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Nadinda PG, van Laarhoven AIM, Van den Bergh O, Vlaeyen JWS, Peters ML, Evers AWM. Expectancies and avoidance: Towards an integrated model of chronic somatic symptoms. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 164:105808. [PMID: 38986893 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2024] [Revised: 06/23/2024] [Accepted: 07/07/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Putu Gita Nadinda
- Leiden University, the Netherlands; Maastricht University, the Netherlands.
| | | | | | - Johan W S Vlaeyen
- Maastricht University, the Netherlands; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
| | | | - Andrea W M Evers
- Leiden University, the Netherlands; Medical Delta, Leiden University, Technical University Delft, and Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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2
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Mendes A, Greiff S, Bobrowicz K. Approaching lifelong learning: An integrated framework for explaining decision-making processes in personal and professional development. Trends Neurosci Educ 2024; 35:100230. [PMID: 38879202 DOI: 10.1016/j.tine.2024.100230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2023] [Revised: 05/02/2024] [Accepted: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/26/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Individual differences in commitment to lifelong learning, a process aimed at seizing opportunities for self-development, have not been extensively studied. OBJECTIVE Our aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the decision-making mechanisms involved in pursuing learning for self-development. METHOD We conducted a literature review on the taxing nature of cognitive exertion and its impact on the inclination to engage in cognitively demanding tasks for learning, as well as individual differences in sensitivity to aversive or rewarding outcomes inherent in the learning process. RESULTS Our findings indicate that the Expected Value of Control (EVC) theory can elucidate the former, while research on approach-avoidance motivation can shed light on the latter. CONCLUSION We propose and develop an integrated framework that incorporates both lines of research. This framework holds relevance for neuropsychology, experimental psychology, and education psychology, offering theoretical guidance for tailoring learning experiences to enhance engagement and commitment to self-development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angélica Mendes
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
| | - Samuel Greiff
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
| | - Katarzyna Bobrowicz
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
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3
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Gehlenborg J, Miegel F, Moritz S, Scheunemann J, Yassari AH, Jelinek L. Implicit aggressive self-concept in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Results from an approach-avoidance task. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2024; 83:101927. [PMID: 38064875 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2023.101927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 11/21/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have reported higher anger and aggression than healthy individuals in previous studies using explicit measures. However, studies using implicit measures have demonstrated mixed results. The aim of the present study was to investigate implicit aggressiveness in OCD using an approach-avoidance task (AAT). METHODS Seventy-eight patients with OCD and 37 healthy controls underwent structured clinical interviews and measures of anger, OCD, and depressive symptoms as well as a computerized AAT that included aggressive, peaceful, negative, and positive stimuli. RESULTS In line with previous studies, patients with OCD reported higher scores on explicit anger. With respect to the implicit measure, repeated measures ANOVAs did not show any differences in mean reaction times for pushing compared to pulling aggressive versus peaceful and negative versus positive words. However, analyses of specific OCD symptom dimensions demonstrated significantly faster reaction times for pulling compared to pushing aggressive words for patients with high scores in the OCD symptom dimensions obsessing and hoarding. LIMITATIONS Eighty percent of patients with OCD showed psychiatric comorbidities and all were seeking treatment. CONCLUSION The present study supports previous studies reporting the absence of higher aggressiveness in patients with OCD compared to healthy controls using implicit measures. However, in contrast to previous studies, we found an implicit approach bias towards aggressive self-statements for OCD patients scoring high in the symptom dimensions obsessing and hoarding compared to healthy controls. Future studies should further elucidate putative functional relationships between different OCD symptom dimensions and implicit aggressiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josefine Gehlenborg
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistraße 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Franziska Miegel
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistraße 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Steffen Moritz
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistraße 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Jakob Scheunemann
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistraße 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Amir-Hosseyn Yassari
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistraße 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Lena Jelinek
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Martinistraße 52, D-20246, Hamburg, Germany
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Van Bockstaele B. Approach-avoidance tendencies in proactive and reactive aggression. Aggress Behav 2024; 50:e22162. [PMID: 38940213 DOI: 10.1002/ab.22162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2024] [Accepted: 06/15/2024] [Indexed: 06/29/2024]
Abstract
