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Yıldırım M, Çağış ZG, Gómez-Salgado J. Intolerance of Uncertainty, Job Satisfaction and Work Performance in Turkish Healthcare Professionals: Mediating Role of Psychological Capital. Int J Public Health 2024; 69:1607127. [PMID: 38978830 PMCID: PMC11228175 DOI: 10.3389/ijph.2024.1607127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective: Psychological capital refers to internal resources including self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience to overcome adverse life events. The current study sought to examine the mediating role of psychological capital in the relationship between intolerance of uncertainty and job satisfaction and work performance in healthcare professionals. Methods: Participants were 302 healthcare professionals [48% females; M(SD) age = 34.0 (7.5)] and completed measures of intolerance of uncertainty, psychological capital, work performance, and job satisfaction. Results: The findings indicated that intolerance of uncertainty was negatively correlated with psychological capital, work performance, and job satisfaction, whereas psychological capital was positively correlated with job satisfaction and work performance. More importantly, the findings revealed that these relationships were mediated by psychological capital. Conclusion: The results provide several contributions that help to understand the role of psychological capital in the relationship between intolerance to uncertainty and job satisfaction and work performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murat Yıldırım
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Ağrı, Türkiye
- Department of Social and Educational Sciences, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - Zafer Güney Çağış
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Ağrı İbrahim Çeçen University, Ağrı, Türkiye
| | - Juan Gómez-Salgado
- Department of Sociology, Social Work and Public Health, Faculty of Labour Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
- Safety and Health Postgraduate Programme, Universidad Espíritu Santo, Guayaquil, Ecuador
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Kesim IE, Pittig A, Wong AHK. The effect of typicality training on costly safety behavior generalization. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2024:10.1007/s00426-024-01979-0. [PMID: 38822864 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-024-01979-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Typicality asymmetry in generalization refers to enhanced fear generalization when trained with typical compared to atypical exemplars. Typical exemplars are highly representative of their category, whereas atypical exemplars are less representative. Individual risk factors, such as trait anxiety, attenuate this effect, due to the high level of threat ambiguity of atypical exemplars. Although recent research provided evidence for generalization of safety behavior, it is unclear whether this generalization also follows typicality asymmetry. This study examined (1) whether participants exhibited typicality asymmetry in the generalization of safety behavior and (2) whether this effect would be attenuated by individual risk factors, such as intolerance of uncertainty and trait anxiety. METHODS Participants were trained with either typical (Typical group, n = 53) or atypical (Atypical group, n = 55) exemplars in a fear and avoidance conditioning procedure. Participants acquired differential conditioned fear and costly safety behavior to the threat- and safety-related exemplars. In a following Generalization Test, the degree of safety behavior to novel exemplars of the same categories was tested. RESULTS The Atypical group showed greater differential safety behavior responses compared to the Typical group. Higher trait anxiety was associated with lower differential safety behavior generalization, driven by an increase in generalized responding to novel safety-related exemplars. LIMITATIONS This study used hypothetical cost instead of real cost. CONCLUSIONS Training with atypical exemplars led to greater safety behavior generalization. Moreover, individuals with high trait anxiety show impaired safety behavior generalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Işık E Kesim
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences, and Child Studies, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, 3062 PA, The Netherlands
| | - Andre Pittig
- Translational Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Kurze-Geismar-Straße 1, 37073, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Alex H K Wong
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences, and Child Studies, Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, Rotterdam, 3062 PA, The Netherlands.
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Wu Q, Xu L, Wan J, Yu Z, Lei Y. Intolerance of uncertainty affects the behavioral and neural mechanisms of higher generalization. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhae153. [PMID: 38615238 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhae153] [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: 01/10/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/15/2024] Open
Abstract
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is associated with several anxiety disorders. In this study, we employed rewards and losses as unconditioned positive and negative stimuli, respectively, to explore the effects of an individual's IU level on positive and negative generalizations using magnetic resonance imaging technology. Following instrumental learning, 48 participants (24 high IU; 24 low IU) were invited to complete positive and negative generalization tasks; their behavioral responses and neural activities were recorded by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The behavior results demonstrated that participants with high IUs exhibited higher generalizations to both positive and negative cues as compared with participants having low IUs. Neuroimaging results demonstrated that they exhibited higher activation levels in the right anterior insula and the default mode network (i.e. precuneus and posterior cingulate gyrus), as well as related reward circuits (i.e. caudate and right putamen). Therefore, higher generalization scores and the related abnormal brain activation may be key markers of IU as a vulnerability factor for anxiety disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Wu
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Lei Xu
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Jiaming Wan
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Zhang Yu
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
| | - Yi Lei
- Institute for Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, China
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Patterson RR, Lipp OV, Luck CC. The influence of instructions on reversing the generalization of valence, US expectancy, and electrodermal responding in fear conditioning. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14429. [PMID: 37661638 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14429] [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: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Pairing a conditional stimulus (CS) with an aversive unconditional stimulus (US) causes negative valence and US expectancy to generalize to stimuli that are perceptually and/or conceptually similar to the CS. Past research has shown that instructing participants that the US is more likely to follow stimuli that are dissimilar to the CS reversed the generalization of US expectancy but left generalized valence unchanged. Here, we examined whether instructions about the relationship between stimuli that are perceptually similar would affect the generalization of valence. A picture of an alien (CS+) was paired with an electric stimulus, while a perceptually different alien stimulus (CS-) was presented alone. After conditioning, valence, US expectancy, and electrodermal responses generalized to different aliens that were perceptually similar (by color and shape) to the CS+ and CS-. Participants were then instructed that aliens perceptually similar to the CS+ belonged to the same group as the CS- and that aliens perceptually similar to the CS- belonged to the same group as the CS+. The instructions caused an elimination (but not a reversal) of generalized expectancy and valence but did not affect generalized electrodermal responses. This suggests that evaluations of generalization stimuli are sensitive to instructions about their relationship to the CS and that dissociations reported in the literature between valence and expectancy after instructions may occur due to the type of instruction used.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ottmar V Lipp
- School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Camilla C Luck
- School of Population Health, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
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Aslanidou A, Andreatta M, Wong AHK, Wieser MJ. No influence of threat uncertainty on fear generalization. Psychophysiology 2024; 61:e14423. [PMID: 37623276 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14423] [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: 03/13/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/08/2023] [Indexed: 08/26/2023]
Abstract
Fear overgeneralization and perceived uncertainty about future outcomes have been suggested as risk factors for clinical anxiety. However, little is known regarding how they influence each other. In this study, we investigated whether different levels of threat uncertainty influence fear generalization. Three groups of healthy participants underwent a differential fear conditioning protocol followed by a generalization test. All groups learned to associate one female face (conditioned stimulus, CS+) with a female scream (unconditioned stimulus, US), whereas the other face (CS-) was not associated with the scream. In order to manipulate threat uncertainty, one group (low uncertainty, n = 26) received 80%, the second group (moderate uncertainty, n = 32) received 60%, and the third group (high uncertainty, n = 30) 40% CS-US contingency. In the generalization test, all groups saw CS+ and CS- again along with four morphs resembling the CSs in steps of 20%. Subjective (expectancy, valence, and arousal ratings), psychophysiological (skin conductance response, SCR), and visuocortical (steady-state visual evoked potentials, ssVEPs) indices of fear were registered. Participants expected the US according to their reinforcement schedules and the discriminative responses to CS+/CS- increased with more uncertainty in skin conductance. However, acquisition of conditioned fear was not evident in ssVEPs. During the generalization test, we found no effect of threat uncertainty in any of the measured variables, but the strength of generalization for threat expectancy ratings was positively correlated with dispositional intolerance of uncertainty. This study suggests that mere threat uncertainty does not modulate fear generalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asimina Aslanidou
