Welcome to the EPA 2022 Interactive Programme
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Fully Live with Live Q&A 
On Demand (available from 4 June) 
ECP Session 
Section Session 
EPA Course (Pre-Registration Required)
Ask the Expert 
Sessions with Voting 
Live TV 
Product Theatre
The role of Effortful Control in Substance Use Disorders
Abstract
Abstract Body
Background and aim:
Temperament and personality traits are important factors underlying the vulnerability for both initiation and continuation of addictive behaviors. In SUDs there is a high comorbidity with mood and anxiety disorders and personality disorders. As there is a growing interest in the possible transdiagnostic role of Effortful Control in both SUDs as in their comorbid disorders the current study therefore investigates the influence of reactive (Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System, BIS/BAS) and regulative (Effortful Control, EC) temperament and their interaction in relation to clinical symptomatology and PDs in adult inpatients with SUD.
Methods:
The EC, BIS/BAS, SCL-90-R and ADP-IV questionnaires were administered to 841 patients (age between 17 y and 71 y) with a SUD admitted at the treatment unit for addiction of a psychiatric hospital.
Results:
Hierarchical regression analyses showed that both, clinical symptomatology and PDs were related to low levels of effortful control (EC). Furthermore, cluster C PDs were related to high levels of BIS and low levels of EC; whereas cluster B PDs were related to low levels of EC and high levels of BAS for the narcissistic and histrionic PD. An interaction effect (BIS*EC) was found for the Schizotypal PD, all other interactions (BIS*EC and BAS*EC) were not significant.
Discussion:
We found that low EC is involved in all clinical symptomatology and PDs in a sample of inpatients with SUDs. Therapeutic interventions aiming at strengthening effortful control can possibly result in better treatment outcomes for both the addiction as the comorbid psychopathology
The role of Effortful Control in Pychopathology Amongst Older Psychiatric Patients
Abstract
Abstract Body
Background and aim:
Based upon a person-centred approach, there is a growing interest in neurobiological transdiagnostic factors, such as reactive temperament (Behavioral Inhibition (BIS) and Behavioral Activation Systems (BAS)) and regulatory processes (Effortful Control (EC)). Three temperament-based personality types (Resilient, Undercontrolled and Overcontrolled type (RUO)) have been replicated in adolescents and younger adults with several clinical problems; with the resilient type (highest scores on EC) consistently showing less psychological symptoms. However, these RUO types have not been studied yet in older adults with mental disorders.
Therefore, the current study investigates (1) whether these RUO types can be replicated based on the aforementioned reactive and regulative temperamental factors in older inpatients and (2) whether a higher EC is related to the presence of less psychopathology.
Methods:
The EC, BIS/BAS, SCL-90-R and ADP-IV questionnaires were administered to 96 older patients (<= 60 years) admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Results:
Cluster analysis resulted in a solution of three atypical types: a Resilient type (low BIS, mean BAS, high EC), a Dysregulated type (high BIS, high BAS, low EC) and an “Apathic” type (mean BIS, low BAS, mean EC). Comparison of means revealed that the Resilient type has the highest scores on EC and shows less clinical symptoms and maladaptive personality traits.
Discussion:
Of the 3 RUO types, only the Resilient type was fully replicated in older psychiatric patients. Strengthening EC might be useful as an additional therapy in order to reduce clinical symptoms, possibly leading to a better treatment outcome.
The role of Effortful Control and Executive Attention in Mood Disorders
Abstract
Abstract Body
In the first part of the talk I will show that using a computational approach, namely the Drift Diffusion Model, the efficiency of executive attention (EA) is associated with effortful control, the self-regulatory aspect of temperament in a sample of n=427 healthy subjects. Then I will demonstrate how, applying the same model, EA measured through the same conflict resolution task predicts longitudinally a sooner relapse in a sample of n=64 subjects with bipolar and depressive disorders. Lastly I will discuss how EA is associated with obsessive compulsive symptoms in the same clinical population and how they interact in predicting the course of illness. Altogether these results suggest that there is an association between self-reported effortful control and EA and that treatments targeting executive functions could be crucial in preventing relapses in subjects with mood disorders experiencing obsessive compulsive-symptoms.
Q&A