What Triggers Mental Disorders? Examining the Role of Increasing Relationships between Self-Regulatory Efficacy Expectations and Behavioral Intensity

Background: Extreme promotion and prevention focus (foci) of the value need can lead to mental disorders due to a reinforcement mechanism between efficacy expectations (EEs) and behavioral intensity (BI) that then sets in. A reliable measurement instrument capturing the onset of this reinforcement could facilitate disorder prevention. Additionally, the needs for truth and control may also trigger mental disorders in extremes of their foci, though these foci lack conceptualization. Thus, designing foci for each need, we developed both an item pool to assess EEs and BI of all foci across all needs and a procedure for compiling group-specific scales from it to capture EE–BI correlations for preventive purposes. We examined both the overall suitability of the pool and of the procedure to compile those scales from it that are reliable, valid, and most probably capable of capturing the EE–BI reinforcement onset in a specific group (here, our calibration sample, N = 198, 77% female). Methods: All eligible scales from the item pool were tested for cubic EE–BI correlations (high majorities of the expected cubic shape indicated item pool suitability), and those yielding the most cubic relationships were assessed in nonlinear PLS structural equation modeling with regard to their significance, reliability, and validity. Results: The item pool and procedure were largely suitable, producing reliable, valid scales where EEs significantly predicted BI cubically. Conclusions: The item pool and the method for identifying group-specific scales mark an important step toward better risk group identification. Further studies are needed to determine their actual predictive relevance for mental disorders.