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marta Andreatta
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Alex H K Wong
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Matthias J Wieser
- Department of Psychology, Education and Child Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Vandael K, Vervliet B, Peters M, Meulders A. Excessive generalization of pain-related avoidance behavior: mechanisms, targets for intervention, and future directions. Pain 2023; 164:2405-2410. [PMID: 37498749 PMCID: PMC10578424 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2022] [Revised: 05/22/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Kristof Vandael
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bram Vervliet
- Laboratory of Biological Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Madelon Peters
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Ann Meulders
- Experimental Health Psychology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands
- Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Zhou X, Gu Y, Wang J, Huang L, Lei Y. Intolerance of uncertainty enhances generalisation of cued conditioned threat: An event-related potential study. Biol Psychol 2023; 181:108601. [PMID: 37295767 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108601] [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: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 05/17/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Overgeneralisation is one of the aetiologies of anxiety disorders and is closely associated with elevated intolerance of uncertainty (IU) levels. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Considering the inconsistency of previous results and the high sensitivity of IU to uncertainty, the present study investigated the effect of IU on threat generalisation in predictable and unpredictable conditions. We compared self-reported unconditioned stimuli (US) expectancy and event-related potentials (ERPs) during generalisation in high IU (n = 34) and low IU (n = 35) participants. The results indicated that high IU was associated with higher US expectancy for generalisation stimuli (GS) than with low IU. At the electrophysiological level, compared to low IU, high IU showed increased P1 to ambiguous GS as well as decreased early late positive potential (LPP) to GS in unpredictable conditions, and no differential response to GS in late LPP in predictable conditions. These findings suggest that IU enhances threat generalisation and may be related to increased early automatic attention to ambiguous stimulus and inadequate late elaborate processing in a high uncertainty context. These findings might contribute to the treatment of mood disorders characterized by high IU.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Zhou
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuanyuan Gu
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Jinxia Wang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Lihui Huang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
| | - Yi Lei
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China.
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Gao Y, Zhao S, Yang Z, Fu H, Luo K, Chen W, Fan M, Song Y, Zheng X. Role of Cue Training, Context, and Stimulus Intensity on Fear Generalization in Humans. Behav Sci (Basel) 2023; 13:479. [PMID: 37366731 DOI: 10.3390/bs13060479] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2023] [Revised: 05/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Fear generalization is a crucial mechanism underlying maladaptive behavior, but factors influencing this process are not fully understood. We investigated the effects of cue training and context on fear generalization and how cognitive rules influence responses to different conditions. We also examined the role of stimulus intensity in fear generalization to provide insight into fear generalization mechanisms. Participants (n = 104) completed a fear emotion task with two stages: acquisition and generalization testing. Subjective fear expectancy ratings were used as outcome measures. Participants who received single threat cue training exhibited stronger fear generalization responses than those who received discrimination training with threat and safe cues. Participants who received discrimination training and used linear rules had the strongest fear response to the largest stimulus. Therefore, a safe cue may mitigate fear generalization but could increase fear responses to more intense stimuli. Altering context did not change the fear generalization response because fear generalization is mainly governed by the association between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned fear stimulus. The present study emphasizes the multifaceted nature of fear generalization and the importance of examining multiple factors to understand this phenomenon. These findings elucidate fear learning and provide insights needed for effective interventions for maladaptive behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Gao
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Shaochen Zhao
- Research Center for Guangdong-HongKong-Marcao Policing Model Innovation, China People's Police University, Guangzhou 510663, China
| | - Zifan Yang
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Haote Fu
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Keying Luo
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Min Fan
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Yidan Song
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
| | - Xifu Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Brain, Cognition and Education Sciences, Ministry of Education, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
- School of Psychology, Center for Studies of Psychological Application and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
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Zhou X, Gu Y, Huang L, Lei Y. Individual differences in contextual threat generalisation and uncertainty: The role of intolerance of uncertainty. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 37105530 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12911] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
Threat generalisation is an adaptive process that is essential for individual survival. In contrast, over-generalisation is a pathological process that underlies the development of anxiety disorders. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is an individual characteristic known to influence threat generalisation by altering the responses to threat in uncertain situations. However, how it affects contextual threat generalisation remains unclear. Here, we used a novel paradigm to investigate whether contextual threat generalisation varied between individuals depending on their IU level (high or low) and the predictability of a situation (predictable or unpredictable). We analysed shock expectancy in 82 participants (age: 18-27 years) during threat acquisition and generalisation. Results showed that compared with the low IU group, the high IU group exhibited increased contextual threat generalisation to threat-related cues in unpredictable situation. These findings suggest that IU could be a marker for anxiety disorder susceptibility, as well as a target for anxiety treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Zhou
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yuanyuan Gu
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Lihui Huang
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
| | - Yi Lei
- Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China
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10
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Knowles KA, Jessup SC, Olatunji BO. Facing Uncertainty: A Comparison of Hierarchical and Variable Exposure Interventions for Contamination Fear. J Obsessive Compuls Relat Disord 2023; 36:100777. [PMID: 36582425 PMCID: PMC9794192 DOI: 10.1016/j.jocrd.2022.100777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/08/2022]
Abstract
Consistent with the inhibitory retrieval approach, one proposed modification to improve the effectiveness of exposure-based interventions is to maximize variability by not proceeding linearly up an exposure hierarchy. Accordingly, the present study compares hierarchical and variable exposure interventions for contamination-fearful individuals and examines the role of uncertainty to predict intervention outcomes. Participants (N=73) were randomly assigned to complete a single-session exposure intervention using a standard hierarchy or a variable exposure intervention in which hierarchy items were randomly presented. Participants completed a behavioral approach task (BAT) at baseline and two follow-up visits over a two-week period. Both interventions resulted in a significant decrease in anxiety and disgust as well as more BAT steps completed but did not differ from one another. However, individuals in the variable exposure condition reported less variability in uncertainty during exposure compared to those in the standard condition, d=.78. Furthermore, lower levels of variability in uncertainty predicted greater reductions in anxiety and disgust post-intervention. Consistent with previous studies, variable exposure did not convey additional benefit over standard, hierarchical exposure. The experience of uncertainty during exposure is an important yet understudied process that warrants additional investigation.
