Behavioral Activation Scales Research Articles

Individual differences in self-reported reward-approach tendencies relate to resting-state and reward-task-based fMRI measures

In this study, we investigated neural responses during resting-state and reward-task-based fMRI and how these related to individual differences in self-reported reward sensitivity. Resting-state fMRI data were collected from 191 college students, and 60 of these individuals further finished a reward-related fMRI task. Self-reported reward-approach tendencies were assessed using the behavioral activation scale. Behavioral activation scale scores were positively correlated with brain activations in the striatum bilaterally during reward processing. During rest, behavioral activation scale scores were positively correlated with functional connectivity between the left and right striatum and with functional connectivity between the right striatum and right middle frontal gyrus. Positive correlations were found between task-based striatal activations and the functional connectivity between the left and right striatum at rest. These results suggest a relationship between striatal task-based reward-related activations and resting connectivity strengths that relate to individual differences in reward-approach tendencies.

Study of the mediation role of acceptance and mindfulness in relation between behavioral inhibition/activation system sensitivity and emotional distress

Context: Emotional disturbances are caused by various factors that include two general biological and cognitive components. Understanding the factors affecting emotional disturbances is important in improving the quality of life of individuals. Aims: This study was aimed to determine the mediation role of acceptance and mindfulness in relation between behavioral inhibition/activation system sensitivity and emotional distress of Islamic Azad University, Tabriz branch. Settings and Design: The research method of the study was descriptive form type of correlational. Subjects and Methods: The statistical population of the study included all students of the Islamic Azad University, Tabriz branch. Among them, 380 participants (190 females and 190 males) were selected through cluster random sampling. To collect the data, Carver and White's (1994) behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation scales, Bond et al. 's (2007) second version of the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, and Bauer et al.'s (2006) five-facet mindfulness questionnaire and depression, anxiety, and stress scale, were used. Statistical Analysis Used: To analyze the data, the Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression were used. Results: The findings indicated that behavioral inhibition/activation systems, acceptance, and mindfulness could significantly predict about 45% of depression variance, 53% of anxiety variance, and 41% of stress variance of emotional distress. Conclusions: According to the findings, it could be concluded that stress, anxiety, and depression as emotional distress are the result of the behavioral inhibition/activation systems that they are the result of the acceptance and mindfulness effect. In fact, the acceptance and mindfulness have the mediation role in relation between behavioral inhibition/activation system sensitivity and emotional distress. In order to regulate emotions, it should be pay attention to behavioral inhibition/activation systems, acceptance, and mindfulness.

“Engage” therapy: Prediction of change of late-life major depression

ObjectiveEngage grew out of the need for streamlined psychotherapies that can be accurately used by community therapists in late-life depression. Engage was based on the view that dysfunction of reward networks is the principal mechanism mediating depressive symptoms. Accordingly, Engage uses “reward exposure” (exposure to meaningful activities) and assumes that repeated activation of reward networks will normalize these systems. This study examined whether change in a behavioral activation scale, an index of reward system function, predicts change in depressive symptomatology. MethodsThe participants (N = 48) were older adults with major depression treated with 9 weekly sessions of Engage and assessed 27 weeks after treatment. Depression was assessed with the 24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) and behavioral activation with the four subscales of Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (activation, avoidance/rumination, work impairment, social impairment) at baseline, 6 weeks (mid-treatment), 9 weeks (end of treatment), and 36 weeks. ResultsChange only in the Activation subscale during successive periods of assessment predicted depression severity (HAM-D) at the end of each period (F1, 47 = 21.05, p<0.0001). An increase of one standard deviation in the Activation score resulted in a 2.04 (95% CI: 1.17–2.92) point decrease in HAM-D. For every one point increase in the Activation score, HAM-D was decreased by 0.22 points (95% CI: 0.12–0.31). LimitationsNo comparison group. Partial overlap of Activation Subscale with HAM-D, lack of detailed neurocognitive assessment and social support. ConclusionChange in behavioral activation predicts improvement of depressive symptoms and signs in depressed older adults treated with Engage.