Aggressive behaviors have been related to approach/avoidance tendencies. In our current study, we investigated whether approach/avoidance tendencies for angry versus fearful emotional expressions were differentially predictive of children's reactive and proactive aggression. A total of 116 children (58 girls, Mage = 10.90, standard deviation SDage = 0.98) completed an approach/avoidance task (AAT) and a stimulus-response compatibility task (SRCT), both measuring the extent to which they tended to approach or avoid angry and fearful facial expressions relative to neutral facial expressions. Children also completed a self-report scale of reactive and proactive aggression. Although none of the approach/avoidance tendency scores correlated significantly with either of the aggression scores, stronger approach tendencies for angry faces and stronger avoidance tendencies for fearful faces in the AAT predicted more reactive aggression. Similar yet nonsignificant results were found for proactive aggression, but no effects were replicated in the SRCT. Our results thus invite the conclusion that reactive aggression is characterized by a tendency to approach angry faces and a tendency to avoid fearful faces. However, the poor discrimination between both types of aggression as well as the lack of convergence between the results of our two measures of approach/avoidance tendencies indicates that further research is needed to establish the role of approach/avoidance tendencies for emotional faces as markers for childhood aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bram Van Bockstaele
- Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychological Science, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
- Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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Fricke K, Alexander N, Jacobsen T, Vogel S. Comparison of two reaction-time-based and one foraging-based behavioral approach-avoidance tasks in relation to interindividual differences and their reliability. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22376. [PMID: 38104189 PMCID: PMC10725419 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49864-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Approaching rewards and avoiding punishments is a fundamental aspect of behavior, yet individuals differ in the extent of these behavioral tendencies. One popular method to assess differences in approach-avoidance tendencies and even modify them, is using behavioral tasks in which spontaneous responses to differently valenced stimuli are assessed (e.g., the visual joystick and the manikin task). Understanding whether these reaction-time-based tasks map onto the same underlying constructs, how they predict interindividual differences in theoretically related constructs and how reliable they are, seems vital to make informed judgements about current findings and future studies. In this preregistered study, 168 participants (81 self-identified men, 87 women) completed emotional face versions of these tasks as well as an alternative, foraging-based paradigm, the approach-avoidance-conflict task, and answered self-report questionnaires regarding anxiety, aggression, depressive symptoms, behavioral inhibition and activation. Importantly, approach-avoidance outcome measures of the two reaction-time-based tasks were unrelated with each other, showed little relation to self-reported interindividual differences and had subpar internal consistencies. In contrast, the approach-avoidance-conflict task was related to behavioral inhibition and aggression, and had good internal consistencies. Our study highlights the need for more research into optimizing behavioral approach-avoidance measures when using task-based approach-avoidance measures to assess interindividual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Fricke
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
- Medical School Hamburg, ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Vogel
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
- Medical School Hamburg, ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
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6
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Fricke K, Alexander N, Jacobsen T, Krug H, Wehkamp K, Vogel S. The effects of hydrocortisone and yohimbine on human behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2023; 240:1705-1717. [PMID: 37314480 PMCID: PMC10265560 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-023-06396-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Balancing approach of positive and avoidance of negative stimuli is essential when faced with approach-avoidance conflicts, e.g., situations with both positive and negative outcomes. This balance is disturbed in several mental disorders, e.g., excessive avoidance in anxiety disorders, and heightened approach in substance use disorders. Since stress is assumed to impact these disorders' etiology and maintenance, it seems crucial to understand how stress influences behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts. Indeed, some studies suggested altered approach-avoidance behavior under acute stress, but the mechanism underlying these effects is unknown. OBJECTIVES Investigate how the pharmacological manipulation of major stress mediators (cortisol and noradrenaline) influences task-based approach-avoidance conflict behavior in healthy individuals. METHODS Ninety-six participants (48 women, 48 men) received either 20mg hydrocortisone, 20mg yohimbine, both, or placebo before performing a task targeting foraging under predation in a fully crossed double-blind between-subject design. Moreover, we investigated effects of gender and endogenous testosterone and estradiol levels on approach-avoidance behavior. RESULTS While biological stress markers (cortisol concentration, alpha amylase activity) indicated successful pharmacological manipulation, behavior in approach-avoidance conflicts was not affected as expected. Although yohimbine administration affected risky foraging latency under predation, we found no main effect of hydrocortisone or their interaction on behavior. In contrast, we found gender differences for almost all behavioral outcome measures, which might be explained by differences in endogenous testosterone levels. CONCLUSIONS The investigated major stress mediators were not sufficient to imitate previously shown stress effects on approach-avoidance conflict behavior. We discuss potential reasons for our findings and implications for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kim Fricke