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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.
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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.
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12
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Roesmann K, Wessing I, Kraß S, Leehr EJ, Klucken T, Straube T, Junghöfer M. Developmental aspects of fear generalization - A MEG study on neurocognitive correlates in adolescents versus adults. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 58:101169. [PMID: 36356485 PMCID: PMC9649997 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 10/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fear generalization is pivotal for the survival-promoting avoidance of potential danger, but, if too pronounced, it promotes pathological anxiety. Similar to adult patients with anxiety disorders, healthy children tend to show overgeneralized fear responses. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate neuro-developmental aspects of fear generalization in adolescence - a critical age for the development of anxiety disorders. METHODS We compared healthy adolescents (14-17 years) with healthy adults (19-34 years) regarding their fear responses towards tilted Gabor gratings (conditioned stimuli, CS; and slightly differently titled generalization stimuli, GS). In the conditioning phase, CS were paired (CS+) or remained unpaired (CS-) with an aversive stimulus (unconditioned stimuli, US). In the test phase, behavioral, peripheral and neural responses to CS and GS were captured by fear- and UCS expectancy ratings, a perceptual discrimination task, pupil dilation and source estimations of event-related magnetic fields. RESULTS Closely resembling adults, adolescents showed robust generalization gradients of fear ratings, pupil dilation, and estimated neural source activity. However, in the UCS expectancy ratings, adolescents revealed shallower generalization gradients indicating overgeneralization. Moreover, adolescents showed stronger visual cortical activity after as compared to before conditioning to all stimuli. CONCLUSION Various aspects of fear learning and generalization appear to be mature in healthy adolescents. Yet, cognitive aspects might show a slower course of development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kati Roesmann
- Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Obergraben 23, 57072 Siegen, Germany; Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Muenster, Germany.
| | - Ida Wessing
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Muenster, Germany; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University Hospital Muenster, Schmeddingstraße 50, 48149 Muenster, Germany
| | - Sophia Kraß
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Elisabeth J Leehr
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University Hospital Münster, Albert-Schweitzer-Campus 1, Building A9a, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Tim Klucken
- Institute for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Siegen, Obergraben 23, 57072 Siegen, Germany
| | - Thomas Straube
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Systems Neuroscience, University Hospital Münster, Von-Esmarch-Str. 52, 48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Markus Junghöfer
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University Hospital Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149 Münster, Germany; Otto Creutzfeldt Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Muenster, Fliednerstr. 21, 48149 Muenster, Germany
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Wroblewski A, Hollandt M, Yang Y, Ridderbusch IC, Pietzner A, Szeska C, Lotze M, Wittchen HU, Heinig I, Pittig A, Arolt V, Koelkebeck K, Rothkopf CA, Adolph D, Margraf J, Lueken U, Pauli P, Herrmann MJ, Winkler MH, Ströhle A, Dannlowski U, Kircher T, Hamm AO, Straube B, Richter J. Sometimes I feel the fear of uncertainty: How intolerance of uncertainty and trait anxiety impact fear acquisition, extinction and the return of fear. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 181:125-140. [PMID: 36116610 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.09.001] [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: 03/02/2022] [Revised: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 09/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
It is hypothesized that the ability to discriminate between threat and safety is impaired in individuals with high dispositional negativity, resulting in maladaptive behavior. A large body of research investigated differential learning during fear conditioning and extinction protocols depending on individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and trait anxiety (TA), two closely-related dimensions of dispositional negativity, with heterogenous results. These might be due to varying degrees of induced threat/safety uncertainty. Here, we compared two groups with high vs. low IU/TA during periods of low (instructed fear acquisition) and high levels of uncertainty (delayed non-instructed extinction training and reinstatement). Dependent variables comprised subjective (US expectancy, valence, arousal), psychophysiological (skin conductance response, SCR, and startle blink), and neural (fMRI BOLD) measures of threat responding. During fear acquisition, we found strong threat/safety discrimination for both groups. During early extinction (high uncertainty), the low IU/TA group showed an increased physiological response to the safety signal, resulting in a lack of CS discrimination. In contrast, the high IU/TA group showed strong initial threat/safety discrimination in physiology, lacking discriminative learning on startle, and reduced neural activation in regions linked to threat/safety processing throughout extinction training indicating sustained but non-adaptive and rigid responding. Similar neural patterns were found after the reinstatement test. Taken together, we provide evidence that high dispositional negativity, as indicated here by IU and TA, is associated with greater responding to threat cues during the beginning of delayed extinction, and, thus, demonstrates altered learning patterns under changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian Wroblewski
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany.
