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Objectives: Obsessive--compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating mental disorder characterized by persistent and intrusive thoughts accompanied by repetitive mental or physical acts. While both intolerance of uncertainty and emotion-related impulsivity have been consistently evidenced as cognitive risk factors of OCD, no studies have considered their joint effects. The current study examined the interaction between intolerance of uncertainty and two forms of emotion- related impulsivity--including both a behavioural and cognitive form--in predicting OCD symptoms. Design: Cross- sectional data were collected online from community- based adult participants. Methods: Participants (N = 673) completed a battery of self- report measures of OCD symptom severity, intolerance of uncertainty, and emotion- related impulsivity. Results: The behavioural form of emotion- related impulsivity positively moderated the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and OCD symptoms. Elevated levels of both factors predicted the most severe symptoms, particularly checking, washing, and obsessing. This interaction effect was not found for the cognitive form of emotion- related impulsivity, which still emerged as a unique predictor of OCD symptom severity, specifically obsessing symptoms. Conclusions: Current findings furthered the understanding of the link between intolerance of uncertainty and OCD symptoms by highlighting the role of emotion- related impulsivity. When uncertainty triggers distress in individuals with high intolerance of uncertainty, the urge to behaviourally alleviate this distress could promote the use of maladaptive obsessions and compulsions, leading to greater OCD symptoms. Results also indicated the potentially differential effects from the behavioural versus cognitive forms of emotion- related impulsivity on different symptom domains, and the mechanistic link here is worthy of further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: As the threat of climate change continues to grow, bolstering individual‐level support for climate change initiatives is crucial. More research is needed to better understand how individual difference factors, such as climate change anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty (IU), may shape how people perceive climate change and respond to climate change messaging. To date, the majority of published studies have not taken these individual difference factors into consideration, and IU has been particularly neglected in the climate change literature. This study examined the independent effects of climate change anxiety and IU on three climate change‐related outcomes: climate‐related distress, support for climate change policies, and behavioural engagement. Methods: Participants were Florida residents (N = 441) who completed an online survey, including measures of climate change anxiety and IU. Participants then watched a video describing climate change consequences and completed three outcome measures: post‐video distress, climate change policy support, and behavioural engagement. Results: Controlling for demographic covariates, both climate change anxiety (β =.43, p <.001) and IU (β =.27, p <.001) were associated with greater post‐video distress, but only IU independently predicted greater policy support (β =.10, p =.034) and behavioural engagement (β =.12, p =.017). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that IU may be an important factor in promoting pro‐environmental behaviour and policy support, but climate change anxiety may increase emotional distress without boosting meaningful behaviours or support. Our findings highlight the potential influence of cognitive factors on climate change engagement and suggest that invoking uncertainty rather than anxiety may be more effective in catalysing effective environmental engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Researchers have increasingly differentiated trait‐like tendencies toward impulsivity occurring during emotional states (emotion‐related impulsivity [ERI]) from impulsivity not tied to emotion (non‐ERI). Relative to non‐ERI, ERI has shown robust correlations with psychopathology and mild to moderate associations with physical health parameters (e.g., physical activity, poor sleep quality, body mass index [BMI]). Therefore, we first aimed to investigate the unique contributions of ERI and non‐ERI to psychopathology symptoms while controlling for neuroticism. Second, we sought to explore the combined associations of physical health parameters with several impulsivity forms. Methods: German‐speaking adults (N = 350, 35.9 ± 14.6 years, 69.1% female, BMI: 24.0 ± 4.8 kg/m2, mostly students or employees) completed measures of impulsivity, psychopathology symptoms, neuroticism, and physical health. We gathered measures of two ERI forms: Feelings Trigger Action and Pervasive Influence of Feelings. As a control comparison, we gathered a measure of non‐ERI, the Lack of Follow‐Through scale. We conducted separate path models for Aims 1 and 2. Results: For Aim 1, Pervasive Influence of Feelings showed strong links with internalizing symptoms. Feelings Trigger Action and Lack of Follow‐Through showed small links with alcohol use. For Aim 2, poor sleep quality was related to all three impulsivity factors, while physical activity was only related to Pervasive Influence of Feelings and Lack of Follow‐Through. BMI showed a curvilinear association with impulsivity. Conclusions: ERI is more directly relevant than non‐ERI for psychopathology symptoms, emphasizing the need to differentiate between the two ERI types. The association of ERI and non‐ERI with physical activity and poor sleep quality may serve as potential treatment targets for impulsivity‐related problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Recent work highlights the role of emotion dysregulation in the pathology of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As such, emotion-related impulsivity (ERI), the trait-like tendency toward disinhibited thoughts (Pervasive Influence of Feelings, PIF) and actions (Feelings Trigger Action, FTA) during heightened emotional states, may be particularly relevant. We explored whether Inattention (IN) and Hyperactivity/Impulsivity (HI), two core symptom dimensions of ADHD, would relate to distinct facets of ERI, and whether externalizing and internalizing symptoms would moderate these relations. Method: Using structural equation modeling, we examined