Clinical depression and punishment sensitivity on the BART

Journal article


Hevey, David, Thomas, Kylie, Laureano-Schelten, Sofia, Looney, Karen and Booth, Richard. (2017). Clinical depression and punishment sensitivity on the BART. Frontiers in Psychology. 8, pp. 1 - 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00670
AuthorsHevey, David, Thomas, Kylie, Laureano-Schelten, Sofia, Looney, Karen and Booth, Richard
Abstract

Depression is associated with altered sensitivity to reward and punishment, which can influence complex decision-making. We examined punishment sensitivity in the performance of participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) with that of a comparison group on the automatic Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), which is a direct measure of risk taking. The present study examined the BART performance of 30 individuals with MDD and 30 matched comparison individuals. The comparison group (M = 63.25) entered a significantly (p < 0.001; d = 1.1) higher number of pumps on the BART than the MDD group (M = 50.83). Higher levels of depression symptoms were significantly correlated (r = -0.40, p < 0.05) with entering a lower number of pumps in the MDD group. MDD patients showed an increased sensitivity to punishment on the BART: after a loss, the MDD group decreased (M = 13.7) the number of subsequent pumps they entered by a significantly (p < 0.001, d = 0.81) greater amount than the comparison group (M = 4.35). This difference applied to losses only: no difference was found between the groups regarding the magnitude of change in pumps selected after a win. Findings suggest the presence of elevated punishment sensitivity among individuals with MDD, which may contribute to the maintenance of depressive symptoms.

Keywordsdepression; decision making; punishment sensitivity; risk-taking
Year2017
JournalFrontiers in Psychology
Journal citation8, pp. 1 - 7
PublisherFrontiers Research Foundation
ISSN1664-1078
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00670
Scopus EID2-s2.0-85019541692
Open accessOpen access
Page range1 - 7
Research GroupSports Performance, Recovery, Injury and New Technologies (SPRINT) Research Centre
Publisher's version
License
Place of publicationSwitzerland
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https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8q615/clinical-depression-and-punishment-sensitivity-on-the-bart

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