| | - Maike Hollandt
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
| | - Yunbo Yang
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
| | - Isabelle C Ridderbusch
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
| | - Anne Pietzner
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
| | | | - Martin Lotze
- Functional Imaging Unit, Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology of the University Medicine Greifswald, Germany
| | - Hans-Ulrich Wittchen
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich, Germany
| | - Ingmar Heinig
- Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität Dresden, Germany
| | - Andre Pittig
- Translational Psychotherapy, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
| | - Volker Arolt
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Katja Koelkebeck
- LVR-Hospital Essen, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany
| | | | - Dirk Adolph
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
| | - Jürgen Margraf
- Mental Health Research and Treatment Center, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany
| | - Ulrike Lueken
- Center for Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
| | - Paul Pauli
- Department of Psychology I, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Germany
| | - Martin J Herrmann
- Center for Mental Health, Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatics, and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Markus H Winkler
- Department of Psychology I, Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Germany
| | - Andreas Ströhle
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin und Berliner Institut für Gesundheitsforschung, Germany
| | - Udo Dannlowski
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Germany
| | - Tilo Kircher
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
| | - Alfons O Hamm
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
| | - Benjamin Straube
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior - CMBB, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany
| | - Jan Richter
- Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Germany
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14
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Büyükçolpan H, Ozdemir NK. The influences on happiness and life satisfaction of young people during COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for positive youth development. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022; 42:1-10. [PMID: 35935746 PMCID: PMC9343243 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03548-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many uncertainties and adversities for young people, negatively influencing their mental health. The present study investigated the mediation role of intolerance to uncertainty (IU) in the relationship between social emotional learning (SEL) skills and happiness, and between SEL skills and life satisfaction (LS) of young people, within the framework of Positive Youth Development (PYD). The study included 589 university students (51% women) aged 18-24, and the participants completed a Demographic form, Social Emotional Learning Scale-Young Adult Form, Intolerance to Uncertainty Scale, Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. In the study, the mediating role of IU on the relationship between SEL skills and happiness (Model 1) and between SEL skills and LS (Model 2) were tested. The analysis first indicated positive direct relations of SEL skills with happiness and LS, as well as negative direct relations with IU. In addition, there were negative associations between IU and happiness, and between IU and LS. The results also demonstrated the mediation role of IU on the relationships between SEL skills and both happiness and LS. These findings confirmed the pivotal role that SEL skills play in happiness and LS by reducing the impact of IU, thus promoting PYD during the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hakan Büyükçolpan
- Faculty of Education, Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara 06800 Turkey
| | - Nurten Karacan Ozdemir
- Faculty of Education, Guidance and Psychological Counseling, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara 06800 Turkey
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15
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Parker SC, Ahrens AH. (Just Thinking of) Uncertainty Increases Intolerance of Uncertainty. JOURNAL OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1027/1614-0001/a000376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Abstract. Intolerance of uncertainty is a far-reaching – yet not widely examined – construct with clinical and nonclinical associations. The current study implemented a brief reflection on uncertainty hypothesized to increase tolerance of uncertainty. The group who engaged in the reflection ( n = 50) was compared to an active control condition ( n = 50). Results demonstrated the opposite of the primary hypothesis: simply reflecting on uncertainty significantly increased intolerance of uncertainty (vs. tolerance of uncertainty). Results also demonstrated that those higher in mindfulness were higher in tolerance of uncertainty, with the “nonreactivity” factor of mindfulness contributing unique variance. These findings suggest multiple factors that might contribute to both tolerance and intolerance of uncertainty. This study indicates that investigations of interventions that include training in mindfulness and its component of nonreactivity might be particularly warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanne C. Parker
- George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA
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16
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Jin Y, Zhang L, Chen W, Zheng X. Early Safety Discrimination Under Uncertainty in Trait Anxiety: An Event-Related Potential Study. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:896211. [PMID: 35860399 PMCID: PMC9290664 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.896211] [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: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Detection of safety-threat signals during uncertainty is an important mechanism of developmental anxiety disorder (AD). Although extensive research has focused on the detection of uncertain threat signals in anxious individuals, relatively little attention has been given to the identification of safety signals during uncertainty, which is an important way to relieve anxiety in individuals with AD. To investigate this phenomenon, 16 subjects with high trait anxiety (HTA) and 16 with low trait anxiety (LTA) completed a modified cue-target task in certain and uncertain stimulus blocks. In the uncertain block, the cue was followed by a threat picture or safety picture in 20% of trials, respectively; in the certain block, the cue could be followed by a threat picture or a safety picture on 100% of trials. Behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The ERP results demonstrated that LTA participants exhibited larger P2 amplitudes in the detection of safety cues than of threat cues during the uncertain block, whereas HTA participants showed significant P2 amplitudes between the safety and threat cues during the certain block, impairing the detection of safety stimuli during uncertainty. However, all participants exhibited greater N2 amplitudes following threat cues in certainty or uncertainty conditions. These findings pertaining to the P2 amplitude suggested distinctive attentional biases between HTA and LTA individuals, whereas the N2 amplitude showed association learning in uncertain conditions, compensating for safety-threat detection in HTA individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Jin
- School of Education Sciences, Huizhou University, Huizhou, China
| | - Lei Zhang
- School of Education Sciences, Huizhou University, Huizhou, China
| | - Wei Chen
- Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xifu Zheng
- Department of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
- *Correspondence: Xifu Zheng,
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17
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Kanen JW, Robbins TW, Trofimova IN. Harnessing temperament to elucidate the complexities of serotonin function. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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18
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Effects of intolerance of uncertainty on subjective and psychophysiological measures during fear acquisition and delayed extinction. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 177:249-259. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 04/19/2022] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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19
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Mertens G, De Wolf N, Bouwman V, Engelhard IM. The relationship between Intolerance of Uncertainty and conditioned fear acquisition: Evidence from a large sample. Int J Psychophysiol 2022; 177:67-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2021] [Revised: 03/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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20
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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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21
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Assessment of intolerance of uncertainty: Validation of a modified anagram task. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2021; 73:101671. [PMID: 34182343 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2021.101671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 05/20/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is an individual difference factor that reflects difficulty tolerating emotional distress in the context of uncertainty and is a robust transdiagnostic risk factor for emotional disorders. A limitation of prior research on IU is the heavy reliance on self-report measures to assess this construct. The aim of the present study was to examine the validity of a brief, computerized anagram task modified to assess IU (the PACT Anagram Task; PAT). METHODS Participants were 221 unselected undergraduate students (71% female; Mage = 19; 89% Caucasian) who completed the PAT and a series of self-report measures of convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity, and measures of anxiety and depression symptoms online for course credit. RESULTS Greater PAT-Distress was positively correlated measures of convergent validity and demonstrated incremental validity in relation to self-reported IU above and beyond attentional control. None of the PAT indicators were associated with compassion or empathic concern, evidencing discriminant validity. PAT-Distress and PAT-Answers were each associated with greater worry above and beyond self-reported IU. LIMITATIONS Study limitations include the cross-sectional design and lack of diversity in terms of sample demographics. Furthermore, we did not examine convergence between this task and other behavioral measures of IU. CONCLUSION Subjective distress following completion of the PAT may serve as one indicator of IU. Further research is needed in order to replicate these results and validate the use of the PAT in clinical samples.
