How to alleviate the impulsivity decision making of individuals with high intolerance of uncertainty? The role of reward framing and positive episodic future thinking
摘要
With high intolerance of uncertainty (IU), patients with anxiety-related disorders may impulsively engage in maladaptive avoidance behaviors, which may further exacerbate anxiety symptoms. To advance the treatment of anxiety-related disorders, the present study based on the perspective of the integrative model of uncertainty tolerance explored whether reward framing and positive episodic future thinking could alleviate impulsivity in individuals with high IU. In Study 1, high IU participants (N = 36) and low IU participants (N = 36) completed the delay discounting task in both hidden-zero and explicit-zero framing conditions. In Study 2, high IU participants (N = 38) and low IU participants (N = 38) completed the delay discounting task in both future thinking and control conditions. In Study 1, participants with high IU preferred more immediate options than participants with low IU under the hidden-zero framing condition. However, under the explicit-zero framing condition, there was no significant difference in decision preferences between the two groups. In Study 2, participants with high IU preferred more immediate options than low IU participants under the control condition, but there were no significant differences between the two groups under the future thinking condition. The present study found that explicit-zero framing and positive episodic future thinking can alleviate impulsivity in individuals with high IU. Thinking of positive future events and focusing on opportunity costs may be considered in future interventions for impulsivity in high IU groups.