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Nina Alexander
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Philipps University Marburg, Rudolf-Bultmann-Str. 8, 35039, Marburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Jacobsen
- Experimental Psychology Unit, Helmut-Schmidt-University/University of the Federal Armed Forces Hamburg, Holstenhofweg 85, 22043, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Henriette Krug
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Kai Wehkamp
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Susanne Vogel
- Department of Psychology, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
- ICAN Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Medical School Hamburg, Am Kaiserkai 1, 20457, Hamburg, Germany
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7
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Yeates DCM, Leavitt D, Sujanthan S, Khan N, Alushaj D, Lee ACH, Ito R. Parallel ventral hippocampus-lateral septum pathways differentially regulate approach-avoidance conflict. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3349. [PMID: 35688838 PMCID: PMC9187740 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31082-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 06/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to resolve an approach-avoidance conflict is critical to adaptive behavior. The ventral CA3 (vCA3) and CA1 (vCA1) subfields of the ventral hippocampus (vHPC) have been shown to facilitate avoidance and approach behavior, respectively, in the face of motivational conflict, but the neural circuits by which this subfield-specific regulation is implemented is unknown. We demonstrate that two distinct pathways from these subfields to lateral septum (LS) contribute to this divergent control. In Long-Evans rats, chemogenetic inhibition of the vCA3- LS caudodorsal (cd) pathway potentiated approach towards a learned conflict-eliciting stimulus, while inhibition of the vCA1-LS rostroventral (rv) pathway potentiated approach non-specifically. Additionally, vCA3-LScd inhibited animals were less hesitant to explore food during environmental uncertainty, while the vCA1- LSrv inhibited animals took longer to initiate food exploration. These findings suggest that the vHPC influences multiple behavioral systems via differential projections to the LS, which in turn send inhibitory projections to motivational centres of the brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan C M Yeates
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Dallas Leavitt
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Sajeevan Sujanthan
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nisma Khan
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Denada Alushaj
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Andy C H Lee
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada.,Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre, Toronto, ON, M6A 2E1, Canada
| | - Rutsuko Ito
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada. .,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G5, Canada.
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Basanovic J, Dondzilo L, Rudaizky D, Van Bockstaele B. EXPRESS: Reliability and Convergence of Approach/Avoidance Bias Assessment Tasks in the Food Consumption Domain. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2022; 76:968-978. [PMID: 35658700 DOI: 10.1177/17470218221108270] [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: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Theories of motivation posit that people will more readily approach positive or appetitive stimuli, and there has been growing interest in the relationship between biases in approach and avoidance behaviours for food cues and food craving and consumption behaviour. Two paradigms commonly employed by research to investigate this relationship are the Approach Avoidance Task (AAT) and the Stimulus Response Compatibility Task (SRCT). However, it is yet to be determined whether the measures yielded by these tasks reflect the same processes operating in the food craving and consumption domain. The present study examined the internal reliability and convergence of AAT and SRCT paradigms in their assessment of biased approach to unhealthy compared to healthy food stimuli, and whether the measures yielded by the AAT and SRCT paradigms demonstrated associations with individual differences in food craving and eating behaviour. One hundred and twenty-one participants completed an SRCT, an AAT using an arm movement response mode, and an AAT using a key-press response mode. The measures yielded comparable and acceptable levels of internal consistency, but convergence between the different task bias scores was modest or absent, and only approach bias as measured with the AAT task using an arm movement response mode was associated with self-report measures of eating behaviour and trait food craving. Thus, tasks did not converge strongly enough to be considered equivalent measures of approach/avoidance biases, and the AAT task using an arm movement response seems uniquely suited to detecting approach biases argued to characterise maladaptive eating behaviour and craving.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julian Basanovic
- Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia 2720
| | - Laura Dondzilo
- Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia 2720
| | - Daniel Rudaizky
- Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia 2720
| | - Bram Van Bockstaele
- Centre for the Advancement of Research on Emotion, School of Psychological Science, The University of Western Australia 2720