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22
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Morriss J, Bradford DE, Wake S, Biagi N, Tanovic E, Kaye JT, Joormann J. Intolerance of uncertainty and physiological responses during instructed uncertain threat: A multi-lab investigation. Biol Psychol 2021; 167:108223. [PMID: 34785278 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2021] [Revised: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Individuals with high self-reported Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) tend to interpret uncertainty negatively. Recent research has been inconclusive on evidence of an association between IU and physiological responses during instructed uncertain threat. To address this gap, we conducted secondary analyses of IU and physiology data recorded during instructed uncertain threat tasks from two lab sites (Wisconsin-Madison; n = 128; Yale, n = 95). No IU-related effects were observed for orbicularis oculi activity (auditory startle-reflex). Higher IU was associated with: (1) greater corrugator supercilii activity to predictable and unpredictable threat of shock, compared to the safety from shock, and (2) poorer discriminatory skin conductance response between the unpredictable threat of shock, relative to the safety from shock. These findings suggest that IU-related biases may be captured differently depending on the physiological measure during instructed uncertain threat. Implications of these findings for neurobiological models of uncertainty and anticipation in anxiety are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Daniel E Bradford
- Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Shannon Wake
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Nicolo Biagi
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Ema Tanovic
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jesse T Kaye
- Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA; William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, Madison, WI, USA
| | - Jutta Joormann
- Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA
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23
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Wake S, Dodd H, Morriss J. Intolerance of uncertainty and novelty facilitated extinction: The impact of reinforcement schedule. Br J Psychol 2021; 113:353-369. [PMID: 34748649 DOI: 10.1111/bjop.12538] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Individuals who score high in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) display reduced threat extinction. Recently, it was shown that replacing threat associations with novel associations during extinction learning (i.e., presenting a novel tone 100% of the time) can promote threat extinction retention in individuals with high IU. This novelty facilitated extinction (NFE) effect could be driven by the tone's novelty or reliability. Here, we sought to address this question by adjusting the reliability of the novel tone (i.e., the reinforcement rate) during NFE. We measured skin conductance response during an associative learning task in which participants (n = 92) were assigned to one of three experimental groups: standard extinction, NFE 100% reinforcement, or NFE 50% reinforcement. For standard extinction, compared to NFE 100% and 50% reinforcement groups, we observed a trend for greater recovery of the conditioned response during extinction retention. Individuals with high IU relative to low IU in the standard extinction group demonstrated a larger recovery of the conditioned response during extinction retention. These findings tentatively suggest that NFE effects are driven by the novelty rather than the reliability of the new stimulus. The implications of these findings for translational and clinical research in anxiety disorder pathology are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon Wake
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Helen Dodd
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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24
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Mertens G, Bouwman V, Engelhard IM. Conceptual fear generalization gradients and their relationship with anxious traits: Results from a Registered Report. Int J Psychophysiol 2021; 170:43-50. [PMID: 34606931 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.09.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 09/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
A hallmark symptom of fear and anxiety disorder is generalization of fear to essentially innocuous stimuli and situations. Such generalization can occur through both perceptual and conceptually similarities. Recent studies indicate that perceptual generalization is inflated in anxiety patients and individuals prone to develop anxiety disorders, suggesting that perceptual generalization may be involved in the etiology of anxiety disorders. In the current Registered Report, we wanted to address whether conceptual generalization is potentially implicated in the development of anxiety disorders as well. Therefore, we used a novel paradigm in which the Dutch word mini [tiny] or enorm [enormous] was paired with an electric shock and assessed fear to the conceptually related words klein [small], medium [medium], and groot [large]. The sample (N = 120) consisted of healthy university students. As hypothesized, we observed clear conceptual fear generalization gradients using both self-report and psychophysiological measures. However, in contrast to our expectations, these conceptual generalization gradients were not correlated with different anxious traits (i.e., trait anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and behavioral inhibition). These results show that fear can generalize conceptually along a gradient, without requiring perceptual errors as postulated by traditional models of fear generalization. Instead, our results correspond well with inferential reasoning theories of fear generalization. Additionally, we discuss potential reasons for the absence of the expected correlations between conceptual fear generalization and anxious traits, such as restricted variability in both the generalization task and the sample. We conclude that the paradigm has promise for further research on conceptual fear generalization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gaëtan Mertens
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
| | - Vera Bouwman
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Iris M Engelhard
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
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25
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Webler RD, Berg H, Fhong K, Tuominen L, Holt DJ, Morey RA, Lange I, Burton PC, Fullana MA, Radua J, Lissek S. The neurobiology of human fear generalization: meta-analysis and working neural model. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021; 128:421-436. [PMID: 34242718 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.06.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2020] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Fear generalization to stimuli resembling a conditioned danger-cue (CS+) is a fundamental dynamic of classical fear-conditioning. Despite the ubiquity of fear generalization in human experience and its known pathogenic contribution to clinical anxiety, neural investigations of human generalization have only recently begun. The present work provides the first meta-analysis of this growing literature to delineate brain substrates of conditioned fear-generalization and formulate a working neural model. Included studies (K = 6, N = 176) reported whole-brain fMRI results and applied generalization-gradient methodology to identify brain activations that gradually strengthen (positive generalization) or weaken (negative generalization) as presented stimuli increase in CS+ resemblance. Positive generalization was instantiated in cingulo-opercular, frontoparietal, striatal-thalamic, and midbrain regions (locus coeruleus, periaqueductal grey, ventral tegmental area), while negative generalization was implemented in default-mode network nodes (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, middle temporal gyrus, angular gyrus) and amygdala. Findings are integrated within an updated neural account of generalization centering on the hippocampus, its modulation by locus coeruleus and basolateral amygdala, and the excitation of threat- or safety-related loci by the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan D Webler
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Rd, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Hannah Berg
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Rd, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Kimberly Fhong
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Rd, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Lauri Tuominen
- The Royal's Institute of Mental Health Research, University of Ottawa, 1145 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, K1Z 7K4, Canada
| | - Daphne J Holt
- Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Rajendra A Morey
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27710, USA; VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, 508 Fulton Street, Durham VAMC, Durham, VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, 27705, USA; Duke-UNC Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University, 40 Duke Medicine Circle, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Iris Lange
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Duboisdomein 30, 6229 GT, Maastricht, the Netherlands
| | - Philip C Burton
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Rd, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Miquel Angel Fullana
- Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), CIBERSAM, Campus Casanova, Casanova, 143, 08036, Barcelona, Spain; Adult Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clínic, Casanovas 143, 08036, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joaquim Radua
- Adult Psychiatry and Psychology Department, Institute of Neurosciences, Hospital Clínic, Casanovas 143, 08036, Barcelona, Spain; Early Psychosis: Interventions and Clinical-detection (EPIC) Laboratory, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Centre for Psychiatric Research and Education, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Shmuel Lissek
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 E River Rd, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA.
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26
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Neural substrates of human fear generalization: A 7T-fMRI investigation. Neuroimage 2021; 239:118308. [PMID: 34175426 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2020] [Revised: 06/16/2021] [Accepted: 06/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Fear generalization - the tendency to interpret ambiguous stimuli as threatening due to perceptual similarity to a learned threat - is an adaptive process. Overgeneralization, however, is maladaptive and has been implicated in a number of anxiety disorders. Neuroimaging research has indicated several regions sensitive to effects of generalization, including regions involved in fear excitation (e.g., amygdala, insula) and inhibition (e.g., ventromedial prefrontal cortex). Research has suggested several other small brain regions may play an important role in this process (e.g., hippocampal subfields, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis [BNST], habenula), but, to date, these regions have not been examined during fear generalization due to limited spatial resolution of standard human neuroimaging. To this end, we utilized the high spatial resolution of 7T fMRI to characterize the neural circuits involved in threat discrimination and generalization. Additionally, we examined potential modulating effects of trait anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty on neural activation during threat generalization. In a sample of 31 healthy undergraduate students, significant positive generalization effects (i.e., greater activation for stimuli with increasing perceptual similarity to a learned threat cue) were observed in the visual cortex, thalamus, habenula and BNST, while negative generalization effects were observed in the dentate gyrus, CA1, and CA3. Associations with individual differences were underpowered, though preliminary findings suggested greater generalization in the insula and primary somatosensory cortex may be correlated with self-reported anxiety. Overall, findings largely support previous neuroimaging work on fear generalization and provide additional insight into the contributions of several previously unexplored brain regions.
