need help with research paper and research experiment

______________________________

Author info: Correspondence should be sent to: Dr. Jean Gagnon, Ph.D.,

Department of Psychology, University of Montreal C.P. 6128, Centre-ville

Station, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3C 3J7 [email protected]

North American Journal of Psychology, 2013, Vol. 15, No. 1, 165-178..

 NAJP

Correlations of Impulsivity with Dysfunctional

Beliefs Associated with Borderline Personality

Jean Gagnon 1,2,3,4

Sacha Daelman 1,2

Pierre McDuff 1

1 Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Canada

2 Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater

Montreal (CRIR), Canada 3 Department of Psychology, University of Sherbrooke, Canada

4 Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC),

Canada

Beck’s cognitive model is widely acknowledged in the explanation of

some psychopathologies related to impulsivity, and recent studies on

cognitive distortions have shown that this model can explain the

cognitive processes underlying impulsivity. Our study examined the

relationships between dysfunctional beliefs and four dimensions of

impulsivity from the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale: Urgency, Lack of

Premeditation, Lack of Perseverance and Sensation Seeking. Regression

analyses revealed that borderline dysfunctional beliefs were correlated

with Negative Urgency even after controlling for age, gender, depression,

anxiety and borderline personality disorder symptomatology. These

results suggest that the Negative Urgency trait is associated with

dysfunctional beliefs that make an individual more prone to adopt

ineffective affect-regulation strategies. In contrast to Cyders’ and Smith’s

(2008) impulsivity model, Beck’s model focuses more on cognitive

processes and gives them precedence over the intensity of emotional

reactions in the dynamics of impulsive behaviors associated with

Negative Urgency.

Impulsivity has been defined as a predisposition toward reacting

quickly and without planning to internal or external stimuli, with no

thought to the consequences of these reactions for the impulsive

individual or for others (Moeller, Barratt, Dougherty, Schmitz, & Swann,

2001). Whiteside and Lynam’s (2001) model of impulsivity identified

four dimensions measured by the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale (see

also Whiteside, Lynam, Miller, & Reynolds, 2005): (a) Urgency refers to

the tendency to experience strong impulses in situations of intense

negative or positive emotions (e.g., negative and positive urgency,

166 NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

respectively) to which the individual responds by behaving impulsively

in an effort to rid himself of these emotions, regardless of any potential

consequences or risk of injury, (b) Lack of Premeditation is the tendency

to act without considering the consequences, (c) Lack of Perseverance

refers to the difficulty of concentrating on a boring or difficult task, and

(d) Sensation Seeking refers to the tendency to enjoy and pursue exciting

activities, as well as the willingness to try new experiences that may or

may not be dangerous. The UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale has been

validated in several clinical populations and its factor structure has been

replicated in men and women, adults and adolescents, and in several

languages (d'Acremont & Van der Linden, 2005; Van der Linden et al.,

2006; Whiteside & Lynam, 2003).

The conceptualization of Urgency trait that is dominant in the

literature postulates that this trait is an emotion-based disposition and the

emergence of individual differences can be identified in the relationship

between emotion and behavior (Cyders & Smith, 2008). According to

this view, emotion has a primary role in the production of dysfunctional

impulsive behaviour associated with Urgency trait. The loss of available

cognitive resources and the interference with rational decision-making

comes as a consequence of the intensity of the emotions (Cyders &

Smith, 2008). This point of view seems in contrast to Beck’s cognitive

perspective.

Beck’s cognitive model has been empirically supported for treatment

of a variety of Axis I and Axis II disorders (Beck, 2005; Beck & Dozois,

2011; Butler, Chapman, Forman, & Beck, 2006), including disorders

associated with marked impulsivity such as borderline personality

disorders (Brown, Newman, Charlesworth, Crits-Christoph, & Beck,

2004) and pathological gambling (Fortune & Goodie, 2012). From the

perspective of cognitive theory, cognitive distortions and dysfunctional

beliefs represent central aspects of the phenomenology of these disorders.

