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Temptation Resistance Failures: Transdiagnostic Features and Influences

Multiple forms of psychopathology involve problems with resisting temptations and urges. This study utilizes experience sampling (ES) methodology to assess temptation resistance across different classes of temptations and urges including both common everyday temptations and more disorder-specific temptation classes. The study tests the hypothesis that the broad ability to successfully resist temptations and urges across temptation classes is a common features of the externalizing superspectrum (factor) of psychopathology, particularly the disinhibition spectra as defined by the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). Additional associations are expected to arise between reduced temptation resistance success for specific temptation classes and narrower symptom domains associated with the externalizing and internalizing spectra (e.g., binge eating, and nonsuicidal self-harm among internalizing symptoms). The study further tests genetic and environmental influences on temptation strength and resistance ability with a focus on polygenic scores, adverse childhood experiences and childhood neighborhood deprivation variables that have previously been related to externalizing. To address these issues, we will study up to 1200 subjects (minimum 1000) selected with enrichment for psychopathology. Subjects will be recruited from a combination of ResearchMatch, and targeted contact with Reddit groups, and targeted social media/online advertisements, with targeted recruitment of at least 150 subjects who indicate problems with SUD, alcohol use disorder (AUD) or nicotine dependence, 70 who indicate problems with gambling or other impulse control problems, 70 subjects with criminal/legal problems, and 70 subjects based on binge eating episodes 70 with self-injurious behavior, and 70 with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Subjects will complete the (Externalizing Spectrum Inventory-BF and HiTOP-SR) to measure externalizing and internalizing spectra. Diagnoses in key categories will be confirmed with structured diagnostic interviews. Subjects also complete information on childhood adversity and geocoding is used to assess environment during development. The two-week ES regimen collects data on the strongest types of temptations and urges experienced by the subject, their subjective strength, the goal of the urge (pleasure/relief from negative feelings), the level of conflict with other goals, whether the person attempted to resist the temptation, the resistance strategy, and resistance success, to allow assessment of the extent to which differences in each of these facets (and calculated temptation resistance efficacy) are related to narrow or broad dimensions of psychopathology. Whole genome sequencing with .5x coverage and imputation will be performed to allow generation of polygenic scores for externalizing and addiction in order to test the hypothesis that externalizing polygenic scores are related to poor temptation resistance efficacy across temptation classes.