Why people struggle to resist temptations across different mental health conditions
Temptation Resistance Failures: Transdiagnostic Features and Etiological Influences Across Externalizing and Internalizing Disorders
Using frequent real-life reports, researchers will learn how people with various mental health problems experience urges and whether they can resist them to find shared patterns.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Newark, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11320904 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, you'll be asked several times a day—usually via phone prompts—to report on current temptations, how strong they feel, and whether you resisted them. The team will combine these momentary reports from people with issues such as binge eating, bulimia, substance cravings, or compulsive behaviors to look for common patterns. They will test whether difficulty resisting urges links to broader traits like externalizing problems and disinhibition rather than only to a single diagnosis. Findings aim to pinpoint everyday situations and features that make resisting urges harder so future treatments can target them.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people who experience frequent strong urges or have conditions like binge eating, bulimia, substance misuse, compulsive behaviors, or related mood/anxiety problems.
Not a fit: People without recurring urges or diagnosed psychiatric problems, or those unable to engage with frequent smartphone prompts, are unlikely to gain direct benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could lead to treatments that address common difficulties resisting urges across multiple mental health conditions.
How similar studies have performed: Experience-sampling methods have provided useful insights within single disorders, but applying them across many conditions together in a transdiagnostic way is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Newark, UNITED STATES
- Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences — Newark, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Zald, David Harold — Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Zald, David Harold
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.