Second, theoretical work suggests that trait disinhibition, defined as behavior ‘arising from lessened controls on response inclinations’, broadly confers risk for externalizing disorders (Gorenstein & Newman, 1980, p. 302, Sher & Trull, 1994; Nigg, 2003). Specifically, disinhibition is attributable to an imbalance between reward sensitivity and behavioral (under)control, resulting in greater consideration being given to proximal outcomes (e.g. getting drunk/high) over more distal outcomes (e.g. social or occupational goals). Reward sensitivity maps onto appetitive motivation (e.g. for getting drunk/high; Gray, 1990) and may be specific to externalizing disorders. In contrast, behavioral undercontrol maps onto executive functioning (Miyake et al. 2000), or executive control (Nigg, 2003), and appears to more broadly underlie psychopathology.
