Risk Propensity, Risk Perception, and Sensation Seeking in US Army Soldiers: A Preliminary Study of a Risk Assessment Task Battery

Abstract

Preliminary evidence shows that Soldiers' propensity to engage in risky behaviors is significantly correlated with the severity of combat experiences during a recent deployment. This relationship was weak & assessed in Soldiers post-deployment. A battery of tasks measuring risk propensity, risk perception, risk aversion, & sensation seeking was assembled to be used in study tracking individual change in risk taking behaviors. The objective of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effects of repeated exposure to the battery and associations between the tasks. Participants were 181 active duty Soldiers not currently engaged in the deployment cycle; 19 of the participants reported having been deployed previously. Participants completed the task battery including the IGT, BART, EVAR, BSSS, & an exploratory measure of invincibility once per day for 3 consecutive days. Results suggest suitability of the task battery for future use given that participants performed at increasing optimal levels on the behavioral measures, remained stable on the trait assessments, & the trait assessments correlated with performance on the behavioral assessments.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2010
Accession Number
ADA511524

Entities

People

  • Amanda M. Kelley
  • Jeremy R. Athy
  • Michael N Dretsch
  • William D. Killgore

Organizations

  • United States Army Aeromedical Research Lab

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accidents
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Brain
  • Brain Injuries
  • Cognitive Science
  • Computers
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Health Services
  • Human Behavior
  • Injury Prevention
  • Instructions
  • Medical Personnel
  • Mental Health
  • Psychiatry
  • Psychology
  • Public Health
  • Traumatic Stress Disorder

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.
  • Team-Based Human-Centered Cognitive Task Decision Making and Information Performance.