hypotheses among 364 adults recruited for high internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Results: We identified significant paths for FTA regressed on HI and PIF regressed on IN, supporting our hypotheses about main effects. Moderating paths were not significant. Conclusions: IN and HI correlate with distinct forms of ERI, These effects appear to generalize across co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence for the impact of emotional intolerance on reactivity to stressors, but it is unknown whether the level of situational uncertainty may moderate this relationship. We examined whether situational uncertainty moderated the relationship between emotional intolerance and anticipated anxious responding to hurricane forecasts, considering three aspects of emotional tolerance: anxiety sensitivity, distress intolerance, and hurricane-specific distress intolerance. Participants (N = 358) were Florida residents who experienced Hurricane Irma. Participants were presented with two hypothetical storm forecasts that varied in level of uncertainty: 5-day forecast (high uncertainty) and 3-day forecast (low uncertainty). Participants rated their anticipated worry and preparation for each forecast. Significant interactions between forecast uncertainty and both anxiety sensitivity and hurricane-specific distress intolerance emerged on anticipated worry, such that there was a stronger relationship in the high uncertainty condition. Forecast uncertainty also moderated the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and anticipated preparation in the same direction. There were no significant interactions between forecast uncertainty and distress intolerance on either anticipated worry or preparation. Specific aspects of emotional intolerance appear to have a stronger influence on anticipated worry and preparatory behavior in high uncertainty situations. These findings suggest that distinct emotional tolerance factors may influence these responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The COVID‐19 pandemic presented both serious health threats and economic hardships, which were reflected in increased rates of mood and anxiety symptoms. We examined two separate distress domains, health worries and work distress, as predictors of mood and anxiety symptoms. Additionally, we considered whether these two domains might be uniquely associated with the development of dysfunctional beliefs, as a proposed mechanism to account for increased symptoms during the pandemic. Two separate models were considered to examine if associations remained stable through the first year of the pandemic. Methods: Participants (N = 2152) were a representative sample of Florida adults. They completed online surveys at three waves: Wave 1 (April–May 2020), Wave 2 (May–June 2020), and Wave 3 (December–February 2021). Participants completed measures of COVID‐19 health worry and work distress, anxiety, and depression. They also reported their level of hopelessness and helplessness (indices of dysfunctional beliefs). Results: In an early pandemic model (Wave 1‐Wave 2), health worry directly and indirectly predicted anxiety and depression via dysfunctional beliefs. In contrast, work distress only indirectly predicted both outcomes. In a longer‐term model (Wave 2‐Wave 3), health worry had direct and indirect effects on downstream anxiety but not depression. Pandemic work distress had no effect on depression or dysfunctional beliefs; however, it was associated with less anxiety. Conclusions: Although health worry and work distress predicted later symptoms of anxiety and depression, they appeared to operate through different pathways. These findings provide guidance for the development of more effective interventions to reduce the impact of pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Previous studies have established a link between the COVID‐19 pandemic and poor mental health. They further suggest that young adults may be especially vulnerable to worsened mental health during the pandemic, but few studies have investigated which specific aspects of the COVID‐19 experience affect psychological well‐being over time. To better understand concrete predictors of poor mental health outcomes in this population, we identified several pandemic‐related experiences and evaluated their effects on mental health symptoms (depression, anxiety, stress, alcohol, and substance use) in a sample of U.S. college students (N = 176). Methods: Both mental health symptoms and pandemic‐related experiences were evaluated at the start of quarantine (March/April 2020, Time 1) and the end of the Spring 2020 semester (May 2020, Time 2). Given the limited literature on specific predictors of mental health during a pandemic, we used elastic net regression, a novel analytic method that helps with variable selection when theoretical background is limited, to narrow our field of possible predictors. Results: While mental health symptoms were elevated at both timepoints, there were no clinically significant changes from Time 1 to Time 2 and few differences between sociodemographic groups. Both disruption due to the pandemic (β =.25, p =.021) and limited confidence in the federal government's response (β = −.14, p =.038) were significant predictors of depression symptoms at the end of the semester, even when controlling for baseline depression. Further, predictions that the pandemic would continue to impact daily life further into the future were linked with pandemic stress response symptoms (β =.15, p =.032) at Time 2, beyond the effects of baseline symptoms. Alcohol (β = −.22, p =.024) and substance use (β = −.26, p =.01) were associated with reduced adherence to COVID‐19 guidelines. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that specific aspects of the pandemic experience may be influencing internalizing symptoms and alcohol/substance use in college students, pointing to potential avenues for targeted support and intervention. Practitioner points: A range of factors may influence university student mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic.Students who expect the pandemic will continue to impact daily life further into the future maybe more likely to report stress symptoms.Disruption due to the pandemic and limited confidence in the federal government's response may be associated with depression symptoms.Alcohol and substance use are associated with lower COVID‐19 guideline adherence in university students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]