Reward-related frontostriatal activity and smoking behavior among adolescents in treatment for smoking cessation

BackgroundTobacco use is often initiated during adolescence and continued into adulthood despite desires to quit. A better understanding of the neural correlates of abstinence from smoking in adolescents may inform more effective smoking cessation interventions. Neural reward systems are implicated in tobacco use disorder, and adolescent smokers have shown reduced reward-related ventral striatal activation related to increased smoking. MethodsThe current study evaluated nondrug reward anticipation in adolescent smokers using a monetary incentive delay task in fMRI pre- and post- smoking cessation treatment (n=14). This study tested how changes in neural responses to reward anticipation pre- to post-treatment were related to reduced smoking. An exploratory analysis in a larger sample of adolescents with only pre-treatment fMRI (n=28) evaluated how neural responses to reward anticipation were related to behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation scales. ResultsAdolescent smokers showed pre- to post-treatment increases in reward anticipation-related activity in the bilateral nucleus accumbens and insula, and medial prefrontal cortex, and greater increases in reward anticipation-related activity were correlated with larger percent days of smoking abstinence during treatment. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that reduced smoking during smoking cessation treatment is associated with a “recovery of function” in frontostriatal responses to nondrug reward anticipation in adolescent smokers, although comparison with a developmental control group of adolescent nonsmokers is warranted.

Efficacy of Guided iCBT for Depression and Mediation of Change by Cognitive Skill Acquisition

Guided internet CBT (iCBT) is a promising treatment for depression; however, it is less well known through what mechanisms iCBT works. Two possible mediators of change are the acquisition of cognitive skills and increases in behavioral activation. We report results of an 8-week waitlist controlled trial of guided iCBT, and test whether early change in cognitive skills or behavioral activation mediated subsequent change in depression. The sample was 89 individuals randomized to guided iCBT (n = 59) or waitlist (n = 30). Participants were 75% female, 72% Caucasian, and 33 years old on average. The PHQ9 was the primary outcome measure. Mediators were the Competencies of Cognitive Therapy Scale–Self Report and the Behavioral Activation Scale for Depression–Short Form. Treatment was Beating the Blues plus manualized coaching. Outcomes were analyzed using linear mixed models, and mediation with a bootstrap resampling approach. The iCBT group was superior to waitlist, with large effect sizes at posttreatment (Hedges’ g = 1.45). Dropout of iCBT was 29% versus 10% for waitlist. In the mediation analyses, the acquisition of cognitive skills mediated subsequent depression change (indirect effect = -.61, 95% bootstrapped biased corrected CI: -1.47, -0.09), but increases in behavioral activation did not. iCBT is an effective treatment for depression, but dropout rates remain high. Change in iCBT appears to be mediated by improvements in the use of cognitive skills, such as critically evaluating and restructuring negative thoughts.

Common Dimensional Reward Deficits Across Mood and Psychotic Disorders: A Connectome-Wide Association Study.

Anhedonia is central to multiple psychiatric disorders and causes substantial disability. A dimensional conceptualization posits that anhedonia severity is related to a transdiagnostic continuum of reward deficits in specific neural networks. Previous functional connectivity studies related to anhedonia have focused on case-control comparisons in specific disorders, using region-specific seed-based analyses. Here, the authors explore the entire functional connectome in relation to reward responsivity across a population of adults with heterogeneous psychopathology. In a sample of 225 adults from five diagnostic groups (major depressive disorder, N=32; bipolar disorder, N=50; schizophrenia, N=51; psychosis risk, N=39; and healthy control subjects, N=53), the authors conducted a connectome-wide analysis examining the relationship between a dimensional measure of reward responsivity (the reward sensitivity subscale of the Behavioral Activation Scale) and resting-state functional connectivity using multivariate distance-based matrix regression. The authors identified foci of dysconnectivity associated with reward responsivity in the nucleus accumbens, the default mode network, and the cingulo-opercular network. Follow-up analyses revealed dysconnectivity among specific large-scale functional networks and their connectivity with the nucleus accumbens. Reward deficits were associated with decreased connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and the default mode network and increased connectivity between the nucleus accumbens and the cingulo-opercular network. In addition, impaired reward responsivity was associated with default mode network hyperconnectivity and diminished connectivity between the default mode network and the cingulo-opercular network. These results emphasize the centrality of the nucleus accumbens in the pathophysiology of reward deficits and suggest that dissociable patterns of connectivity among large-scale networks are critical to the neurobiology of reward dysfunction across clinical diagnostic categories.