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Hamel L, Cavdaroglu B, Yeates D, Nguyen D, Riaz S, Patterson D, Khan N, Kirolos N, Roper K, Ha QA, Ito R. Cortico-Striatal Control over Adaptive Goal-Directed Responding Elicited by Cues Signaling Sucrose Reward or Punishment. J Neurosci 2022; 42:3811-3822. [PMID: 35351827 PMCID: PMC9087743 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2175-21.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been associated with the expression of adaptive and maladaptive behavior elicited by fear-related and drug-associated cues. However, reported effects of mPFC manipulations on cue-elicited natural reward-seeking and inhibition thereof have been varied, with few studies examining cortico-striatal contributions in tasks that require adaptive responding to cues signaling reward and punishment within the same session. The current study aimed to better elucidate the role of mPFC and NAc subdivisions, and their functional connectivity in cue-elicited adaptive responding using a novel discriminative cue responding task. Male Long-Evans rats learned to lever-press on a VR5 schedule for a discriminative cue signaling reward, and to avoid pressing the same lever in the presence of another cue signaling punishment. Postacquisition, prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL) areas of the mPFC, NAc core, shell, PL-core, or IL-shell circuits were pharmacologically or chemogenetically inhibited while animals performed under (1) nonreinforced (extinction) conditions, where the appetitive and aversive cues were presented in alternating trials alone or as a compound stimulus; and (2) reinforced conditions, whereby cued responding was accompanied by associated outcomes. PL and IL inactivation attenuated nonreinforced and reinforced goal-directed cue responding, whereas NAc core and shell inactivation impaired nonreinforced responding for the appetitive, but not aversive cue. Furthermore, PL-core and IL-shell inhibition disinhibited nonreinforced but not reinforced cue responding. Our findings implicate the mPFC as a site of confluence of motivationally significant cues and outcomes, and in the regulation of nonreinforced cue responding via downstream NAc targets.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The ability to discriminate and respond appropriately to environmental cues that signal availability of reward or punishment is essential for survival. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) have been implicated in adaptive and maladaptive behavior elicited by fear-related and drug-associated cues. However, less is known about the role they play in orchestrating adaptive responses to natural reward and punishment cues within the same behavioral task. Here, using a novel discriminative cue responding task combined with pharmacological or chemogenetic inhibition of mPFC, NAc and mPFC-NAc circuits, we report that mPFC is critically involved in responding to changing cued response-outcomes, both when the responses are reinforced, and nonreinforced. Furthermore, the mPFC coordinates nonreinforced discriminative cue responding by suppressing inappropriate responding via downstream NAc targets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurie Hamel
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Bilgehan Cavdaroglu
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Dylan Yeates
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - David Nguyen
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Sadia Riaz
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Dylan Patterson
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5 Canada
| | - Nisma Khan
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Nardin Kirolos
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Katherine Roper
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Quynh An Ha
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Rutsuko Ito
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
- Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 3G5 Canada
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Basanovic J, Page J, MacLeod C. The attenuation of spider avoidance action tendencies in spider-fearful individuals and its impact on explicit evaluation of spider stimuli. Behav Res Ther 2022; 151:104052. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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11
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Heightened generalized conditioned fear and avoidance in women and underlying psychological processes. Behav Res Ther 2022; 151:104051. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2022.104051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2020] [Revised: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Woody ML, Ladouceur CD, Borrero E, Wang YS, Silk JS. Avoidance Bias to Angry Faces Predicts the Development of Depressive Symptoms among Adolescent Girls. Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol 2022; 50:1657-1669. [PMID: 35870037 PMCID: PMC9308032 DOI: 10.1007/s10802-022-00948-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Interpersonal-motivational models posit that heightened avoidance of aversive social stimuli and diminished approach of appetitive social stimuli increases social withdrawal and reduces positive social interactions, thereby increasing risk for future social anxiety and depression. The current study examined if approach-avoidance biases toward angry and happy faces, measured during the Approach Avoidance Task (AAT), would be associated with the development of adolescent depressive and social anxiety symptoms. At baseline, participants included 129 never-depressed adolescent girls (ages 11-13), two-thirds of whom were at high-risk for internalizing problems due to shy/fearful temperament. Girls reported their depressive and social anxiety symptoms every 6 months for 24 months and completed the AAT at baseline and 24-mo follow-up. Heightened avoidance bias toward angry faces at baseline predicted increases in depressive symptoms across the follow-up, even after accounting for temperament and pubertal status. In contrast, girls with greater depression and social anxiety symptoms at 24-mo follow-up exhibited less avoidance bias for angry faces at the same time point. Findings suggest that avoidance behaviors (i.e., avoiding people or settings associated with angry faces, which are often perceived as hostile, critical, or rejecting) may be a risk factor for depression, above and beyond risk imparted by temperament or advances in puberty. However, with increasing internalizing symptoms, it may become more difficult for adolescents to maintain avoidance for aversive social stimuli, and without the introduction of more adaptive emotion regulation strategies, these biases may continue to increase and maintain risk for internalizing problems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary L Woody
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA.
