When do traumatic experiences alter risk-taking behavior? A machine learning analysis of reports from refugees

Exposure to traumatic stressors and subsequent trauma-related mental changes may alter a person’s risk-taking behavior. It is unclear whether this relationship depends on the specific types of traumatic experiences. Moreover, the association has never been tested in displaced individuals with substantial levels of traumatic experiences. The present study assessed risk-taking behavior in 56 displaced individuals by means of the balloon analogue risk task (BART). Exposure to traumatic events, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression were assessed by means of semi-structured interviews. Using a novel statistical approach (stochastic gradient boosting machines), we analyzed predictors of risk-taking behavior. Exposure to organized violence was associated with less risk-taking, as indicated by fewer adjusted pumps in the BART, as was the reported experience of physical abuse and neglect, emotional abuse, and peer violence in childhood. However, civil traumatic stressors, as well as other events during childhood were associated with lower risk taking. This suggests that the association between global risk-taking behavior and exposure to traumatic stress depends on the particular type of the stressors that have been experienced.

暴露于创伤性应激源及后续出现的创伤相关精神改变，可能会改变个体的冒险行为倾向。目前尚不明确此种关联是否取决于创伤性经历的具体类型。此外，该关联从未在创伤经历程度较为严重的流离失所人群中得到检验。本研究借助气球模拟冒险任务（balloon analogue risk task, BART），对56名流离失所者的冒险行为倾向进行了评估。研究人员通过半结构化访谈，评估了参与者的创伤性事件暴露情况、创伤后应激障碍（posttraumatic stress disorder, PTSD）症状与抑郁症状。本研究采用一种新型统计方法——随机梯度提升机（stochastic gradient boosting machines），对冒险行为倾向的预测因素展开了分析。研究结果显示，暴露于有组织暴力与更低的冒险行为相关，具体体现为BART任务中的调整后吹气球次数更少；童年时期报告存在躯体虐待与忽视、情感虐待及同伴暴力经历的情况，也呈现出相同的关联。然而，平民创伤性应激源以及童年时期的其他经历却与更低的冒险行为相关。这表明，整体冒险行为与创伤性应激暴露之间的关联，取决于个体所经历的应激源的具体类型。