Subtypes in borderline patients based on reactive and regulative temperament

Considerable heterogeneity is observed among patients with a Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). In the present study, we investigated whether we could identify and validate different personality subtypes in 150 BPD inpatients based on reactive and regulative temperament. We identified four BPD subtypes by means of cluster analysis on the Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Scales (BISBAS) and the Effortful Control Scale (ECS): an Emotional/Disinhibited subtype (45%) scoring lowest on Effortful Control, an Inhibited subtype (24%) characterized by low levels of Behavioral Activation, a Low Anxiety subtype (21%) defined by low levels of Behavioral Inhibition, and a High Self-control subtype (10%) characterized by the highest score on effortful control. The four subtypes were validated by comparing them on clinical symptomatology, comorbid personality disorders, and coping. The current findings offer insight into meaningful differences among BPD patients based on temperamental features, which can offer guidelines for the treatment of BPD patients.

Behavioral activation and inhibition system's role in predicting addictive behaviors of patients with bipolar disorder of Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital.

Background:Nowadays, prevalence of addictive behaviors among bipolar patients is considered to be a serious health threat by the World Health Organization. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of behavioral activation and inhibition systems in predicting addictive behaviors of male patients with bipolar disorder at the Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital.Materials and Methods:The research method used in this study is correlation. The study population consisted of 80 male patients with bipolar disorder referring to the psychiatrics clinics of Tehran city in 2014 who were referred to the Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital. To collect data, the international and comprehensive inventory diagnostic interview, behavioral activation and inhibition systems scale, and addictive behaviors scale were used.Results:The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between behavioral activation systems and addictive behaviors (addictive eating, alcohol addiction, television addiction, cigarette addiction, mobile addiction, etc.). In addition, correlation between behavioral inhibition systems and addictive behaviors (addictive eating, alcohol addiction, TV addiction, cigarette addiction, mobile addiction) is significantly negative. Finally, regression analysis showed that behavioral activation and inhibition systems could significantly predict 47% of addictive behaviors in patients with bipolar disorder.Conclusions:It can be said that the patients with bipolar disorder use substance and addictive behaviors for enjoyment and as pleasure stimulants; they also use substances to suppress unpleasant stimulants and negative emotions. These results indicate that behavioral activation and inhibition systems have an important role in the incidence and exacerbation of addictive behaviors. Therefore, preventive interventions in this direction seem to be necessary.

The predictive validity of SIS/SES and BIS/BAS scores for sexual and non-sexual risk behavior

The theoretical proximity of the Dual-Control Model of the Sexual Response and the Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory predicts at least moderate-size correlations of measurements based on these models. However, sexual inhibition has also been claimed to be domain-specific, suggesting smaller-size correlations and superior prediction of sexual outcomes using measures of sexual inhibition and excitation, compared with generic measures. The aim of this study (N=254) was to investigate the predictive validity of the Sexual Inhibition and Sexual Excitation Scale (SIS/SES) for, respectively, sexual and non-sexual risk behavior beyond prediction using scores on the Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Scale (BIS/BAS). Both instruments, however, were found to contribute to the prediction of both types of risk behavior. The findings were interpreted as providing only partial support for the notion of domain specificity of sexual inhibition and excitation.

Differential hedonic experience and behavioral activation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

The Kraepelinian distinction between schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BP) emphasizes affective and volitional impairment in the former, but data directly comparing the two disorders for hedonic experience are scarce. This study examined whether hedonic experience and behavioral activation may be useful phenotypes distinguishing SZ and BP. Participants were 39 SZ and 24 BP patients without current mood episode matched for demographics and negative affect, along with 36 healthy controls (HC). They completed the Chapman Physical and Social Anhedonia Scales, Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS), and Behavioral Activation Scale (BAS). SZ and BP showed equally elevated levels of self-report negative affect and trait anhedonia compared to HC. However, SZ reported significantly lower pleasure experience (TEPS) and behavioral activation (BAS) than BP, who did not differ from HC. SZ and BP showed differential patterns of relationships between the hedonic experience and behavioral activation measures. Overall, the results suggest that reduced hedonic experience and behavioral activation may be effective phenotypes distinguishing SZ from BP even when affective symptoms are minimal. However, hedonic experience differences between SZ and BP are sensitive to measurement strategy, calling for further research on the nature of anhedonia and its relation to motivation in these disorders.