| | - Cecile D Ladouceur
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Elisa Borrero
- Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA
| | - Yuqi S Wang
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
| | - Jennifer S Silk
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA
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Psychological risk factors and the course of depression and anxiety disorders: A review of 15 years NESDA research. J Affect Disord 2021; 295:1347-1359. [PMID: 34706448 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.08.086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Netherlands Study of Depression and Anxiety (NESDA; Nbaseline=2981) is an ongoing longitudinal, multi-site, naturalistic, cohort study examining the etiology, course, and consequences of depression and anxiety. In this article we synthesize and evaluate fifteen years of NESDA research on prominent psychological risk factors for the onset, persistence, recurrence, and comorbidity of affective disorders. METHODS A narrative review of 62 NESDA articles examining the specificity and predictive value of neuroticism, behavioral inhibition, repetitive negative thinking, experiential avoidance, cognitive reactivity, locus of control, (implicit) self-esteem, (implicit) disorder-specific self-associations, and attentional bias for the course of affective disorders. RESULTS All self-reported risk factors showed cross-sectional relationships with singular and comorbid affective disorders, and prospective relationships with the development and chronicity of depression and anxiety disorders. High neuroticism, low self-esteem, and negative repetitive thinking showed most prominent transdiagnostic relationships, whereas cognitive reactivity showed most pronounced depression-specific associations. Implicit self-esteem showed predictive validity for the persistence and recurrence of anxiety and depression over and above self-reported risk factors. Automatic approach-avoidance behavior and attentional bias for negative, positive, or threat words showed no relationship with affective disorders. CONCLUSION NESDA identified both (a) transdiagnostic factors (e.g., neuroticism, low implicit self-esteem, repetitive negative thinking) that may help explain the comorbidity between affective disorders and overlap in symptoms, and (b) indications for disorder-specific risk factors (e.g., cognitive responsivity) which support the relevance of distinct disorder categories and disorder-specific mechanisms. Thus, the results point to the relevance of both transdiagnostic and disorder-specific targets for therapeutic interventions.
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Deuter CE, Smit J, Kaczmarczyk M, Wingenfeld K, Otte C, Kuehl LK. Approach-avoidance tendencies in depression and childhood trauma: No effect of noradrenergic stimulation. COMPREHENSIVE PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY 2021; 8:100077. [PMID: 35757673 PMCID: PMC9216672 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpnec.2021.100077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Revised: 07/18/2021] [Accepted: 07/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are a major risk factor for major depressive disorder (MDD) in later life. Both conditions are characterized by dysregulations in the noradrenergic system related which again could represent a mediating mechanism for deficits in affective processing and behavioral functioning. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study we tested the hypothesis that ACE and MDD are characterized by aberrant approach-avoidance (AA) tendencies and that these are mitigated after noradrenergic stimulation with yohimbine. In a mixed-measures, fully crossed design, participants (N = 131, 73 women) with/without MDD and with/without ACE received a single-dose of yohimbine or placebo on different days, followed by an AA task. We found modulation of AA tendencies by the emotional valence of target images, yet there were no effects of group or treatment. From these results, we conclude that AA tendencies are not critically affected by MDD or ACE and that the noradrenergic system is not substantially involved in this behavior.
