Results

1
Using a Modified Computer Version of the PASAT to
Induce Negative Affect in College Students
Melissa C. Beattie1, Shannon L. Leffler1, C.W.
Lejuez2, Jennifer P. Read1
1University at Buffalo, The State University
of New York, Buffalo, New York, 2University of
Maryland, College Park Presented at the 38th
Annual Meeting of the Association for Advancement
of Behavior Therapy
Discussion Across two different
measurement approaches, results provide support
for the use of the PASAT-C for induction of
stressed/negative affect in analogue studies with
college students. Examination of patterns of
responding on the AG by CES-D status offers some
modest evidence to suggest that the
mood Manipulation shows differential effects
based on general depressive symptomatology. While
Affect Grid valence scores actually increased
(toward more positive mood) from T1 to T2 in the
low depressive symptom group following the
negative MIP, negative mood scores increased in
the group who were higher on depressive symptoms.
This task may be of particular utility in that it
simulates the types of negative affect (i.e.,
performance-induced stress) which may commonly be
experienced by college students. The small
sample size for this study represents a
significant limitation, as it resulted in low
statistical power and limited our ability to
examine finer grained effects, such as
differential effects of the PASAT-C on mood by
gender or ethnicity. Future work will need to
replicate these findings with larger and
more diverse samples. References Lejuez, C. W.,
Kahler, C. W., Brown, R.A. (2003). A modified
computer version of
the Paced Auditory Serial
Addition Task (PASAT) as a laboratory-based
stressor. Behavior Therapist. 26(4), 290-293.
Orme, J. G, Reis, J. Herz, E. J. (1986).
Factorial and discriminant validity of the Center
for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D)
scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 42(1),
28-33. Russell, J. A., Weiss, A., Mendelsohn,
G. A. (1989). Affect Grid A single-item scale of
pleasure and arousal. Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology. 57(3), 493-502. Watson, D.,
Clark, L. A., Tellegen, A. (1988). Development
and validation of brief measures of Positive and
Negative Affect The PANAS scales. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology. 54(6),
1063-1070. This work was supported in part by a
grant from the National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism to Dr. Jennifer Read
(R03AA014261 ).

• I n t r o d u c t i o n
• Analogue tasks that effectively elicit negative
  affect will facilitate laboratory examination of
  negative mood and related factors. Recent
  research suggests that the Paced Auditory Serial
  Addition Task (PASAT) may be used to induce
  negative mood in laboratory paradigms (Lejuez et
  al., 2003). The purpose of the present study was
  to assess the efficacy of a modified PASAT
  (PASAT-C) to induce negative mood in a sample of
  college students. Additionally, the present study
  examined whether reactivity to this mood
  induction varied by levels of baseline depressive
  symptomatology.
• M e t h o d
• Participants
• Participants (N42, 12 males) were regularly
  drinking college students at a mid-sized
  university in the Northeastern United States.
  Participants varied in age from 18-24 years. The
  mean age was just over 20 years old (see Table 1
  below). The majority (n37, 88.1) of
  participants were White. Approximately
  three-quarters of the participants (n33, 78.5)
  reported being upperclassmen.

• Method (Cont)
• Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS
  Watson et al., 1988).
• - Two dimensional measure
• - 20 items assess positive (10 items) and
  negative (10 items) affect
• - Indication of affect at present time (i.e.,
  right now)
• - Continuously rated on Likert-type scale
  range 1-5
• Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression
  Scale (CES-D Orme et al. 1986).
• -22 items to assess depressive symptomatology
• - Items rated separately on Likert-type scale
  (0-3) depending on
• frequency of symptom occurrence
• - Higher scores indicative of greater
  depression
• - Coefficient alpha .78
• Procedure
• One-hour experimental sessions were conducted
  individually. Participants were required to
  complete self-report questionnaires and a series
  of computerized tasks. At the beginning of each
  session, baseline self report assessments of mood
  were administered. Following baseline assessment
  of mood, participants were randomly assigned to
  complete a modified version of the computerized
  PASAT (PASAT-C Lejuez et al 2003) designed to
  induce a stressed mood, or to a timed arithmetic
  task designed to elicit a neutral mood. The
  PASAT-C stressor task required participants to
  view a series of numbers sequentially on a
  computer monitor and to add the two most recently
  viewed numbers at increasing speeds thus inducing
  psychological stress. Participants also were
  given bogus normative feedback regarding their
  performance in order to increase their level of
  distress. Following the induction task,
  participants were then re-administered the two
  state mood measures. Informed consent was
  obtained at the beginning of each experimental
  session.
• Analytic strategy
• Separate analyses of covariance (ANCOVA)
  with the PANAS and Affect Grid measures were
  conducted to assess the efficacy of the PASAT-C
  in eliciting negative mood. Scores on the CES-D
  were included in the models as an independent
  variable to examine the influence of baseline
  depressive
• symptomatology on mood outcomes. Baseline
  (pre-mood induction) mood was the covariate in
  these analyses. In exploratory analyses, we
  examined patterns of effect of mood induction
  paradigm (MIP) by high and low CES-D scores.

Results PASAT Mood Manipulation PANAS Outcomes.
Results of the ANCOVA with PANAS as the dependent
variable revealed a significant main effect for
mood condition, F(1,34)5.3, plt.05, with those in
the negative mood condition reporting higher
levels of general negative mood on the PANAS mood
subscale after controlling for baseline negative
mood (see Figure 1 below). We found no main
effect for depressive symptoms (CES-D) on mood
outcomes. Affect Grid Outcomes.
ANCOVA results with the Affect Grid as the
dependent variable, though only marginally
significant, yielded similar findings to those of
with the PANAS as a dependent variable. Those
assigned to the PASAT-C negative mood
manipulation reported greater negatively-valenced
affect post MIP than those in the neutral
condition, F(1,35)3.5, p.07 (see Figure 2). In
these analyses, we also found a significant main
effect for CES-D scores, F(1,35) 5.0, plt.05.
Though sample size prohibited sufficient
statistical power to examine interaction effects,
we examined differences in Affect Grid scores by
MIP condition based on a median split of CES-D
scores to explore patterns of effects. These are
presented in Figure 3.