS subscales and their SCARED-R counterparts are generally substantial. Convergent validity was found with the FSSC-R and the CES-D. The study included normal adolescents aged 10 to 19. Therefore, the findings cannot be extended to children under 10, nor to a clinical population. Altogether, the French version of the RCADS showed reasonable psychometric properties.

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Psychometric Properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000470 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 (6) ◽

pp. 878-890 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

David Marcusson-Clavertz ◽

Oscar N. E. Kjell

Keyword(s):

Anxiety Disorder ◽

Psychometric Properties ◽

Generalized Anxiety Disorder ◽

Social Desirability ◽

Cognitive Task ◽

Experience Sampling ◽

Well Being ◽

Mind Wandering ◽

Generalized Anxiety ◽

Psychological Variables

Abstract. Thinking about task-unrelated matters (mind wandering) is related to cognition and well-being. However, the relations between mind wandering and other psychological variables may depend on whether the former commence spontaneously or deliberately. The current two studies investigated the psychometric properties of the Spontaneous and Deliberate Mind Wandering Scales (SDMWS; Carriere, Seli, & Smilek, 2013 ). Study 1 evaluated the stability of the scales over 2 weeks ( N = 284 at Time 1), whereas Study 2 ( N = 323) evaluated their relations to Generalized anxiety disorder symptoms, Openness, Social desirability, and experience-sampling reports of intentional and unintentional mind wandering during an online cognitive task. The results indicated that the SDMWS were better fitted with a two-factor than a one-factor solution, although the fit was improved with the exclusion of one item. The scales exhibited strong measurement invariance across gender and time, and moderately high test-retest reliability. Spontaneous mind wandering predicted Generalized anxiety disorder and experience-sampling reports of unintentional mind wandering, whereas Deliberate mind wandering predicted Openness and experience-sampling reports of intentional mind wandering. Furthermore, Spontaneous mind wandering showed a negative association with social desirability of weak-to-medium strength. In sum, the scales generally showed favorable psychometric properties.

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