Symposia
Cognitive Science/ Cognitive Processes
Kimberly A. Arditte Hall, Ph.D.
Framingham State University
Framingham, Massachusetts
Stephanie Arditte, PhD
Medical Student
Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine
New York, New York
Intolerance of uncertainty is the tendency to perceive uncertainty or ambiguity as threatening. Interpretation biases are a type of cognitive bias in which the individual resolves ambiguous information in a consistent manner, and threat-related interpretation biases have been documented across a range of psychological disorders. Despite the relevance of intolerance of uncertainty to threat-related interpretation biases, relatively little work has examined the associations between these constructs, particularly in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The aim of this study was to examine the associations between intolerance of uncertainty, PTSD symptom severity, and threat-related interpretation biases in a sample (N = 346) of trauma-exposed adults. Participants completed an online survey, including the Prospective Anxiety (PA) and Inhibitory Anxiety (IA) subscales of the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and the Interpretation Bias Index for PTSD (IBIP). Responses to the IBIP were summed, with higher scores indicating greater bias toward threat. Additionally, timing data were collected for the IBIP to capture the urgency with which participants resolved ambiguity. PCL-5 scores accounted for 42.5% (p < .001) of the variance in IBIP scores. The IUS subscales accounted for an additional 8.9% (p < .001) of the variance in IBIP scores, and both PA (β = .19, p = .04) and IA (β = .19, p = .04) were significantly associated with greater threat-related interpretation biases. PCL-5 scores accounted for 6.5% (p < .001) of the variance in IBIP response times. The IUS subscales accounted for an additional 1.9% (p = .03) of the variance. Interestingly, IA scores were associated with significantly faster IBIP response times (β = -.17, p = .01) whereas PA scores were associated with significantly slower response times (β = .18, p = .02). Results confirm that intolerance of uncertainty is associated with a tendency to interpret ambiguous situations in a threatening manner. Further, inhibitory anxiety is associated with greater urgency to resolve ambiguous situations.