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15
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McNamara TA, Ito R. Relationship between voluntary ethanol drinking and approach-avoidance biases in the face of motivational conflict: novel sex-dependent associations in rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 2021; 238:1817-1832. [PMID: 33783557 DOI: 10.1007/s00213-021-05810-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
RATIONALE Aberrant approach-avoidance conflict processing may contribute to compulsive seeking that characterizes addiction. Exploration of the relationship between drugs of abuse and approach-avoidance behavior remains limited, especially with ethanol. OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of voluntary ethanol consumption on approach-avoidance conflict behavior and to examine the potential approach/avoidance bias to predict drinking in male and female rats. METHODS Long-Evans rats consumed ethanol for 5 weeks under the intermittent access two-bottle choice (IA2BC) paradigm. Approach-avoidance tendencies were assessed before and after IA2BC drinking using a previously established cued approach-avoidance conflict maze task and the elevated plus maze (EPM). RESULTS Female rats displayed higher consumption of and preference for ethanol than males. In the conflict task, males showed greater approach bias towards cues predicting conflict than females. In females only, a median split and regression analysis of cued-conflict preference scores revealed that the more conflict-avoidant group displayed higher intake and preference for ethanol in the first few weeks of drinking. In both sexes, ethanol drinking did not affect cued-conflict preference, but ethanol exposure led to increased time spent in the central hub in the males only. Finally, anxiety levels in EPM predicted subsequent onset of ethanol drinking in males only. CONCLUSIONS Our results highlight sex and individual differences in both drinking and approach-avoidance bias in the face of cued conflict and further suggest that cued-conflict preference should be examined as a potential predictor of ethanol drinking. Ethanol exposure may also affect the timing of decision-making in the face of conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanner A McNamara
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada
| | - Rutsuko Ito
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada. .,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto Scarborough, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario, M1C 1A4, Canada.
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16
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Buades-Rotger M, Solbakk AK, Liebrand M, Endestad T, Funderud I, Siegwardt P, Enter D, Roelofs K, Krämer UM. Patients with Ventromedial Prefrontal Lesions Show an Implicit Approach Bias to Angry Faces. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 33:1069-1081. [PMID: 34428788 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Damage to the ventromedial PFC (VMPFC) can cause maladaptive social behavior, but the cognitive processes underlying these behavioral changes are still uncertain. Here, we tested whether patients with acquired VMPFC lesions show altered approach-avoidance tendencies to emotional facial expressions. Thirteen patients with focal VMPFC lesions and 31 age- and gender-matched healthy controls performed an implicit approach-avoidance task in which they either pushed or pulled a joystick depending on stimulus color. Whereas controls avoided angry faces, VMPFC patients displayed an incongruent response pattern characterized by both increased approach and reduced avoidance of angry facial expressions. The approach bias was stronger in patients with higher self-reported impulsivity and disinhibition and in those with larger lesions. We further used linear ballistic accumulator modeling to investigate latent parameters underlying approach-avoidance decisions. Controls displayed negative drift rates when approaching angry faces, whereas VMPFC lesions abolished this pattern. In addition, VMPFC patients had weaker response drifts than controls during avoidance. Finally, patients showed reduced drift rate variability and shorter nondecision times, indicating impulsive and rigid decision-making. Our findings thus suggest that VMPFC damage alters the pace of evidence accumulation in response to social signals, eliminating a default, protective avoidant bias and facilitating a dysfunctional approach behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Anne-Kristin Solbakk
- University of Oslo.,Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet.,Helgeland Hospital, Mosjøen, Norway
| | | | - Tor Endestad
- University of Oslo.,Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet.,Helgeland Hospital, Mosjøen, Norway