Psychometrically improved, abbreviated versions of three classic measures of impulsivity and self-control.

Self-reported impulsivity confers risk factor for substance abuse. However, the psychometric properties of many self-report impulsivity measures have been questioned, thereby undermining the interpretability of study findings using these measures. To better understand these measurement limitations and to suggest a path to assessing self-reported impulsivity with greater psychometric stability, we conducted a comprehensive psychometric evaluation of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale-11 (BIS-11), the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales (BIS/BAS), and the Brief Self-Control Scale (BSCS) using data from 1,449 individuals who participated in substance use research. For each measure, we evaluated (a) latent factor structure, (b) measurement invariance, (c) test-criterion relationships between the measures, and (d) test-criterion relations with drinking and smoking outcomes. Notably, we could not replicate the originally published latent structure for the BIS, BIS/BAS, or BSCS or any previously published alternative factor structure (English language). Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, we identified psychometrically improved, abbreviated versions of each measure: 8-item, 2-factor BIS-11 (root-mean-square error of approximation [RMSEA] = .06, comparative fit index [CFI] = .95); 13-item, 4-factor BIS/BAS (RMSEA = .04, CFI = .96); and 7-item, 2-factor BSCS (RMSEA = .05, CFI = .96). These versions evidenced (a) stable, replicable factor structures, (b) scalar measurement invariance, ensuring our ability to make statistically interpretable comparisons across subgroups of interest (e.g., sex, race, drinking/smoking status), and (c) test-criterion relationships with each other and with drinking/smoking. This study provides strong support for using these psychometrically improved impulsivity measures, which improve data quality directly through better scale properties and indirectly through reducing response burden.

You Can’t Drink a Word: Lexical and Individual Emotionality Affect Subjective Familiarity Judgments

For almost 30 years, subjective familiarity has been used in psycholinguistics as an explanatory variable, allegedly able to explain many phenomena that have no other obvious explanation (Gernsbacher in J Exp Psychol General 113:256-281, 1984). In this paper, the hypothesis tested is that the subjective familiarity of words is reflecting personal familiarity with or importance of the referents of words. Using an empirically-grounded model of affective force derived from Wundt (Grundriss der Psychologie [Outlines of Psychology]. Engelmann, Leibzig, 1896) and based in a co-occurrence model of semantics (which involves no human judgment), it is shown that affective force can account for the same variance in a large set of human subjective familiarity judgments as other human subjective familiarity judgments, can predict whether people will rate new words of the same objective frequency as more or less familiar, can predict lexical access as well as human subjective familiarity judgments do, and has a predicted relationship to age of acquisition norms. Individuals who have highly affective reactivity [as measured by Carver and White's (J Pers Soc Psychol 67(2):319-333, 1994) Behavioral Inhibition Scale and Behavioral Activation Scales] rate words as significantly more familiar than individuals who have low affective reactivity.

Reward Dysregulation and Mood Symptoms in an Adolescent Outpatient Sample

Research on bipolar spectrum disorders (BPSD) in adolescence has burgeoned in the last decade, but continued work is needed to identify endophenotypic markers associated with illness onset and course. The present study examined reward dysregulation--measured via the behavioral activation system (BAS)--as one putative marker of BPSD in adolescence. A diverse group of 425 outpatient adolescents between 11 and 17 years of age (52 % male) completed the Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scale (BIS-BAS) scale to measure reward dysregulation. Semi-structured interviews determined diagnoses and severity of mood symptoms. Parent-reported BAS was associated with increased symptoms of mania, and parent and adolescent-reported BAS were associated with symptoms of depression. Parent-reported BIS scores were associated with increased symptoms of mania. Results held independent of diagnostic status. Furthermore, parent BIS/BAS reports were stronger predictors for manic symptoms compared to adolescent-reports. Results extend work in adults with BPSD, suggesting a transdiagnostic association between reward dysregulation and mood symptom severity in adolescence.