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27
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Klümper L, Sürth S. Keep me updated! Social support as a coping strategy to reduce the perceived threat caused by the cognitive availability of COVID-19 relevant information. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 42:6403-6418. [PMID: 34149268 PMCID: PMC8205514 DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01951-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The enormous amount of information about the COVID-19 pandemic in newspapers, TV channels, or social media reminds people every day of the potential threat the virus posed to their health and well-being in 2020. We examined if the cognitive availability of COVID-19 leads to the perception of heightened threat facilitating coping strategies and the moderating role of global self-efficacy and intolerance of uncertainty. A total of 235 participants randomly received either a newspaper article about the COVID-19 virus or Germany's soil condition and were asked to indicate their current level of the perceived threat of the virus and the use of different coping strategies. Results indicate that the cognitive availability of COVID-19 information leads to a higher perceived threat, leading to more seeking for social support. Although neither self-efficacy nor intolerance of uncertainty moderates the effect of cognitive availability on the perceived threat, both personality characteristics moderated the relationship between perceived threat and different coping strategies. We discuss our results in line with current research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on coping strategies and well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Klümper
- School of Human and Social Sciences, Social and Personality Psychology, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Gaußstr. 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany
| | - Svenja Sürth
- Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
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28
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Morriss J, Zuj DV, Mertens G. The role of intolerance of uncertainty in classical threat conditioning: Recent developments and directions for future research. Int J Psychophysiol 2021; 166:116-126. [PMID: 34097936 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Revised: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/31/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the tendency to find uncertainty aversive, is an important transdiagnostic dimension in mental health disorders. Over the last decade, there has been a surge of research on the role of IU in classical threat conditioning procedures, which serve as analogues to the development, treatment, and relapse of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and trauma- and stressor-related disorders. This review provides an overview of the existing literature on IU in classical threat conditioning procedures. The review integrates findings based on the shared or discrete parameters of uncertainty embedded within classical threat conditioning procedures. Under periods of unexpected uncertainty, where threat and safety contingencies change, high IU, over other self-reported measures of anxiety, is specifically associated with poorer threat extinction learning and retention, as well as overgeneralisation. Under periods of estimation and expected uncertainty, where the parameters of uncertainty are being learned or have been learned, such as threat acquisition training and avoidance learning, the findings are mixed for IU. These findings provide evidence that individual differences in IU play a significant role in maintaining learned fear and anxiety, particularly under volatile environments. Recommendations for future research are outlined, with discussion focusing on how parameters of uncertainty can be better defined to capture how IU is involved in the maintenance of learned fear and anxiety. Such work will be crucial for understanding the role of IU in neurobiological models of uncertainty-based maintenance of fear and anxiety and inform translational work aiming to improve the diagnosis and treatment of relevant psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Daniel V Zuj
- Experimental Psychopathology Lab, Department of Psychology, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
| | - Gaëtan Mertens
- Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands.
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Wake S, Morriss J, Johnstone T, van Reekum CM, Dodd H. Intolerance of uncertainty, and not social anxiety, is associated with compromised extinction of social threat. Behav Res Ther 2021; 139:103818. [PMID: 33567362 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2021.103818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 12/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2021] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Extinction-resistant threat is regarded as a central hallmark of pathological anxiety. However, it remains relatively under-studied in social anxiety. Here we sought to determine whether self-reported trait social anxiety is associated with compromised threat extinction learning and retention. We tested this hypothesis within two separate, socially relevant conditioning studies. In the first experiment, a Selective Extinction Through Cognitive Evaluation (SECE) paradigm was used, which included a cognitive component during the extinction phase, while experiment 2 used a traditional threat extinction paradigm. Skin conductance responses and subjective ratings of anxiety (experiment 1 and 2) and expectancy (experiment 2) were collected across both experiments. The findings of both studies demonstrated no effect of social anxiety on extinction learning or retention. Instead, results from experiment 1 indicated that individual differences in Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) were associated with the ability to use contextual cues to decrease a conditioned response during SECE. However, during extinction retention, high IU predicted greater generalisation across context cues. Findings of experiment 2 revealed that higher IU was associated with impaired extinction learning and retention. The results from both studies suggest that compromised threat extinction is likely to be a characteristic of high levels of IU and not social anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon Wake
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Jayne Morriss
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Tom Johnstone
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK; Swinburne University of Technology, John Street, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122, Australia
| | - Carien M van Reekum
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Helen Dodd
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
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Morriss J, Biagi N, Lonsdorf TB, Andreatta M. The role of intolerance of uncertainty in the acquisition and extinction of reward. Eur J Neurosci 2021; 53:3063-3071. [DOI: 10.1111/ejn.15173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2021] [Revised: 02/25/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Nicolo Biagi
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences University of Reading Reading UK
| | - Tina B. Lonsdorf
- Institute for Systems Neuroscience University Medical Center Hamburg‐Eppendorf Hamburg Germany
| | - Marta Andreatta
- Department of Psychology, Education & Child Studies Erasmus University Rotterdam Rotterdam The Netherlands
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31
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Kanen JW, Arntz FE, Yellowlees R, Christmas DM, Price A, Apergis-Schoute AM, Sahakian BJ, Cardinal RN, Robbins TW. Effect of Tryptophan Depletion on Conditioned Threat Memory Expression: Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty. BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE AND NEUROIMAGING 2021; 6:590-598. [PMID: 33631385 PMCID: PMC8099731 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2020.12.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2020] [Revised: 12/15/2020] [Accepted: 12/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
Background Responding emotionally to danger is critical for survival. Normal functioning also requires flexible alteration of emotional responses when a threat becomes safe. Aberrant threat and safety learning occur in many psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia, in which emotional responses can persist pathologically. While there is evidence that threat and safety learning can be modulated by the serotonin systems, there have been few studies in humans. We addressed a critical clinically relevant question: How does lowering serotonin affect memory retention of conditioned threat and safety memory? Methods Forty-seven healthy participants underwent conditioning to two stimuli predictive of threat on day 1. One stimulus but not the other was subsequently presented in an extinction session. Emotional responding was assessed by the skin conductance response. On day 2, we employed acute dietary tryptophan depletion to lower serotonin temporarily, in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized between-groups design. We then tested for the retention of conditioned threat and extinction memory. We also measured self-reported intolerance of uncertainty, known to modulate threat memory expression. Results The expression of emotional memory was attenuated in participants who had undergone tryptophan depletion. Individuals who were more intolerant of uncertainty showed even greater attenuation of emotion following depletion. Conclusions These results support the view that serotonin is involved in predicting aversive outcomes and refine our understanding of the role of serotonin in the persistence of emotional responsivity, with implications for individual differences in vulnerability to psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan W Kanen
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
| | - Frederique E Arntz
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Robyn Yellowlees
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Section of Eating Disorders, Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - David M Christmas
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Annabel Price
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Annemieke M Apergis-Schoute
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
| | - Barbara J Sahakian
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Rudolf N Cardinal
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Absence Makes the Mind Grow Fonder: Reconceptualizing Studies of Safety Learning in Translational Research on Anxiety. COGNITIVE AFFECTIVE & BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE 2021; 21:1-13. [PMID: 33420710 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-020-00855-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Overgeneralized fear (OGF), or indiscriminate fear responses to signals of threat and nonthreat, is a well-studied cognitive mechanism in human anxiety. Anxiety-related OGF has been studied primarily through fear-learning paradigms and conceptualized as overly exaggerated learning of cues signaling imminent threat. However, the role of safety learning in OGF has not only received much less empirical attention but has been fundamentally conceptualized as learning about the absence of threat rather than the presence of safety. As a result, the relative contributions of exaggerated fear learning and weakened safety learning to anxiety-related OGF remain poorly understood, as do the potentially unique biological and behavioral underpinnings of safety learning. The present review outlines these gaps by, first, summarizing animal and human research on safety learning related to anxiety and OGF. Second, we outline innovations in methods to tease apart unique biological and behavioral contributions of safety learning to OGF. Lastly, we describe clinical and treatment implications of this framework for translational research relevant to human anxiety.
