Another look at impulsivity: A meta-analytic review comparing specific dispositions to rash action in their relationship to bulimic symptoms☆
Section snippets
Theoretical advances in the study of personality and impulsivity
Recent studies indicate that the term impulsivity encompasses a wide range of traits that are only moderately related, rather than a single uni-dimensional personality characteristic (Smith et al., 2007, Whiteside and Lynam, 2001, Cyders and Smith, 2007). First, emotion-based dispositions to rash action have been identified. Negative urgency is the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative mood. More recently, positive urgency, the tendency to act rashly when experiencing extremely
Trait theory, impulsivity, and distinct dispositions to rash action
Historical descriptions of impulsivity from both temperament and trait perspectives do suggest the presence of multiple dispositions to rash action. While several different personality researchers have presented models of impulsivity, they all have common elements. A construct representing lack of forethought is represented in Buss and Plomin's (1975) model of temperament, Costa and McCrae's (1992) representation of the Five Factor Model of personality, Zuckerman's “alternative five factor
Personality, eating disorders, and the role of negative urgency
The search for personality contributors to eating disorders has suggested the potential importance of both negative emotionality and impulsivity (Lilenfeld et al., 2006, Stice, 2002). Negative emotionality or neuroticism seems consistently to be associated with binge purge symptoms (Cassin and von Ranson, 2005, Lilenfeld et al., 2006), whereas the evidence for impulsivity has been less clear. On the one hand, clinicians describe binge eating behavior, and subsequent purging behavior, as
Selection of studies
A literature search was conducted using four different methods. The search covered articles published up to October 2007. First, PsychInfo and Medline databases were examined using several combinations of key words. Key words included all possible combinations of dependent variables of interest: “bulimia, binge eating, binge, eating, and purging;” and personality variables of interest: “impulsivity, sensation seeking, deliberation, urgency, persistence, perseverance, and novelty seeking.”
Study sample
A total of 222 studies were retrieved based on the literature search described above. Of these, 50 articles met inclusion criteria. Table 3 displays the studies included in the meta-analysis, grouped by trait construct, with a brief description of the design of the study, sample size, and effect size. (Note that several studies contributed more than one effect size as they assessed multiple constructs). Among the non-included articles, 47 were non meta-analytic review articles or theoretical
Discussion
At the broadest level, the results of this meta-analysis offer two conclusions to clinical researchers. The first is that when one measures the personality basis for rash action, one should define precisely the nature of the trait of interest. Not all traits have the same relationships to at least some forms of dysfunction. The second is to appreciate the importance of emotion-based dispositions to rash action. In the case of symptoms of BN, affect appears to play a central role in the rash
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Portions of this research were supported by NIAAA award 5 F31 AA016265 to Melissa Cyders, NIAAA award 5 F31 AA014469-02 to Sarah Fischer, both under the supervision of Gregory Smith and by NIAAA award R01 AA016166 to Gregory Smith.
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Indicates study that was used in meta-analysis.