The role of schizoid personality, peritraumatic dissociation and behavioral activation system in a case of parricide

The goal of this paper is to emphasize several important details through a case study of parricide: a) the schizoid personality structure as a potential basis for brutal offenses, b) the role of dissociation during the commitment of crime; and c) the contribution of non-standard psychological assessment instruments and Gray's reinforcement sensitivity theory in illuminating the killer's personality and motivation for the offense. A parricide case was analyzed through psychiatric examination, standard clinical psychological assessment, and Behavioral Inhibition and Activation Scales based on Gray's theory. It was determined that the perpetrator suffered from schizoid personality disorder and that there were visible signs of peritraumatic dissociation at the moment he committed the offense. It was concluded that: a) a schizoid personality sometimes become a perpetrator of a brutal offense in situations where he feels he is in danger of punishment, and his personal space is being threatened, b) dissociation, activated by murder itself, can help the murderer to protect himself from a traumatic situation which overcomes his resources, and c) Gray's theory can serve as a framework for understanding individual cases as this one.

Reward responsiveness and fatigue in multiple sclerosis

Background: Fatigue is a common symptom in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). To date, the pathophysiology of fatigue in MS remains ill-understood; however, converging evidence seems to suggest that a key factor in fatigue development might be the dysregulation of neuropsychological processes underpinning the evaluation of the rewarding outcomes of actions. Objectives: To explore the relationship between reward-related cognition and fatigue in MS and to explore the usefulness of reward perception testing to predict the efficacy of monoamine-modulating drugs on fatigue. Methods: The study included 104 fatigued and 70 fatigue-free Relapsing–Remitting MS patients. All subjects were screened for the lack of any significant mood, cognitive, or personality disorders that could confound results. The different facets of the motivation system such as the patient’s reward perception were assessed at baseline using the Behavioural Inhibition and Behavioural Activation Scales (BIS/BAS). Fatigue was assessed with the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS). Fatigue values after three months of therapy with escitalopram or bupropion were correlated with those baseline BIS/BAS scores. Results: Fatigued patients demonstrated lower reward responsiveness compared to fatigue-free subjects. Reward responsiveness scores were found to be associated with baseline MFIS scores and with fatigue reduction after treatment with bupropion: Lower reward responsiveness at baseline predicted higher fatigue remission rates in bupropion-treated patients, as compared with escitalopram-treated patients. Discussion: Reward responsiveness was linked with MS-related fatigue and might represent one of its key cognitive underpinnings. Our results suggest that evaluation of reward responsiveness could provide useful information to guide individualized therapy of MS-related fatigue.

A reverse translational approach to quantify approach-avoidance conflict in humans

Animal approach-avoidance conflict paradigms have been used extensively to characterize effects of anxiolytic agents and probe neural circuitry related to anxiety. However, there are few behavioral approaches to measure conflict in human populations, limiting the translation of findings from animal conflict tasks to human clinical research. We developed a novel approach-avoidance conflict (AAC) paradigm involving situations in which the same decision is associated with “reward” (points) and “punishment” (negative affective stimuli). The AAC task was completed by 95 young adults (56 female) with varying levels of self-reported trait anxiety. As expected, conflict-related approach behavior correlated with self-reported motivation to approach reward and avoid punishment and greater reward level increased approach behavior. Additionally, females exhibited less approach behavior than males. Anxiety Sensitivity Index (Physical subscale) scores related negatively to approach behavior for males, while Behavioral Activation Scale (BAS, Fun Seeking subscale) scores related positively to approach behavior for females. Results support the utility of the AAC task as a behavioral test that has strong reverse translational features. Findings indicate that approach drives and anxiety sensitivity may be important in determining conflict behavior for females and males respectively. The approach-avoidance conflict task offers a novel, translational measure to probe neural systems underlying conflict behavior, motivational processes, and anxiety disorders.