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From Uncertainty to Anxiety: How Uncertainty Fuels Anxiety in a Process Mediated by Intolerance of Uncertainty. Neural Plast 2020; 2020:8866386. [PMID: 33299402 PMCID: PMC7704173 DOI: 10.1155/2020/8866386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 09/16/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Uncertainty about future events may lead to worry, anxiety, even inability to function. The highly related concept-intolerance of uncertainty (IU)-emerged in the early 1990s, which is further developed into a transdiagnostic risk factor in multiple forms of anxiety disorders. Interests in uncertainty and intolerance of uncertainty have rapidly increased in recent years; little is known about the construct and phenomenology of uncertainty and IU and the association between them. In an attempt to reveal the nature of two concepts, we reviewed broad literature surrounding uncertainty and intolerance of uncertainty (IU). We followed the process in which the whole IU theory developed and extended, including two aspects: (1) from uncertainty to intolerance of uncertainty and (2) definition of uncertainty and intolerance of uncertainty, and further concluded uncertainty fuels to negative emotions, biased expectancy, and inflexible response. Secondly, this paper summarized the experimental research concerning uncertainty and IU, consisted of three parts: (1) uncertainty-based research, (2) measurements of IU, and (3) domain-specific IU. Lastly, we pointed out what remains unknown and needed to be investigated in future research. This result provides a comprehensive overview in this domain, enhancing our understanding of uncertainty and IU and contributing to further theoretical and empirical explorations.
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Morriss J, Biagi N, Dodd H. Your guess is as good as mine: A registered report assessing physiological markers of fear and anxiety to the unknown in individuals with varying levels of intolerance of uncertainty. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 156:93-104. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.07.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2019] [Revised: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 07/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Nahmoud I, Vasquez JG, Cho H, Dennis-Tiwary T, Likhtik E. Salient safety conditioning improves novel discrimination learning. Behav Brain Res 2020; 397:112907. [PMID: 32956774 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2020.112907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2020] [Revised: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Generalized fear is one purported mechanism of anxiety that is a target of clinical and basic research. Impaired fear discrimination has been primarily examined from the perspective of increased fear learning, rather than how learning about non-threatening stimuli affects fear discrimination. To address this question, we tested how three Safety Conditioning protocols with varied levels of salience allocated to the safety cue compared to classic Fear Conditioning in their impact on subsequent innate anxiety, and differential fear learning of new aversive and neutral cues. Using a high anxiety strain of mice (129SvEv, Taconic), we show that Fear Conditioned animals show little exploration of the anxiogenic center of an open field 24 h later, and poor discrimination during new differential conditioning 7 days later. Three groups of mice underwent Safety Conditioning, (i) the safety tone was unpaired with a shock, (ii) the safety tone was unpaired with the shock and co-terminated with a house light signaling the end of the safety period, and (iii) the safety tone was unpaired with the shock and its beginning co-occurred with a house light, signaling the start of a safety period. Mice from all Safety Conditioning groups showed higher levels of open field exploration than the Fear Conditioned mice 24 h after training. Furthermore, Safety Conditioned animals showed improved discrimination learning of a novel non-threat, with the Salient Beginning safety conditioned group performing best. These findings indicate that high anxiety animals benefit from salient safety training to improve exploration and discrimination of new non-threating stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Nahmoud
- Chemistry Dept., Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY, United States
| | - J Ganay Vasquez
- Chemistry Dept., Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY, United States
| | - H Cho
- Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, CUNY, NY, United States; Psychology Dept., Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY, United States
| | - T Dennis-Tiwary
- Department of Psychology, The Graduate Center, CUNY, NY, United States; Psychology Dept., Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY, United States
| | - E Likhtik
- Biology Dept., Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY, United States; Program in Biology, The Graduate Center, CUNY, NY, United States.
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Prospective intolerance of uncertainty is associated with maladaptive temporal distribution of avoidance responses: An extension of Flores, López, Vervliet, and Cobos (2018). J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 2020; 68:101527. [PMID: 31743800 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2019.101527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Revised: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 11/06/2019] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Excessive maladaptive avoidance has been claimed to be one of the mechanisms through which intolerance of uncertainty (IU) may play its causal role in the development and maintenance of several anxiety and compulsive disorders. Consistently, Flores et al. (2018) found that individuals with higher Prospective IU (P-IU), a specific IU subfactor, display excessive avoidance response repetitions in a free-operant discriminative task to avoid an aversive noise. In the present study we tested the hypothesis that P-IU not only predicts the amount of avoidance responses but also how well the temporal distribution of such responses fits the temporal distribution of threats. METHODS Further correlation and hierarchical regression analysis of Flores et al.'s (2018) data served to test this hypothesis. We evaluated two aspects of the temporal distribution of responses: a) for how long participants were performing the responses; b) the behavioral discrimination between threatening and safe time periods. RESULTS The results showed that scoring high in P-IU was positively associated with longer periods of time dedicated to avoiding and with worse behavioral discrimination between threatening and safe time periods. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that later addition of inhibitory intolerance of uncertainty and trait anxiety did not significantly improved the explained variance. LIMITATIONS Our results are exclusively based on the use of a low-cost avoidance response, and the present study does not clarify the precise mechanisms that lead high P-IU people to engage in non-optimal avoidance response distribution through time. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that excessive avoidance is also driven by uncertainty of threat timing and highlight the relevance of P-IU as a vulnerability factor for excessive and outspread avoidance behaviors.
