Decision-making and risk aversion among depressive adults

Abstract

Depression is associated with behavioral avoidance of potentially rewarding environmental contexts. The present study examined the performance of depressive individuals and controls on a neuropsychological measure of decision-making that favors risk avoidance. Depressive (n = 41) and control (n = 44) participants were administered the Iowa Gambling Task, which measures the ability of participants to maximize earnings by choosing low-risk, low-reward responses over high-risk, high-reward responses. Results provided partial support for the hypothesis that depressive participants would learn to avoid risky responses faster than control participants. Depressive participants demonstrated better performance than controls, scoring higher than controls overall and showing a trend towards earning more money overall. However, the lack of an interaction between depressive status and time does not support the specific hypothesis of more rapid learning. Findings suggested enhanced feedback-based decision making and risk aversion among depressive individuals.

Inharmonic music elicits more negative affect and interferes more with a concurrent cognitive task than does harmonic music

“…This possibility is consistent with a large body of literature showing that stimuli perceived with negative emotional valance capture attention and disrupt performance on ongoing tasks (e.g., Eastwood, Smilek & Merikle, 2003;Fenske & Eastwood, 2003;Koster, Crombez, Van Damme, Verschuere & De Houwer, 2004;Maratos, Mogg & Bradley, 2008;Öhman, Flykt & Esteves, 2001;Öhman, Lundqvist, & Esteves, 2001). It is worth noting, however, that there are also exceptions to this finding (e.g., Dreisbach & Goschke, 2004;Smoski et al, 2008;von Helversen, Wilke, Johnson, Schmid & Klapp, 2011), precluding any strong predictions on the basis of affective valence. Nevertheless, there remains the possibility that the negative emotional dimension of dissonant music might impair performance on concurrent cognitive tasks more than the positive emotional dimension of consonant music.…”

Seasonal affective disorder and the Romanian stock market

“…Psychology researchers have documented a strong link between depression and risk-taking tendency. More depressed individuals have a reduced level of sensation-seeking and a reduced general willingness to take risks (Horwath & Zuckerman, 1993;Smoski et al, 2008;Tokunaga, 1993;Zuckerman, 1984). Another explanation is based on the SAD effect on investor's sentiment.…”

Risk-Taking Behavior in a Gambling Task Associated with Variations in the Tryptophan Hydroxylase 2 Gene: Relevance to Psychiatric Disorders

“…Depression is characterized by reduced motivation to obtain reward and reduced enjoyment of it (Elliott et al, 1997;Forbes et al, 2006), whereas anxiety is associated with intolerance of uncertainty (Paulus et al, 2003;Paulus, 2007). Hence, subjects with depression and anxiety, which are frequently comorbid disorders, would be expected to be less motivated, indeed averse, to take more risks for a greater uncertain reward compared to controls (Smoski et al, 2008). This is consistent with the findings in our sample, in which higher depression, anxiety, and neuroticism ratings were associated with a lower tendency to take risks (AUCy) and explained 1.6%-2.8% variance in this phenotype.…”

“…Risktaking refers to the willingness to accept a possible negative outcome in order to potentially achieve a desirable outcome, and typically involves assessing the relative probability of winning or losing against the values of the outcomes (Anderson et al, 2003;Cardinal, 2006). Subjects with depression or anxiety are less likely than controls to take risks to gain reward (Elliott et al, 1997;Forbes et al, 2006;Smoski et al, 2008;Paulus, 2007). In contrast, pathological gamblers are more risk-seeking (Holt et al, 2003).…”