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Çavdaroğlu B, Riaz S, Yeung EHL, Lee ACH, Ito R. The ventral hippocampus is necessary for cue-elicited, but not outcome driven approach-avoidance conflict decisions: a novel operant choice decision-making task. Neuropsychopharmacology 2021; 46:632-642. [PMID: 33154580 PMCID: PMC8027851 DOI: 10.1038/s41386-020-00898-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2020] [Revised: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Approach-avoidance conflict is induced when an organism encounters a stimulus that carries both positive and negative attributes. Accumulating evidence implicates the ventral hippocampus (VH) in the detection and resolution of approach-avoidance conflict, largely on the basis of maze-based tasks assaying innate and conditioned responses to situations of conflict. However, its role in discrete trial approach-avoidance decision-making has yet to be elucidated. In this study, we designed a novel cued operant conflict decision-making task in which rats were required to choose and respond for a low reward option or high reward option paired with varying shock intensities on a differential reinforcement of low rates of responding schedule. Post training, the VH was chemogenetically inhibited while animals performed the task with the usual outcomes delivered, and with the presentation of cues associated with the reward vs. conflict options only (extinction condition). We found that VH inhibition led to an avoidance of the conflict option and longer latency to choose this option when decision-making was being made on the basis of cues alone with no outcomes. Consistent with these findings, VH-inhibited animals spent more time in the central component of the elevated plus maze (EPM), indicating a potential deficit in decision-making under innate forms of approach-avoidance conflict. Taken together, these findings implicate the VH in cue-driven approach-avoidance decisions in the face of motivational conflict.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bilgehan Çavdaroğlu
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada
| | - Sadia Riaz
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada
| | - Elton H. L. Yeung
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada
| | - Andy C. H. Lee
- grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON Canada ,grid.17063.330000 0001 2157 2938Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, ON Canada
| | - Rutsuko Ito
- Department of Psychology (Scarborough), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. .,Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
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18
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Noël X, Dubuson M, Rougier M, Lelard T, Mouras H, Kornreich C, Wyckmans F, Pereira M, Chatard A, Jaafari N, Campanella S. Distinct Whole-Body Movements in Response to Alcohol and Sexual Content in Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2021; 45:620-629. [PMID: 33486791 DOI: 10.1111/acer.14557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Spontaneous motor responses of approach and avoidance toward stimuli are important in characterizing psychopathological conditions, including alcohol use disorder (AUD). However, divergent results have been reported, possibly due to confounded parameters (e.g., using a symbolic vs. a sensorimotor task, implementation of approach-avoidance as a measure vs. a manipulation). METHODS We studied whole-body/posturometric changes by using a sensorimotor measure relying on embodied cognition principles to assess forward (approach) and backward (avoidance) spontaneous leaning movements. Over a 12-second period, 51 male patients with AUD and 29 male control participants were instructed to stand still in response to both alcohol and sexual visual content. Patients with AUD were then divided into "abstainers" and "relapsers," depending on their continuous abstinence at 2 weeks postdischarge (obtained via a telephone follow-up interview). The effects of the group, the stimulus type, the experimental period, and their interactions on the posturometric changes were tested using mixed Analyses of variance (ANOVAs), with a significance threshold set at 0.05. RESULTS Contrary to our expectations, patients and controls did not show significant difference in their forward/backward micromovements while passively viewing alcohol or sexual content (p > 0.1). However, in line with our hypothesis, patients who relapsed several weeks following discharge from the rehabilitation program were significantly more reactive and more likely to lean back during the first seconds of viewing alcohol cues (p = 0.002). Further, "relapsers" were more likely to lean forward during exposure to sexual content than participants who remained abstinent (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Among individuals with AUD, there are distinct pattern of spontaneous movements that differentiate "abstainers" and "relapsers," findings that can be understood in light of existing data and theories on action tendencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xavier Noël
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Macha Dubuson
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Marine Rougier
- IPSY, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.,Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Thierry Lelard
- UR-UPJV: APERE 3300, Adaptations Physiologiques à l'Exercice et Réadaptation à l'Effort, UFR des Sciences du Sport, Université de Picardie-Jules-Verne, Amiens, France
| | - Harold Mouras
- UR-UPJV: LNFP 4559, Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies, Centre Universitaire de Recherche en Santé, Amiens Cedex 1, France
| | - Charles Kornreich
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Florent Wyckmans
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Maylis Pereira
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Bruxelles, Belgium
| | - Armand Chatard
- UMR-7295 CNRS, Faculté de Psychologie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Némat Jaafari
