Recommended Readings — PASAT-c Research Platform

2003

Foundational
paper

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A Modified Computer Version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) as a Laboratory-Based Stressor

Lejuez, C. W., Kahler, C. W., & Brown, R. A.

The Behavior Therapist, 26(4), 290–293.

Why this article is recommended: This is the original publication introducing the PASAT-c. It establishes the three-level escalating design, the unannounced Level 1–2 transition, and the Level 3 escape option, and it documents the task's effects across self-report, physiological, and behavioral channels. It also introduces latency-to-quit as the index of distress tolerance and discusses how to analyze it. Essential reading for any researcher planning to use the PASAT-c.

2005

Clinical
application

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Distress Tolerance as a Predictor of Early Treatment Dropout in a Residential Substance Abuse Treatment Facility

Daughters, S. B., Lejuez, C. W., Bornovalova, M. A., Kahler, C. W., Strong, D. R., & Brown, R. A.

Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 114(4), 729–734.

Why this article is recommended: A flagship demonstration of the PASAT-c's clinical predictive validity. Using the PASAT-c as the measure of psychological distress tolerance, the authors found that lower tolerance predicted early dropout from residential substance-abuse treatment above and beyond relevant self-report variables, while physical distress tolerance did not. The study shows why Level 3 persistence matters clinically and how the task is used in applied research.

2011

Psychometrics
& validity

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Shared Variance Among Self-Report and Behavioral Measures of Distress Intolerance

McHugh, R. K., Daughters, S. B., Lejuez, C. W., Murray, H. W., Hearon, B. A., Gorka, S. M., & Otto, M. W.

Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(3), 266–275.

Why this article is recommended: Key reading for interpreting PASAT-c scores. Across four samples, behavioral measures of distress intolerance (including the PASAT-c) correlated with one another but diverged from self-report measures — clarifying that behavioral and questionnaire methods capture related but distinct facets of the construct. The paper also documents the PASAT-c's ceiling effect, which motivated newer titrated versions of the task.

2011

Theoretical
reference

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Distress Tolerance: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications

Zvolensky, M. J., Bernstein, A., & Vujanovic, A. A. (Eds.).

New York: The Guilford Press.

Why this article is recommended: The definitive edited volume situating the PASAT-c within the broader distress-tolerance construct. It synthesizes how distress tolerance has been conceptualized and measured, reviews behavioral persistence tasks alongside self-report scales, and links the construct to a range of disorders and to treatments that target it. The ideal starting point for the theoretical and clinical context behind the task.