Mary E. Oglesby’s research while affiliated with Florida State University and other places

Various anxiety-related risk factors have been proposed to contribute to the development of drinking motives. However, little is known about how intolerance of uncertainty (IU), defined as a cognitive bias to interpret ambiguity in a negative fashion, relates to motives for alcohol use. IU, as measured by the IUS-12, is comprised of prospective IU (cognitive perceptions of future uncertainty as threatening) and inhibitory IU (apprehension due to uncertainty). The current study sought to test whether IU was associated with the various motives for alcohol use, namely coping and conformity motives, and to investigate the relationship between the IUS-12 subfactors and motives for alcohol use. Undergraduates (N = 189) completed self-report measures assessing motives for drinking alcohol, depression and IU. Analyses revealed that IU was significantly associated with coping, conformity, and social motives for alcohol use, after covarying for levels of depression and gender. Additionally, results revealed that the prospective subscale of IU was significantly related to coping motives for drinking. Finally, hierarchical regression found the inhibitory subscale of IU to be significantly associated with conformity motives for alcohol use. Findings suggest that IU may be an important vulnerability factor contributing to drinking motives and greater alcohol use. IU may be a useful treatment target for protocols aiming to prevent the development of negative drinking motives.

Many cigarette smokers have experienced a traumatic event, and elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are associated with increased smoking levels. Previous research has found that elevated PTSS are associated with smoking to cope with negative affect, and it has been posited that perceptions of being unable to cope with the consequences of smoking cessation interfere with smoking cessation in this population. However, the mechanism of the relationship between PTSS and these smoking maintenance factors (i.e., smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation) has not been established. Emotion dysregulation is one potential mechanism as it is associated with PTSS as well as addictive behavior aimed at avoiding and reducing negative emotional states. We cross-sectionally tested the hypotheses that 1) PTSS and emotion dysregulation would be incrementally associated with smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation, and 2) that emotion dysregulation would mediate the relationships between PTSS, smoking to reduce negative affect, and barriers to cessation among a community sample of trauma-exposed individuals presenting for smoking cessation treatment (N=315). Results demonstrated that elevated PTSS were associated with increased smoking to reduce negative affect and barriers to cessation, and that emotion dysregulation mediated these relationships. These findings provide evidence of a mechanism between PTSS and psychological smoking maintenance factors, and suggest that emotion dysregulation may be a useful target for smoking cessation interventions among trauma-exposed individuals. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Online medical information seeking has become an increasingly common behavior. Despite the benefits of easily accessible medical information on the Internet, researchers have identified a vicious cycle of increased physical health concerns and online medical information seeking known as "cyberchondria". Despite proposed theoretical models of cyberchondria, there is a dearth of research investigating risk factors for the development of cyberchondria. Two potential risk factors are anxiety sensitivity (AS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU). The current study investigated the relationships among AS, IU, and cyberchondria in a large community sample. Participants (N=526) completed self-report questionnaires via online crowdsourcing. Structural equation models utilizing latent variables revealed a significant unique positive relationship between AS, as well as the IU Inhibitory lower-order factor, and cyberchondria, controlling for the effects of health anxiety. Additionally, results revealed a significant unique relationship between the IU Inhibitory factor and mistrust of medical professionals, a proposed cyberchondria-relevant construct. The cross-sectional data in the current study do not offer a true test of AS and IU as risk factors. However, establishing these unique relationships is an important step forward in the literature. The results of the current study suggest the potential importance of both AS and IU in the development of cyberchondria. Future research is needed to establish the temporal precedence of elevated AS and/or IU to determine if they are true risk factors or simply correlates of cyberchondria. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Introduction Traumatic event exposure is common among cigarette smokers, and elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are associated with increased smoking levels. As such, the current study examined factors that may contribute to elevated PTSS among trauma-exposed smokers. Insomnia and emotion dysregulation may be particularly relevant among smokers, and are each associated with PTSS. However, it remains unclear whether these factors are associated with PTSS after accounting for the effects of dispositional factors and each other, and whether they may interact to predict PTSS. Thus, the current study sought to test whether insomnia and emotion dysregulation are independently associated with PTSS after accounting for negative affectivity and number of traumas experienced, and to investigate the potential interactive influence of these factors on PTSS. Method Hypotheses were tested cross-sectionally among a community sample of trauma-exposed individuals who presented for smoking cessation treatment (n=349). Results Results demonstrated that insomnia and emotion dysregulation each predicted elevated PTSS after controlling for the other, negative affectivity and number of traumas experienced. In addition, the interaction between insomnia and emotion dysregulation was significant, such that higher levels of insomnia and emotion dysregulation were associated with the most severe PTSS. Limitations Future research should examine these factors among a clinical sample of individuals with PTSD, as well as utilize prospective designs. Conclusions Findings highlight the roles of insomnia and emotion dysregulation in contributing to elevated PTSS among trauma-exposed smokers, and the potential importance of targeting these factors in the context of PTSD treatment.

Panic attacks (PAs) defined as a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, occur in the context of numerous anxiety and mood related disorders. Research has suggested that PAs serve as a significant indicator and prognostic factor for overall symptom severity, course, and comorbidity within various conditions. Consequently, a PA specifier is now applicable to all DSM-5 disorders. Despite these clinical and nosological implications, no research to date has examined associations between PAs and hoarding disorder. The current investigation evaluated relationships between PA endorsement and hoarding severity within a sample of 32 patients with hoarding disorder. Findings suggested a high rate of panic history among those with hoarding disorder (56%). Hoarders with co-occurring PAs, compared to those without PAs, evidenced significantly higher symptom severity. Moreover, PAs continued to significantly predict hoarding severity even after controlling for relevant covariates. When examining the specific relationships among PAs and hoarding symptoms (i.e., acquiring, difficulty discarding, and clutter), the endorsement of PAs was associated with increased acquiring and difficulty discarding symptoms. These findings add considerably to a growing body of literature on hoarding disorder. Implications for the assessment and treatment of PAs that co-occur with hoarding disorder are discussed.

Research suggests a relationship between intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), though this has been limited to self-report measures of OCD symptoms. The current investigation examined the relationship between IU and multiple symptom domains of OCD using self-report and in vivo assessments of OC symptoms. Five separate studies are presented in which undergraduate students (N=603) were administered a self-report measure of IU and tasks related to either ordering and arranging, checking, washing, contamination avoidance, or neutralization. Intolerance of uncertainty was found to be significantly related to each self-report measure of the OCD symptom domains (ps < .01). Further, IU was predictive of performance on all in vivo tasks (ps < .05) except one concerning neutralizing/harm-related obsessions. This study relied on an unselected sample and was correlational in design. The current study demonstrates that IU is related to multiple OC symptom dimensions. Future experimental research is warranted to evaluate the causal role of IU in OCD.