- Unité de Recherche Clinique Pierre Deniker du Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit, INSERM CIC-P 1402, Poitiers, France.,INSERM U 1084, Laboratoire Expérimental et Clinique en Neurosciences, University of Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Salvatore Campanella
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Médicale et d'Addictologie, ULB Neuroscience Institute (UNI), CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.), Bruxelles, Belgium
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Anderson LM, Berg H, Brown TA, Menzel J, Reilly EE. The Role of Disgust in Eating Disorders. Curr Psychiatry Rep 2021; 23:4. [PMID: 33404776 PMCID: PMC7895454 DOI: 10.1007/s11920-020-01217-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW In current review, we evaluate the current literature examining the role of disgust in eating disorders (EDs), and provide a theoretical model designed to inform the study and treatment of disgust-based symptoms in EDs. RECENT FINDINGS Findings from this review suggest that aberrant disgust-conditioning processes represent promising but understudied mechanisms that may contribute to the risk and maintenance of core eating disorder (ED) psychopathology. In addition, preliminary evidence supports the use of interventions designed to target aversive disgust cues and disrupt maladaptive disgust-based conditioning that may maintain eating pathology. However, experimental studies designed to elucidate the role of disgust and aversive learning processes remain limited. Disgust is a promising risk and maintenance factor in EDs. Future systematic investigation is needed to examine disgust-based processes at a mechanistic level in order to better understand the links between disgust, avoidance behaviors, and EDs. Further investigation of the mechanistic role of disgust in EDs is warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa M. Anderson
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, 2450 Riverside Avenue South, F229, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA
| | - Hannah Berg
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, N218 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Tiffany A. Brown
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California - San Diego, 4510 Executive Drive, Suite 315, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Jessie Menzel
- Department of Psychiatry, University of California - San Diego, 4510 Executive Drive, Suite 315, San Diego, CA 92121, USA
| | - Erin E. Reilly
- Department of Psychology, Hofstra University, 210 Hauser Hall, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA
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20
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McNaughton N. Personality neuroscience and psychopathology: should we start with biology and look for neural-level factors? PERSONALITY NEUROSCIENCE 2020; 3:e4. [PMID: 32524065 PMCID: PMC7253689 DOI: 10.1017/pen.2020.5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2019] [Revised: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
"Personality is an abstraction used to explain consistency and coherency in an individual's pattern of affects, cognitions, desires and behaviors [ABCDs]" (Revelle, 2007, p. 37). But personality research currently provides more a taxonomy of patterns than theories of fundamental causes. Psychiatric disorders can be viewed as involving extremes of personality but are diagnosed via symptom patterns not biological causes. Such surface-level taxonomic description is necessary for science, but consistent predictive explanation requires causal theory. Personality constructs, and especially their clinical extremes, should predict variation in ABCD patterns, with parsimony requiring the lowest effective causal level of explanation. But, even biologically inspired personality theories currently use an intuitive language-based approach for scale development that lacks biological anchors. I argue that teleonomic "purpose" explains the organisation and outputs of conserved brain emotion systems, where high activation is adaptive in specific situations but is otherwise maladaptive. Simple modulators of whole-system sensitivity evolved because the requisite adaptive level can vary across people and time. Sensitivity to a modulator is an abstract predictive personality factor that operates at the neural level but provides a causal explanation of both coherence and occasional apparent incoherence in ABCD variation. Neuromodulators impact all levels of the "personality hierarchy" from metatraits to aspects: stability appears altered by serotonergic drugs, neuroticism by ketamine and trait anxiety by simple anxiolytic drugs. Here, the tools of psychiatry transfer to personality research and imply both interaction between levels and oblique factor mappings to ABCD. On this view, much psychopathology reflects extremes of neural-level personality factors, and we can view much pharmacotherapy as temporarily altering personality. So, particularly for personality factors linked to basic emotions and their disorders, I think we should start with evolutionary biology and look directly at conserved neural-level modulators for our explanatory personality constructs and only invoke higher order, emergent, explanations when neural-level explanation fails.
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Affiliation(s)
- Neil McNaughton
- Department of Psychology, Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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