Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST; Gray, 1987; Gray & McNaughton, 2000) has proven to be a valuable tool for understanding psychopathy (e.g., Fowles, 1980, 1988; Newman & Malterer, 2009; Poythress, Edens, Landfield, Lilienfeld, Skeem, & Douglas, 2008). Recent research has linked two RST constructs, the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and the Behavioral Activation System (BAS), to individ...

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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 b...

The latent structure, reliability, and validity of the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scales (BIS/BAS; C. L. Carver and T. L. White, 1994) were examined in a large sample of outpatients (N = 1,825) with anxiety and mood disorders. Four subsamples were used for exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. In addition to generally upholding a latent structure found previously in non...

Individual differences in sensitivities of the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) and Behavioral Approach System (BAS) have been posited to underlie stable differences in individuals’ unique patterns of responding to cues of punishment and reward in their environment. Conceived from the outset as neurological systems, the BIS and BAS have repeatedly been linked to brain structure and function t...

Preliminary evidence suggests that high emotional reactivity, in conjunction with maladaptive self-regulatory processes, increases one's vulnerability to develop psychopathology. In the present study, associations between behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity, experiential avoidance (EA) and trauma-related outcomes (i.e., posttraumatic stress symp...

There is considerable evidence of circadian rhythm abnormalities in mood disorders. Morningness-eveningness, the degree to which people prefer organizing their activity and sleep patterns toward the morning or evening, is related to circadian phase and is associated with mood, with relatively greater psychological distress among evening types. Given that circadian rhythms may also relate to the...