title: Breath holding duration as a measure of distress tolerance: examining its relation to measures of executive control.
abstract: Recent research considers distress (in)tolerance as an essential component in the development of various forms of psychopathology. A behavioral task frequently used to assess distress tolerance is the breath holding task. Although breath holding time (BHT) has been associated with behavioral outcomes related to inhibitory control (e.g., smoking cessation), the relationship among breath holding and direct measures of executive control has not yet been thoroughly examined. The present study aims to assess (a) the BHT-task's test-retest reliability in a 1-year follow-up and (b) the relationship between a series of executive function tasks and breath holding duration. One hundred and thirteen students completed an initial BHT assessment, 58 of which also completed a series of executive function tasks [the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the Parametric Go/No-Go task and the N-back memory updating task]. A subsample of these students (N = 34) repeated the breath holding task in a second session 1 year later. Test-retest reliability of the BHT-task over a 1-year period was high (r = 0.67, p < 0.001), but none of the executive function tasks was significantly associated with BHT. The rather moderate levels of unpleasantness induced by breath holding in our sample may suggest that other processes (physiological, motivational) besides distress tolerance influence BHT. Overall, the current findings do not support the assumption of active inhibitory control in the BHT-task in a healthy sample. Our findings suggest that individual differences (e.g., in interoceptive or anxiety sensitivity) should be taken into account when examining the validity of BHT as a measure of distress tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit INSIDE, University of Luxembourg Luxembourg ; Research Group on Health Psychology, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sütterlin
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schroijen
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Constantinou
authors.forename: Elyn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smets
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Van den Bergh
authors.forename: Ilse
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Van Diest
keywords: breath holding; distress tolerance; emotion regulation; executive functions; self-regulation
references.citation: Front Psychol. 2011 Nov 25;2:327
references.pmid: 22275904
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1988 Jun;54(6):1063-70
references.pmid: 3397865
references.citation: Behav Res Ther. 1996 Aug;34(8):603-7
references.pmid: 8870286
references.citation: Psychosom Med. 1994 Nov-Dec;56(6):533-40
references.pmid: 7871109
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 2010 Jul;136(4):576-600
references.pmid: 20565169
references.citation: Psychosom Med. 1998 Nov-Dec;60(6):671-9
references.pmid: 9847025
references.citation: Appl Prev Psychol. 2007 Dec;12(3):99-114
references.pmid: 19050749
references.citation: J Anxiety Disord. 2012 Jan;26(1):173-81
references.pmid: 22119451
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998 Mar;74(3):774-89
references.pmid: 9523419
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1997 Jan;121(1):65-94
references.pmid: 9000892
references.citation: Br J Addict. 1991 May;86(5):555-8
references.pmid: 1859918
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2008 May 1;40(4):1824-32
references.pmid: 18343687
references.citation: J Gambl Stud. 2005 Winter;21(4):363-78
references.pmid: 16311873
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2009 Dec;20(12):1500-6
references.pmid: 19906125
references.citation: Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012 Sep;7(5):450-63
references.pmid: 26168503
references.citation: Neuroimage. 1997 Jan;5(1):49-62
references.pmid: 9038284
references.citation: J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2013;35(2):132-46
references.pmid: 23289626
references.citation: Cognit Ther Res. 2011 Jun;35(3):266-275
references.pmid: 23894216
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 1997 Nov;9(6):835-47
references.pmid: 23964603
references.citation: J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Aug;85(2):217-30
references.pmid: 12916566
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2008 Nov;33(11):1385-1393
references.pmid: 18706768
references.citation: Addict Behav. 1987;12(3):285-8
references.pmid: 3661283
references.citation: Psychosom Med. 1994 May-Jun;56(3):187-93
references.pmid: 8084962
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 2002 Feb;111(1):180-5
references.pmid: 11866171
references.citation: J Psychol. 1991 Jan;125(1):71-81
references.pmid: 2033561
references.citation: Neuroscientist. 2007 Jun;13(3):214-28
references.pmid: 17519365
references.citation: Curr Dir Psychol Sci. 2010 Dec 1;19(6):406-410
references.pmid: 33746374
references.citation: Neuroimage. 2004 Oct;23(2):483-99
references.pmid: 15488398
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 1998 May;1(1):80-4
references.pmid: 10195114
references.citation: J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 2007 Nov;29(8):842-53
references.pmid: 17852593
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2001 Nov-Dec;26(6):901-15
references.pmid: 11768551
references.citation: Psychophysiology. 2012 May;49(5):672-82
references.pmid: 22335779
references.citation: Annu Rev Neurosci. 2001;24:167-202
references.pmid: 11283309
references.citation: Dev Rev. 2008;28(1):62-77
references.pmid: 18688292
references.citation: Scand J Psychol. 2002 Apr;43(2):123-30
references.pmid: 12004949
references.citation: J Gen Psychol. 1948 Jul;39:15-22
references.pmid: 18889466
references.citation: Cogn Sci. 2013 Jul;37(5):922-35
references.pmid: 23607678
references.citation: J Psychosom Res. 2002 Aug;53(2):647-54
references.pmid: 12169339
references.citation: Eur J Appl Physiol. 2004 Dec;93(3):263-72
references.pmid: 15338220
references.citation: Psychol Assess. 2007 Jun;19(2):176-88
references.pmid: 17563199
references.citation: Psychophysiology. 2012 Jun;49(6):821-8
references.pmid: 22332799
references.citation: Assessment. 2012 Mar;19(1):89-100
references.pmid: 22156717
references.citation: J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2010 Fall;22(4):361-9
references.pmid: 21037119
references.citation: Addict Behav. 2008 Nov;33(11):1409-1415
references.pmid: 18657912
references.citation: Brain. 1999 May;122 ( Pt 5):981-91
references.pmid: 10355680