Fundamental beliefs or cognitive schemas are deep, unconscious and

stable structures that influence our assessment of reality and guide all

cognitive processes, from encoding to the selection and expression of

behavioral responses. Although Beck’s model was not designed to

explain impulsive behaviors, several components of the model refer to

these behaviors (Ivanoff, Linehan, & Brown, 2001). First, the model

posits that when a schema becomes rigid and dysfunctional, it becomes

hypervalent, or easily activated by a trivial stimulus. A dysfunctional,

hypervalent schema can also become prepotent and inhibit other schemas

that are better adjusted to reality. In such a case, the schema can generate

an intense emotional response, create attentional biases and decrease the

processing of information needed for affective and behavioral regulation.

Second, Beck’s model views personality as a stable organization

Gagnon, Daelman, & McDuff DYSFUNCTIONAL BELIEFS 167

composed of different interrelated systems, each composed of several

schemas with their own function: cognitive schemas (interpretation),

affective schemas (generalization of feelings), motivational schemas

(desires), action schemas (preparing the action), and control schemas.

Functioning alongside the action system, the “control” system modulates,

modifies and inhibits impulses. This system is comprised of beliefs that

outline what we can or cannot do and can be translated into commands. It

also governs the processes of anticipation that inhibit action when the

expected result is unfavorable. Among the control systems are the self-

schemas, which form the basis of how we evaluate and judge ourselves,

favorably or unfavorably, realistically or unrealistically (Beck, Freeman,

& Davis, 2004).

The existence of a relationship between impulsivity traits and

dysfunctional cognitions has received some support. Two studies by

Mobini and colleagues (Mobini, Grant, Kass, & Yeoman, 2007; Mobini,

Pearce, Grant, Mills, & Yeoman, 2006) have shown that age and

impulsivity, as measured with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale–11th

version (BIS-11; Patton, Stanford, & Barratt, 1995), were significant

predictors of the incidence of cognitive distortions and that cognitive

distortions were associated with dysfunctional impulsivity. A recent

study (Gagnon, Daelman, McDuff, & Kocka, 2013), conducted on

undergraduates, examined the relationships between cognitive

distortions, childhood maltreatment and the four dimensions of

impulsivity of the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. Analyses revealed

that Premature Processing, a term applied to a group of seven cognitive

distortions (such as emotional reasoning and confusing needs and wants),

as well as childhood maltreatment, was able to predict significantly and

independently, the Negative Urgency dimension of impulsivity above

and beyond gender and the three other subscales of the UPPS Impulsive

Behavior Scale. These results suggest that Negative Urgency trait is

associated with cognitive distortions that can undermine thought

processes in a variety of ways, increasing the likelihood of acting rashly.

From a cognitive perspective, these results seem to support the view that

cognition has a primary role in the production of dysfunctional impulsive

behaviour associated with Urgency trait. One question open to further

investigation is whether dysfunctional beliefs (schemas) are related to

UPPS dimensions of impulsivity. However, to our knowledge, there is no

direct evidence of a relationship between trait impulsivity and

dysfunctional beliefs.

We chose to study the relationship between Negative Urgency and

dysfunctional schemas associated with borderline personality disorder for

several reasons. Unlike the other subscales of the UPPS Impulsive

Behaviors Scale, Negative Urgency was specifically predicted by a group

168 NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

of cognitive distortions (Gagnon et al., 2013). Moreover, the nature of

cognitive schemas or core beliefs linked to Negative Urgency remains

unknown. However, Negative Urgency has been strongly and uniquely

related to borderline features (Whiteside et al., 2005), which in turn are

associated with specific core beliefs (Butler, Brown, Beck, & Grisham,

2002). These core beliefs, as measured by the Borderline Personality

Disorder subscale of the Personality Beliefs Questionnaire (PBQ-BPD),

reflect themes of dependency, helplessness, distrust, fears of

rejection/abandonment/losing emotional control, and extreme attention-

seeking behaviors (Butler et al., 2002). A study examining the factor

structure of the PBQ-BPD in a sample of patients with borderline

personality disorder yielded three factors relating to beliefs of self as

helpless and others as untrustworthy, and the belief that one should

engage pre-emptively in defensive behaviors to avoid being hurt,

exploited or harmed (Bhar, Brown, & Beck, 2008). Butler et al. (2002)

