Browsing by Author "Finn, Peter R."

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    Atypical Cortical Activation during Risky Decision-making in Disruptive Behavior Disordered Youth with Histories of Suicidal Ideation
    (Elsevier, 2020) Dir, Allyson L.; Allebach, Christian L.; Hummer, Tom A.; Adams, Zachary; Aalsma, Matthew C.; Finn, Peter R.; Nurnberger, John I.; Hulvershorn, Leslie A.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Background: Suicidality is a leading cause of death among adolescents. In addition to other psychiatric conditions, youths with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) are at heightened risk for suicide. Decision-making deficits are a hallmark symptom of ADHD and DBDs and are also implicated in suicidal behavior. We examined behavioral and neural differences in decision making among youths with ADHD and DBDs with (SI+) and without (SI-) histories of suicidal ideation. Methods: The Balloon Analog Risk Task, a risky decision-making task, was completed by 57 youths with ADHD and DBDs (38% SI+) during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Mean stop wager (mean wager at which youths bank money) was the primary measure of risk taking. We conducted whole-brain and region-of-interest analyses in the anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during choice (win vs. inflate) and outcome (inflate vs. explode) contrasts using parametric modulators accounting for probability of balloon explosion. Results: There were no differences between SI+ and SI- youths in Balloon Analog Risk Task performance. SI+ youths showed decreasing activation in the right medial frontal gyrus when choosing inflate as explosion probability increased compared with SI- youths. During explosions, SI- youths showed increasing activation in the left OFC as explosions became more likely. SI+ showed increasing left medial OFC activity in response to inflations as explosion probability increased. Conclusions: SI+ youths may show heightened sensitivity to immediate reward and decreased sensitivity to potential loss as evidenced by medial frontal gyrus activity. OFC findings suggest that SI+ youths may be drawn to reward even when there is high probability of loss.
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    The Impact of Gain- and Loss-Framed Messages on Young Adults' Sexual Decision Making: An Experimental Study
    (Springer, 2017-02) Macapagal, Kathryn; Janssen, Erick; Matson, Margaret; Finn, Peter R.; Heiman, Julia R.; Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
    Messages that frame a target behavior in terms of its benefits (gain frame) or costs (loss frame) have been widely and successfully used for health promotion and risk reduction. However, the impact of framed messages on decisions to have sex and sexual risk, as well as moderators of these effects, has remained largely unexplored. We used a computerized laboratory task to test the effects of framed messages about condom use on young adults' sexual decision making. Participants (N = 127) listened to both gain- and loss-framed messages and rated their intentions to have sex with partners who posed a high and low risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The effects of message frame, partner risk, participant gender, ability to adopt the messages, and message presentation order on intentions to have sex were examined. Intentions to have sex with high-risk partners significantly decreased after the loss-framed message, but not after the gain-framed message, and intentions to have sex increased for participants who received the gain-framed message first. Yet, participants found it easier to adopt the gain-framed message. Results suggest that loss-framed messages may be particularly effective in reducing intentions to have sex with partners who might pose a higher risk for STIs, and that message presentation order may alter the relative effectiveness of gain- and loss-framed messages on sexual decision making. Future studies should examine the precise conditions under which gain- and loss-framed messages can promote healthy sexual behaviors and reduce sexual risk behaviors.
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    Neural Modulation in Approach-Avoidance Conflicts in Externalizing Psychopathology
    (Springer, 2021) Lake, Allison J.; Finn, Peter R.; James, Thomas W.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Externalizing psychopathology (EXT) is characterized by poor decision-making in situations that involve simultaneous cues for approach and avoidance behavior (i.e. approach-avoidance conflicts). Previous studies of EXT have examined these deficits primarily using tasks involving decisions between positive reward and negative punishment, suggesting that EXT is characterized by a general bias towards high salience (e.g. temporally proximal or reward) cues relative to low salience (e.g. temporally distal or loss) cues. However, in order to better characterize decision-making in approach-avoidance conflicts, the present study utilized a novel task to examine neural activation in contexts involving both positive reward and negative punishment as well as positive punishment and negative reward by manipulating physical proximity of affective cues. Neuroimaging results indicated that EXT was associated with deficits related to cue prioritization based on salience, suggesting that failure to differentiate relevant from less relevant information contributes to poor decision-making among individuals with EXT.