1
|
Vandael K, Meulders A, Peters M, Vervliet B. The effect of experimentally induced positive affect on the generalization of pain-related avoidance and relief. Behav Res Ther 2023; 165:104324. [PMID: 37126993 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2023.104324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/26/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Avoiding pain-associated activities can prevent tissue damage. However, when avoidance spreads excessively (or overgeneralizes) to safe activities, it may culminate into chronic pain disability. Gaining insight into ways to reduce overgeneralization is therefore crucial. An important factor to consider in this is relief, as it reinforces avoidance behavior and therefore may be pivotal in making avoidance persist. The current study investigated whether experimentally induced positive affect can reduce generalization of pain-related avoidance and relief. We used a conditioning task in which participants (N = 50) learned that certain stimuli were followed by pain, while another was not. Subsequently, they learned an avoidance response that effectively omitted pain with one stimulus, but was ineffective with another. Next, one group of participants performed an exercise to induce positive affect, while another group performed a control exercise. During the critical generalization test, novel stimuli that were perceptually similar to the original stimuli were presented. Results showed that both avoidance and relief generalized to novel stimuli, thus replicating previous work. However, increasing positive affect did not reduce generalization of avoidance, nor relief.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
| | - Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands; Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Madelon Peters
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Cooper SE, Dunsmoor JE, Koval KA, Pino ER, Steinman SA. Test–retest
reliability of human threat conditioning and generalization across a
1‐to‐2‐week
interval. Psychophysiology 2022; 60:e14242. [PMID: 36546410 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2022] [Revised: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Given the increasing use of threat conditioning and generalization for clinical-translational research efforts, establishing test-retest reliability of these paradigms is necessary. Specifically, it is an empirical question whether the same participant evinces a similar generalization gradient of conditioned responses across two sessions with the identical contingencies and stimuli. Here, 46 human volunteers participated in an identical auditory threat acquisition and generalization protocol at two sessions separated by 1-to-2 weeks. Skin conductance responses (SCR) and trial-by-trial shock risk ratings served as primary measures. We used linear mixed effects modeling to test differential threat responses and generalization gradients, and Generalizability (G) theory coefficients as our primary formal assessment of test-retest reliability of intraindividual stability and change across time. Results showed largely invariant differential conditioning and generalization gradients across time. G coefficients indicated fair reliability for acquisition and generalization SCR. In contrast, risk rating reliabilities were mixed, and reliability was particularly low for acquisition risk ratings. Our findings generally support reliability of the threat conditioning and generalization paradigm for shorter test-retest intervals and highlight their utility for assessments of behavioral interventions in mental health research, but challenges remain and further work is needed. Threat conditioning and generalization tasks are increasingly used for translational efforts to improve behavioral interventions, and thus test-retest reliability for these tasks needs to be established. Our results support the test-retest reliability of threat conditioning and generalization over a relatively short (1-to-2 week) interval, but this depends on the measure used (physiological vs. self-report). Overall, these tasks could be appropriate for repeated testing over the course of a short-duration intervention study, but more research is needed, particularly in regard to longer-duration studies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Samuel E. Cooper
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA
| | - Joseph E. Dunsmoor
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA
- Institute for Neuroscience University of Texas at Austin Austin Texas USA
| | - Kathleen A. Koval
- Department of Psychology West Virginia University Morgantown West Virginia USA
| | - Emma R. Pino
- Department of Psychology West Virginia University Morgantown West Virginia USA
| | - Shari A. Steinman
- Department of Psychology West Virginia University Morgantown West Virginia USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Fan M, Zhang D, Zhao S, Xie Q, Chen W, Jie J, Wang Y, Zheng X. Stimulus diversity increases category-based fear generalization and the effect of intolerance of uncertainty. Behav Res Ther 2022; 159:104201. [PMID: 36323054 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 08/11/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Fear generalization refers to conditioned fear responses extending to related stimuli and fear overgeneralization is a key feature of pathological anxiety. Along with perception similarity, conceptual relations affect fear generalization. We investigated whether stimulus diversity-an important principle of category-based induction-influences fear generalization. Induction studies have shown that generalization from a premise involving diverse instances is stronger than that from non-diverse instances. We adopted this framework for fear learning and established two groups. The diverse group developed fear in response to diverse instances from one category, while the non-diverse group acquired fear of non-diverse instances from the same category. An effect of stimulus diversity was observed in shock-expectancy ratings, with the diverse group displaying higher fear generalization than the non-diverse group. We also tested whether intolerance of uncertainty (IU) might affect the difference in fear generalization between the two conditions. Individuals with higher IU showed reduced difference in fear generalization between two conditions, mainly driven by heightened fear generalization to novel stimulus with ambiguous threat levels in the non-diverse condition. This study helps illustrate the mechanisms behind differential category-based fear generalization and provides a potential explanation for why higher IU individuals may develop anxiety disorders following trauma.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Min Fan
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Donghuan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Shaochen Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China; China People's Police University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Qi Xie
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jing Jie
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, China
| | - Yufan Wang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xifu Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences (South China Normal University), Ministry of Education, China; School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Yıldırım JC, Bahtiyar B. The Association between Metacognitions and Worry: The Mediator Role of Experiential Avoidance Strategies. THE JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 156:552-567. [PMID: 35981237 DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2022.2107977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Although experiential avoidance is emphasized as an underlying factor for persevering worry, limited empirical attempt exists to integrate this concept with cognitive models explaining pathological worry. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the mediator role of different experiential avoidance strategies in the relationship between metacognitions and worry-related symptoms. The study was conducted with a community sample consisting of 563 volunteer participants (405 females, 158 males) whose ages ranged between 18 and 40 (M = 25.56, SD = 4.72). Online data collection of self-report measures including demographic information form, Metacognitions Questionnaire-30, Multidimensional Experiential Avoidance Questionnaire, and Penn State Worry Questionnaire was applied. The results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that experiential avoidance predicted worry beyond metacognition. In addition, particular avoidant strategies, aversion/avoidance, procrastination, distraction, and distress endurance explained the associations between positive and negative metacognitive beliefs and worry. Current findings point to different avoidant strategies that might play a role in the intensification and maintenance of worry and suggest the benefits of incorporating acceptance and commitment-based interventions with metacognitive therapy for better therapeutic outcomes.
Collapse
|