hypothesized that these beliefs motivate the self-defeating and self-

destructive behaviors associated with borderline personality disorder and

that beliefs about the need to act pre-emptively to protect oneself may be

associated with different types of psychopathology such as anger and

poor impulse control. A previous study on borderline features among

undergraduate students showed that 37.9% had committed potentially

destructive impulsive behaviors, 39.8% had experienced intense and

inappropriate rages, and 10.7% had carried out suicidal acts or threatened

to commit suicide on more than one occasion (Trull, 1995). The question

remains whether the Negative Urgency associated with these impulsive

behaviors is associated as well with borderline dysfunctional beliefs.

The objective of this study was to verify the existence of relationships

between borderline dysfunctional beliefs and the four UPPS dimensions

of impulsivity. It is hypothesized that dysfunctional beliefs associated

with borderline personality disorder would distinctively predict Negative

Urgency even after controlling for the effects of age, gender, anxiety,

depression and borderline psychopathology.

METHOD

Participants

The sample was composed of 150 undergraduate university students

(126 female, 24 male) in a large Canadian metropolitan area, whose

average age was 23.34 years (SD=5.93; ranging from 18 to 53 years).

The participants were recruited among students from several different

courses in social sciences programs. Taking into consideration that the

subject sample was not balanced in terms of gender and varied in terms

of age, age was controlled in the main analysis, as well as gender.

Gagnon, Daelman, & McDuff DYSFUNCTIONAL BELIEFS 169

Measures

Personality Beliefs Questionnaire—Borderline Personality Subscale

(PBQ-BPD). The PBQ is a self-report questionnaire measuring beliefs

related to personality disorders (Beck et al., 2001). For the present study,

only the PBQ-BPD was used to measure beliefs related to borderline

psychopathology. This instrument was developed with 14 PBQ items,

rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 to 4) that discriminated BPD patients

from others with personality disorders (Butler et al., 2002). A total score

(M=12.68; SD=9.02; α=.88) is obtained by summing the items. The

beliefs related to BPD measured by the questionnaire reflect dependency,

helplessness, distrust, rejection, abandonment, losing emotional control

and histrionic behavior.

UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. The UPPS Impulsive Behavior

Scale (Whiteside & Lynam, 2001) and its French version (Van der

Linden et al., 2006) are a 45-item self-report questionnaire that measures

impulsive behaviors according to dimensions of Negative Urgency

(M=26.22; SD=7.08; α=0.90), Lack of Premeditation (M=20.88;

SD=5.21; α=.86), Lack of Perseverance (M=18.50; SD=5.25; α=.87) and

Sensation Seeking (M=30.23; SD=7.69; α=.88; see definitions of each

dimension in the introduction), with each item describing a way of

behaving or thinking. Respondents indicate their degree of agreement or

disagreement with each item on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly

agree) to 4 (strongly disagree).

The Borderline Symptoms List (BSL-23). The BSL-23 (Bohus et al.,

2009) is a questionnaire used to assess the degree of symptoms of BPD,

such as poor self-esteem, dysphoric emotions, suicidal intention and

impulsive behaviors. A total score for borderline symptoms (M=15.24;

SD=12.16; α=.91) is obtained by summing 23 items on a 5-point Likert

scale (0 to 4). This questionnaire was used in the present study to

statistically control for the effect of borderline symptomatology on

impulsivity traits (Whiteside et al., 2005).

Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). The BDI-II (Beck, Steer, &

Brown, 1996) is a self-report questionnaire comprising 21 items

measuring symptoms or manifestations of depression in adolescents and

adults. The symptoms are rated on a 4-point scale (0 to 3), each value

representing increasing levels of severity, and the questionnaire is scored

by summing the highest ratings for each symptom (M=10.32; SD=8.36;

α=0.90). A number of studies have investigated the psychometric

characteristics of the BDI-II through clinical and non-clinical populations

(for a review, see Steer & Beck, 2004).

Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). The BAI is a 21-item self-report

questionnaire measuring the manifestations and severity of anxiety (Beck

& Steer, 1993). Each of its symptoms is rated on a 4-point scale ranging

170 NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

from 0 to 3. The questionnaire is scored by summing the scores for each

item (M=10.51; SD=8.44; α=0.88). Psychometric characteristics have

been examined in several studies with clinical and non-clinical

populations (e.g. Beck & Steer, 1993; Kabacoff, Segal, Hersen, & Van

Hasselt, 1997; Osman, Barrios, Aukes, Osman, & Markway, 1993).

Along with the BDI-II, this questionnaire was used in the present study

to statistically control for the effect of depression and anxiety on

impulsivity traits, since they are generally related to impulsivity (Clark,

2006; Miller, Flory, Lynam, & Leukefeld, 2003; Steinberg et al., 2008;

Van der Linden et al., 2006).

RESULTS

Examination of the skewness and kurtosis statistics and their standard

error for each variables showed that, as expected with a sample

composed of undergraduate students, many clinical variables of the study

presented positively skewed distributions. Thus, square root data

transformations were performed on Negative Urgency, Lack of

Perseverance, BSL-23, BAI, and BDI-II scores. Moreover, only a

logarithmic data transformation on PBQ-BPD allowed obtaining a

normal distribution (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001). After these

transformations, all the variables showed normal distributions: Negative

Urgency, BSL-23, PBQ-BPD and BAI by using Kolmogorov-Smirnov

test (p>.10) and Lack of Perseverance and BDI by using examination of

skewness and its standard error (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2001).

Table 1 presents Pearson correlations between age, depression (BDI-

II), anxiety (BAI), borderline personality disorder symptomatology

(BSL-23), dysfunctional beliefs associated with borderline personality

disorder (PBQ-BPD) and each UPPS dimension. Notably, Negative

Urgency showed significant correlations with all clinical variables

whereas Lack of Perseverance showed moderate positive correlations

with borderline beliefs and symptomatology as well as with depression

symptoms. However, Lack of Premeditation was only weakly correlated

to anxiety and none of the clinical variables were correlated to Sensation

Seeking.

Hierarchical multiple regression was used to assess the ability of the

dysfunctional beliefs measure (PBQ-BPD score) to predict Negative

Urgency, after controlling for age, gender, depression (BDI-II score),

anxiety (BAI score) and borderline symptoms (BSL-23 score; see Table

2). To test the specific relationship between dysfunctional beliefs and

Negative Urgency, the same hierarchical multiple regression was

conducted on Lack of Perseverance, given that it was the only other

subscale (besides Negative Urgency) on the UPPS Impulsive Behavior

Scale significantly correlated with PBQ-BPD. Preliminary analyses were

Gagnon, Daelman, & McDuff DYSFUNCTIONAL BELIEFS 171

conducted to ensure there was no violation of the assumptions of

normality, linearity, multicollinearity and homoscedasticity. Even though

there was a strong correlation between BDI-II and BSL-23, both

variables were included in the analysis as control measures, since

Variance Inflation Factors were in the acceptable range (under 4; 'Brien,

2007).

