INTOLERANCE OF AMBIGUITY AND INTOLERANCE OF UNCERTAINTY AS PERSONALITY FACTORS IN PSYCHOPATHOLOGY AND ADDICTIONS

MOSCA O;Picconi Giulia;Lauriola Marco

2018-01-01

---

Abstract

Despite the fact that Intolerance of Ambiguity (IA) and Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) may appear as an overlapping construct, they tap into different personality characteristics. IU is a hierarchical construct critical for the diagnosis of affective disorders. IA is a multidimensional construct that has implications for social judgments and interpersonal behaviour. The tendency to view people and situations as either "all good" or "all bad" is a hallmark of Borderline Personality Disorders (BPD). Affective disorders like Depression (D) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are characterized by worrying about future uncertain events. It might be tenting to speculate that IA factors (e.g., rigid dichotomizing into fixed categories and resorting to “black-white solutions”) might be higher among BPD. By contrast, IU is supposed to be lower for BPD patients. The present study explored how IU and IA differently characterized BPD, OCD, and D. To this purpose a mixed clinical sample wasrecruited (75 patients with Substance Use Disorder, 33 of which had a comorbid BPD; 34 patients with Depression; 55 patients with OCD). A control group of 164 University students was also included. The groups completed the IA scale (MAAS), the IU scale (IUS), and the Borderline Personality Disorder Checklist (BPDCL). The groups were compared using parametric and non-parametric analyses. Depressed individuals were the highest IU group, followed by BPD. Unexpectedly, IU was lower than the average for OCD patients. Regarding IA, all clinical groups were higher than controls on dichotomous thinking. IA and IU are separate non-overlapping constructs. The inability to contemplate "shades of gray" was a generalized cognitive bias among all clinical groups. This latter finding calls for further investigations of mental rigidity and stereotyping processes across different psychopathologies.