Augmenting Behavioural Activation Treatment with the Behavioural Activation and Inhibition Scales

Although behavioural activation therapy is effective for depression there is always room for improvement, and also the need to extend this treatment modality to anxiety disorders. A search was conducted for an easy to apply and effective method of achieving these aims. To both enhance the effectiveness of behavioural activation treatment for depression and facilitate its extension to anxiety disorders, it is proposed that the Behavioral Approach/Activation System (BAS) and Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) be incorporated. BIS/BAS Scales are easy to administer and evaluate ensuring that there is minimal added complexity. Overall, BAS, BAS subscale (Drive, Reward Responsiveness, and Fun Seeking) and BIS scores provide valuable information pertaining to a person's approach and avoidance responses. This general information, plus that derived from specific scale items, can be used to guide more focused and effective behavioural activation strategies. Brief case examples are provided to demonstrate how the BIS/BAS Scales can be applied. BIS/BAS Scales offer an easy to apply and effective means of enhancing behavioural activation therapy for depression and extending this treatment modality to anxiety disorders.

Do Extreme Beliefs About Internal States Predict Mood Swings in an Analogue Sample?

An integrative cognitive model (Mansell et al. in Behav Cogn Psychother 35(5):515–539, 2007) proposed that multiple, extreme, personalised beliefs about internal states are key to the development and maintenance of mood swings and bipolar disorders. These beliefs can be assessed by the Hypomanic Attitudes & Positive Predictions Inventory (HAPPI; Mansell in Behav Cogn Psychother 34:467–476, 2006). In a student sample (N = 175), the HAPPI independently predicted bipolar-relevant mood states and hypomania-relevant behaviours over a 4-day period. In line with previous research, the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HYP; Eckblad and Chapman in J Abnorm Psychol 95(3):214–222, 1986) and subscales of the Behavioural Inhibition and Behavioural Activation Scales (BIS/BAS; Carver and White in J Pers Soc Psychol 67(2):319–333, 1994) showed independent associations with outcome variables. The findings are discussed in the context of Mansell et al’s (Behav Cogn Psychother 35(5):515–539, 2007) model.

The relationship between compulsive buying, eating disorder symptoms, and temperament in a sample of female students

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between compulsive buying (CB), eating disorder symptoms, and temperament (controlling for depression) in a sample of female students. We assessed 211 female undergraduate students using the Compulsive Buying Scale, the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Behavioral Inhibition System and Behavioral Activation System scales, the Adult Temperament Questionnaire, and the Physical Health Questionnaire—Depression. The results show a positive association between CB and the Eating Disorder Inventory-II drive for thinness and bulimia subscales. Both CB and eating disorder symptoms were related to low levels of effortful control. Finally, CB was also related to high levels of Behavioral Activation Scale reactivity (impulsivity), whereas eating disorder symptoms (especially drive for thinness) were more strongly related to high levels of Behavioral Inhibition Scale reactivity (anxiety). The implications of these findings for the treatment of CB and eating disorder symptoms will be discussed.

Vulnerability Factors for Bipolar Disorders as Predictors of Attributions in Ability-Based and Chance-Based Tests

The role of attributional style in bipolar disorder has received empirical support. Research suggests that a pattern of global, stable, and possibly internal attributions for positive events might even trigger mania. We tested whether hypothesized risk factors for bipolar disorder are associated with such attributions after feedback of success in an ability- and chance-based test. University students (n = 115) completed the Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation Scales (BIS/BAS) and the Hypomanic Personality Scale (HPS) to assess risk for bipolar disorder. In addition, participants were interviewed using the Structured Clinical Interview. All participants performed an ability-based (intelligence) test and a chance-based (dice-throwing) test, and success was induced by providing positive feedback regardless of their actual test performance. Attributions of perceived success were assessed after each test. Results showed that high scores on the BAS scale were generally predictive of self-serving attributions in the ability-based test, while scores on the HPS predicted a more global and self-serving attributional style in the chance-based test. Current depression, lifetime affective disorder, BIS, or the dysregulation of the BAS did not consistently predict attributions on either test. Despite some methodological limitations, results suggest that anticipated or experienced success in skill-related contexts triggers self-serving attributions in individuals scoring high on the BAS scale, while perceived positive outcome in chance-related, more unrealistic contexts triggers similar attributions in individuals scoring high on the HPS. Future research has to examine whether these overly positive attributions after positive, chance-related situations are a stable characteristic with respect to vulnerability to mania.