To predict the Negative Urgency subscale, Step 1 involved entering

age, gender, BDI-II score and BAI score, since they are related to

impulsivity (Clark, 2006; Miller et al., 2003; Steinberg et al., 2008; Van

der Linden et al., 2006); these variables explained 30% of the variance in

Negative Urgency (R 2

adj=0.30). Then, in Step 2, since borderline

personality disorder symptomatology is specifically associated with

Negative Urgency (Whiteside et al., 2005), the BSL-23 score was

entered, bringing the explanation of the variance of Negative Urgency to

31% (R 2

adj=0.31). The BSL-23 score thus explained a significantly addi-

tional 1% of the variance of Negative Urgency (p<.05), after controlling

for age, gender, BDI score and BAI score. Finally, after the PBQ-BPD

score was entered in Step 3 to verify the unique contribution of

borderline dysfunctional beliefs to Negative Urgency, the total variance

explained by the model as a whole was 38% (R 2

adj=0.38; F(6,142)=16.11,

TABLE 1 Correlations between Age, Depression, Anxiety, Borderline

Symptomatology, Borderline Dysfunctional Beliefs & UPPS Impulsivity

Age BDI-II BAI BSL-

23

PBQ-

BPD

UU Lpers Lprem

Age 1.0

BDI-II 0.03 1.0

BAI -0.22 **

0.64 ***

1.0

BSL-23 -0.12 0.80 ***

0.70 ***

1.0

PBQ-

BPD -0.09 0.64 ***

0.58 ***

0.64 ***

1.0

U -0.04 0.54 ***

0.47 ***

0.53 ***

0.59 ***

1.0

Lpers 0.02 0.30 ***

0.15 0.34 ***

0.24 **

0.38 ***

1.0

Lprem 0.01 0.12 0.16 * 0.14 0.12 0.47

*** 0.39

*** 1.0

SS -0.02 0.11 0.01 0.11 0.07 0.25 **

0.11 0.38 ***

* p<.05;

** p<.01;

*** p<.001; Beck Depression Inventory = BDI-II; Beck Anxiety Inventory =

BAI; Borderline Symptoms List = BSL-23; Personality Beliefs Questionnaire-Borderline

Personality Subscale = PBQ-BPD; Negative Urgency = U; Lack of Perseverance = Lpers;

Lack of Premeditation = Lprem; Sensation Seeking=SS; n=150.

172 NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

p<.001). The PBQ-BPD score thus explained a significantly additional

7.1% of the variance of Negative Urgency (p<.001), after controlling for

the BSL-23 score. In the final model, only the PBQ-BPD score was

statistically significant (β=0.37, p<.001).

To predict the Lack of Perseverance subscale, again age, gender,

BDI-II score and BAI score were entered in Step 1, explaining 7.5% of

the variance of Lack of Perseverance (R 2

adj=0.075). The BSL-23 score

was entered in Step 2, raising the explanation of the variance of Lack of

Perseverance to 11% (R 2

adj=0.11). The BSL-23 score thus explained a

TABLE 2 Multiple Regression on Negative Urgency

Beta (β) t p R 2

adj

Step 1 0.30

Age -0.012 -0.159 0.874

Gender 0.066 0.944 0.347

BDI-II 0.407 4.394 0.000 ***

BAI 0.189 1.963 0.052 *

Step 2 0.31

Age 0.007 0.090 0.928

Gender 0.081 1.159 0.248

BDI-II 0.256 2.137 0.034 *

BAI 0.117 1.142 0.256

BSL-23 0.246 1.964 0.051 *

Step 3 0.38

Age 0.014 0.209 0.835

Gender 0.101 1.517 0.131

BDI-II 0.146 1.256 0.211

BAI 0.041 0.419 0.675

BSL-23 0.145 1.200 0.232

PBQ-

BPD 0.374 4.177 0.000 ***

Note. R²=0.41; F(6,142)=16.110; * p<.05;

*** p<.001.

Gagnon, Daelman, & McDuff DYSFUNCTIONAL BELIEFS 173

significantly additional 3.5% of the variance of Lack of Perseverance

(p<.01), after controlling for age, gender, BDI score and BAI score.

