Associations Between Dispositions to Rash Action and Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms in Children

Abstract

Impulsivity is not a unitary construct; instead, dispositions to rash action can be divided into five moderately-correlated dimensions. However, the associations between these dimensions and symptoms of psychopathology among youth remain unclear. The goal of this study was to examine associations between different dispositions to rash action and psychopathology in a community sample of middle school youth. One hundred forty-four youth (M age = 11.9; 65% Hispanic, 30% African American; 50% male; 81% qualifying for free school lunches) participated in this study. Self-reported questionnaire measures of dispositions to rash action (lack of planning, lack of perseverance, sensation seeking, negative urgency, and positive urgency) and psychopathology symptoms (conduct disorder [CD], alcohol use, depression, overall anxiety, panic, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and separation anxiety, as well as teacher reports of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] inattentive and hyperactive symptoms) were used. Negative and positive urgency were positively associated with all symptom types examined except certain anxiety subtypes (and positive urgency was not associated with ADHD symptoms). Lack of planning was positively associated with externalizing and depressive symptoms. Lack of perseverance was positively associated with CD. Sensation seeking was positively associated with both CD and alcohol use. When other dispositions were adjusted for, negative urgency remained a positive predictor of CD, whereas positive urgency remained a positive predictor of depressive and panic symptoms. Sensation seeking was negatively associated with separation anxiety. Psychopathology symptoms are differentially related to dispositions to rash action in children; emotion-based dispositions to rash action may be particularly important targets for future research.

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by National Institute on Drug Abuse grant DA-022456. The researchers appreciate the assistance of the school administrators, teachers, and student participants who made this project possible, and the author is grateful to the research assistants who helped with data collection and entry for this project.

Notes

Note. Pearson correlation coefficients are reported. Above the diagonal, nonadjusted coefficients are reported; below the diagonal, partial correlations adjusting for gender, age, and race are presented. All scales are self-reports. Values considered significant (p < .01) are in bold.

*p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note. Correlation coefficients represent partial correlations adjusting for gender, age, and race. All scales are self-reports except the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) scales, which were reported by teachers. Values considered significant (p < .01) are in bold.

^a Because this was a dichotomous variable, a point-biserial correlation was used.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Note. Values presented are standardized parameter estimates from regression equations predicting internalizing and externalizing symptoms (dependent variables) from all impulsivity dimensions, age, gender, and ethnicity (simultaneously entered). All scales are self-reports except the ADHD scales, which were reported by teachers. Values considered significant (p < .01) are in bold.

^a Because this was a dichotomous outcome variable, a logistic regression was used for this analysis and odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals) are presented.

*p < .05. **p < .01.