| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of oral contraceptives (OCs) on
emotional reactivity and cognitive ability. Previous research has suggested that OC users
may experience blunted positive affect (PA) reactivity and that some women also
experience negative mood side effects from OCs. In the present study, 149 participants
(58 OC users, 46 nonusers, and 38 men) viewed three different emotional videos paired
with music intended to evoke either happiness, sadness, or fear. After each emotional
video, participants completed a facial emotions recognition task, and a GoNogo task of
inhibition. The hypothesis that women taking OCs would have lower PA reactivity
compared to nonusers and men was not supported. However, a sex difference in negative
emotional reactivity (women > men) was found and was strongest in OC users (OC users
> men) and longer duration OC users. While a small sample size reduces validity of the
findings, the hypothesis that OC users with current negative mood side effects would
have faster response times than nonusers and men was not supported. However, a sex
difference was evident in that men had slower response times to negative faces. Also,
men had slower response times than OC users, after sad and fear mood inductions. There
was partial support for the third hypothesis that OC users would have more errors of
commission than nonusers and men. OC users (and women as a group) made more errors
of commission during the GoNogo task compared to men, but only after the happy mood
induction. Also, OC users with current negative mood side effects had fewer errors of
commission after the sad mood induction compared to OC users with no mood side
effects. Possible mechanisms are discussed for OC-associated impulsivity and for the possible reversal of such an effect in women experiencing OC mood side effects. | en_US |