Finally, after the PBQ-BPD score was entered in Step 3, the total

variance explained by the model as a whole was 10.5% (R 2

adj=0.105;

F(6,142)=3.90, p<.001). The PBQ-BPD score thus did not explain a

significant additional variance in Lack of Perseverance, after controlling

for the BSL-23 score. In the final model, only the BSL-23 score was

statistically significant (β=0.35, p<.05).

DISCUSSION

This is the first study that has demonstrated the unique contribution of

borderline dysfunctional beliefs to the prediction of the Negative

Urgency dimension of impulsivity, even after controlling for the effects

of age, gender, anxiety, depression and borderline symptomatology. In

addition, the results suggest that this contribution is specific to Negative

Urgency, compared to the other subscales on the UPPS Impulsive

Behavior Scale. The results provide evidence for a strong association

between Negative Urgency and borderline personality features

(Whiteside et al., 2005) and suggest that core beliefs reflecting themes of

dependency, helplessness, distrust, fears of rejection/abandonment/losing

emotional control and extreme attention-seeking behavior (Butler et al.,

2002) are associated with the tendency to act rashly in situations of

negative emotions independently of negative emotions such as anxiety,

depression or those found in borderline symptomatology. Previous data

have indicated that Negative Urgency and Lack of Premeditation are two

specific facets of impulsivity which were associated with overall BPD

features in undergraduate students, even while controlling for variance

explained by affective instability (Tragesser & Robinson, 2009).

Following this line of data, Negative Urgency could be understood as a

tendency to act rashly to rid oneself of intense negative emotions, but

such actions are most likely influenced by cognitive processes that lead

the individual to believe pre-emptive action is needed for self-protection.

In the current analysis, dysfunctional beliefs were associated with

Lack of Perseverance, but this association was no longer significant after

controlling for the effects of age, gender, depression, anxiety and

borderline psychopathology. Moreover, these beliefs have no relationship

with the two other subscales on the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale.

Considering that Negative Urgency and Lack of Premeditation are both

associated with borderline personality traits (Tragesser & Robinson,

2009), it could be expected that Lack of Premeditation would also relate

to dysfunctional beliefs associated with borderline personality disorder.

Perhaps Negative Urgency relates to borderline personality traits through

executive dysfunctions as well as the activation of dysfunctional beliefs

174 NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

that impulsive behavior is needed to rid oneself of intense negative

emotions, whereas Lack of Premeditation only relates to borderline

personality traits through executive dysfunctions and non-planning

impulsiveness (van Reekum et al., 1996).

In our previous study (Gagnon et al., 2013) examining the

relationships between cognitive distortions, childhood maltreatment and

the four dimensions of impulsivity from the UPPS Impulsive Behavior

Scale, analyses revealed that a group of cognitive distortions, the

Premature Processing group, was the best predictor of Negative Urgency,

along with childhood maltreatment, above and beyond gender and the

other subscales on the UPPS Impulsive Behavior Scale. In the current

study, regression analyses revealed that borderline dysfunctional beliefs

significantly predicted Negative Urgency even after controlling for age,

gender, depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorder

symptomatology. On the whole, these results are consistent with the idea

that Negative Urgency is associated with several cognitive vulnerabilities

in affect regulation.

Emotion has been considered to serve a primary role in the

production of dysfunctional impulsive behavior. According to Cyders

and Smith’s (2008) model, individual differences in Negative Urgency

trait can be identified in the relationship between emotion and behavior.

