Cargando…

The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure

Risk taking is a complex heterogeneous construct that has proven difficult to assess, especially when using behavioral tasks. We present an exploratory investigation of new measure–the Assessment of Physical Risk Taking (APRT). APRT produces a variety of different outcome scores and is designed as a...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Smith, Edward A., Benning, Stephen D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8553120/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34710134
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258826
_version_ 1784591518916411392
author Smith, Edward A.
Benning, Stephen D.
author_facet Smith, Edward A.
Benning, Stephen D.
author_sort Smith, Edward A.
collection PubMed
description Risk taking is a complex heterogeneous construct that has proven difficult to assess, especially when using behavioral tasks. We present an exploratory investigation of new measure–the Assessment of Physical Risk Taking (APRT). APRT produces a variety of different outcome scores and is designed as a comprehensive assessment of the probability of success and failure, and magnitude of reward and punishment of different types of simulated physically risky behaviors. Effects observed on the simulated behaviors are hypothesized to reflect similar effects on real world physical risks. Participants (N = 224) completed APRT in a laboratory setting, half of whom had a 1.5 s delay interposed between button presses. Exploratory analyses utilizing generalized estimating equations examined the main effects and two-way interactions among five within-subject factors, as well as two-way interactions between the within-subject factors and Delay across four APRT outcome scores. Results indicated that Injury Magnitude and Injury Probability exerted stronger effects than any of the other independent variables. Participants also completed several self-report measures of risk taking and associated constructs (e.g., sensation seeking), which were correlated with APRT scores to assess the preliminary convergent and divergent validity of the new measure. After correcting for multiple comparisons, APRT scores correlated with self-reported risk taking in thrilling, physically dangerous activities specifically, but only for those who did not have a delay between APRT responses. This promising exploratory investigation highlights the need for future studies comparing APRT to other behavioral risk taking tasks, examining the robustness of the observed APRT effects, and investigating how APRT may predict real-world physical risk taking.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8553120
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-85531202021-10-29 The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure Smith, Edward A. Benning, Stephen D. PLoS One Research Article Risk taking is a complex heterogeneous construct that has proven difficult to assess, especially when using behavioral tasks. We present an exploratory investigation of new measure–the Assessment of Physical Risk Taking (APRT). APRT produces a variety of different outcome scores and is designed as a comprehensive assessment of the probability of success and failure, and magnitude of reward and punishment of different types of simulated physically risky behaviors. Effects observed on the simulated behaviors are hypothesized to reflect similar effects on real world physical risks. Participants (N = 224) completed APRT in a laboratory setting, half of whom had a 1.5 s delay interposed between button presses. Exploratory analyses utilizing generalized estimating equations examined the main effects and two-way interactions among five within-subject factors, as well as two-way interactions between the within-subject factors and Delay across four APRT outcome scores. Results indicated that Injury Magnitude and Injury Probability exerted stronger effects than any of the other independent variables. Participants also completed several self-report measures of risk taking and associated constructs (e.g., sensation seeking), which were correlated with APRT scores to assess the preliminary convergent and divergent validity of the new measure. After correcting for multiple comparisons, APRT scores correlated with self-reported risk taking in thrilling, physically dangerous activities specifically, but only for those who did not have a delay between APRT responses. This promising exploratory investigation highlights the need for future studies comparing APRT to other behavioral risk taking tasks, examining the robustness of the observed APRT effects, and investigating how APRT may predict real-world physical risk taking. Public Library of Science 2021-10-28 /pmc/articles/PMC8553120/ /pubmed/34710134 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258826 Text en © 2021 Smith, Benning https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Smith, Edward A.
Benning, Stephen D.
The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
title The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
title_full The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
title_fullStr The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
title_full_unstemmed The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
title_short The assessment of physical risk taking: Preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
title_sort assessment of physical risk taking: preliminary construct validation of a new behavioral measure
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8553120/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34710134
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258826
work_keys_str_mv AT smithedwarda theassessmentofphysicalrisktakingpreliminaryconstructvalidationofanewbehavioralmeasure
AT benningstephend theassessmentofphysicalrisktakingpreliminaryconstructvalidationofanewbehavioralmeasure
AT smithedwarda assessmentofphysicalrisktakingpreliminaryconstructvalidationofanewbehavioralmeasure
AT benningstephend assessmentofphysicalrisktakingpreliminaryconstructvalidationofanewbehavioralmeasure