Cyders and Smith consider emotions to have adaptive value in helping us

identify our needs and the actions required to satisfy them. In addition,

more intense needs are thought to be accompanied by equally more

intense emotions, leading the individual to concentrate even more on the

immediate situation (e.g., to avoid an imminent threat) and to adopt more

extreme adaptive behavioral strategies to act on the situation (e.g., run

away). This reasoning implies: (a) that strong emotions will diminish

cognitive resources such as decision-making and the ability to anticipate

the long-term consequences of actions, and (b) that some individuals

might adopt dysfunctional behavioral strategies to regulate intense

emotions. Adopting such maladjusted strategies could lead the individual

to take impulsive actions that are increasingly likely to be repeated

because of reinforcement either from reduced negative affects (Negative

Urgency) or increased positive affects (Positive Urgency).

At the theoretical level, the findings of our two studies suggest that

Beck’s cognitive model is a useful framework to better understand

certain cognitive processes underlying the Negative Urgency dimension

of impulsivity. Moreover, our research suggests that dysfunctional

cognitive processes, and not necessarily emotional intensity as it is

conceived by Cyders and Smith (2008), contribute to Negative Urgency

trait. Independently from the intensity of negative emotion, we postulate

that these cognitive processes associated with the Negative Urgency trait

Gagnon, Daelman, & McDuff DYSFUNCTIONAL BELIEFS 175

make an individual more prone to reacting strongly to socio-affective

stimuli and to adopting ineffective affect-regulation strategies, leading to

impulsive reactions under those types of conditions. Indeed, this

dimension would be associated with cognitive distortions such as

Premature Processing distortions resulting from control schemas

comprised of dysfunctional beliefs about the self as helpless and others

as untrustworthy, and the need to act pre-emptively to avoid threat. These

errors of reasoning arising from dysfunctional beliefs activated in an

emotional context could cause some automatic thoughts that produce an

intense emotional response (e.g., emotional reasoning) and other

automatic thoughts that weaken the information processing required for

affective and behavioral regulation. As in Beck’s model, the Negative

Urgency dimension could be conceived as dysfunctional strategies for

adjusting to painful emotions arising from dysfunctional cognitive

processes. These strategies are maintained and reinforced by reducing

negative affect, regardless of any potential consequences or risk of

injury. In short, Beck’s model appears to complement Cyders and

Smith’s model of the Urgency dimension. Indeed, the neurological

emotion-based dispositions underlying Urgency could lead to the

development of dysfunctional control schemas. These schemas would

produce cognitive distortions that, in addition to increasing the intensity

of affects, would lower tolerance for delayed gratification and encourage

decision-making to obtain immediate affective relief with no

consideration of long-term negative consequences. However, in contrast

to Cyders’ and Smith’s (2008) conception, Beck’s model focuses more

on cognitive processes which take precedence over the intensity of

emotional reactions in the dynamics of impulsive behaviors associated

with Negative Urgency. Further research is needed to identify the

specific manner in which the cognitive processes and dysfunctional

beliefs underlying the Negative Urgency dimension function. The present study has limitations. First, further research is needed to

explore the extent to which our findings apply to other populations.

Because our sample consisted of undergraduate students, the majority of

whom were female, the generalizability of the conclusions to other non-

clinical populations is constrained. Also, the small size of our sample

lessens the statistical power of some of the analyses, and the present

correlational study design precludes any conclusions on causal

relationships between dysfunctional beliefs and UPPS dimensions.

Finally, it would be useful to investigate cognitive distortions and

dysfunctional beliefs together in a single study to better understand their

respective roles and how these factors interact with each other when an

individual acts on impulses in the context of negative affects.

176 NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY

The study’s findings contribute conceptually to the current literature

by indicating that Negative Urgency trait is associated with borderline

dysfunctional beliefs. Indeed, dysfunctional beliefs can make an

individual more prone to reacting strongly to socio-affective stimuli and

to adopting ineffective affect-regulation strategies.

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Acknowledgements: We wish to express our appreciation to the Centre for

Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal for its support

during the research. This study was supported by a research grant to JG from the

Fonds de recherche sur la société et la culture (FQRSC).

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