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How many times do I need to see to believe? The impact of intolerance of uncertainty and exposure experience on safety-learning and retention in young adults. Int J Psychophysiol 2020; 153:8-17. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.04.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2019] [Revised: 04/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
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Bauer EA, MacNamara A, Sandre A, Lonsdorf TB, Weinberg A, Morriss J, van Reekum CM. Intolerance of uncertainty and threat generalization: A replication and extension. Psychophysiology 2020; 57:e13546. [PMID: 32057120 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Revised: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a transdiagnostic risk factor for internalizing disorders. Prior work has found that IU may be associated with either increased reactivity to threat or, alternatively, with decreased differential responding between threat and nonthreat/safety cues (i.e., threat generalization). For example, work by Morriss, Macdonald, & van Reekum (2016) found that higher IU was associated with increased threat generalization during acquisition (using skin conductance response (SCR)), as well as less differentiation between acquisition and extinction (using subjective uneasiness ratings). Here, three labs attempted direct and conceptual replications of Morriss, Macdonald, et al. (2016). Results showed that the direct replication failed, despite being conducted at the same lab site as the original study; moreover, in contrast to Morriss, Macdonald, et al. (2016), the direct replication found that higher IU was associated with greater SCR discrimination between threat and safety cues (across acquisition and extinction), as well as greater differences in uneasiness ratings between acquisition and extinction. Nonetheless, in the conceptual replications, higher IU was associated with greater threat generalization, as well as less discrimination between acquisition and extinction, as measured using SCR. Higher IU was also associated with larger late positive potentials to threat versus safety cues during extinction-results that mirror those observed by Morriss, Macdonald, et al. (2016) using SCR. Results are discussed with regards to the challenge involved in defining a successful replication attempt, the benefits of collaborative replication and the use and reliability of multiple measures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Bauer
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Annmarie MacNamara
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| | - Aislinn Sandre
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Tina B Lonsdorf
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Anna Weinberg
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Jayne Morriss
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Carien M van Reekum
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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San Martín C, Jacobs B, Vervliet B. Further characterization of relief dynamics in the conditioning and generalization of avoidance: Effects of distress tolerance and intolerance of uncertainty. Behav Res Ther 2020; 124:103526. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.103526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 10/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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But what will the results be?: Learning to tolerate uncertainty is associated with treatment-produced gains. J Anxiety Disord 2019; 68:102146. [PMID: 31669785 DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2019.102146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2019] [Revised: 08/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The current study examined the association between changes in intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and treatment outcomes for anxious youth. Participants were youth ages 7 to 17 who received cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety (N = 73). Youth and their primary caregivers completed a diagnostic interview and self- and parent-report measures at pre- and post-treatment, including the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale for Children (IUS-C/P; Przeworski, 2006), the Coping Questionnaire (CQ-C/P; Kendall, 1994) and the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC-C/P; March et al., 1997). Hierarchical regression analyses evaluated the role of change in IU (the IUS-C/P) in predicting changes in functional impairment, coping efficacy, and anxiety severity post-treatment, controlling for demographic variables (age and gender), and baseline levels of IU, anxiety severity, functional impairment, and coping efficacy. Results demonstrated that treatment was associated with improvements across child-, parent- and clinician-report, and decreased IU from pre- to post-treatment was associated with (a) decreased functional impairment, (b) increased coping efficacy and (c) decreased anxiety severity. The findings indicate that a greater reduction in IU over treatment is associated with better outcomes in children and adolescents with anxiety across informants, suggesting the possibility that an increased focus on IU during treatment for youth anxiety may improve treatment outcomes. Future research should assess the causality of this relationship.
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Weis CN, Huggins AA, Bennett KP, Parisi EA, Larson CL. High-Resolution Resting-State Functional Connectivity of the Extended Amygdala. Brain Connect 2019; 9:627-637. [DOI: 10.1089/brain.2019.0688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Carissa N. Weis
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Ashley A. Huggins
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Kenneth P. Bennett
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Elizabeth A. Parisi
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
| | - Christine L. Larson
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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Morriss J, Saldarini F, van Reekum CM. The role of threat level and intolerance of uncertainty in extinction. Int J Psychophysiol 2019; 142:1-9. [PMID: 31158397 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 05/23/2019] [Accepted: 05/30/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that individual differences in intolerance of uncertainty (IUS) are associated with disrupted threat extinction. However, it is unknown what maintains the learned threat association in high IUS individuals: is it the experienced uncertainty during extinction or the combination of experienced uncertainty with potential threat during extinction? Here we addressed this question by running two independent experiments with uncertain auditory stimuli that varied in threat level (Experiment 1, aversive human scream (n = 30); Experiment 2, neutral tone (n = 47) and mildly aversive tone (n = 49)). During the experiments, we recorded skin conductance responses and subjective ratings to the learned cues during acquisition and extinction. In experiment 1, high IUS was associated with heightened skin conductance responding to the learned threat vs. safe cue during extinction. In experiment 2, high IUS was associated only with larger skin conductance responding to the learned cues with more threatening properties during extinction i.e. mildly aversive tone. These findings suggest that uncertainty in combination with threat, even when mild, disrupts extinction in high IUS individuals. Such findings help us understand the link between IUS and threat extinction, and its relevance to anxiety disorder pathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.
| | - Francesco Saldarini
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
| | - Carien M van Reekum
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK
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Morriss J. What do I do now? Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with discrete patterns of anticipatory physiological responding to different contexts. Psychophysiology 2019; 56:e13396. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13396] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2019] [Revised: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences University of Reading Reading UK
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Morriss J, van Reekum CM. I feel safe when i know: Contingency instruction promotes threat extinction in high intolerance of uncertainty individuals. Behav Res Ther 2019; 116:111-118. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2018] [Revised: 01/23/2019] [Accepted: 03/04/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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Lange I, Goossens L, Bakker J, Michielse S, van Winkel R, Lissek S, Leibold N, Marcelis M, Wichers M, van Os J, van Amelsvoort T, Schruers K. Neurobehavioural mechanisms of threat generalization moderate the link between childhood maltreatment and psychopathology in emerging adulthood. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2019; 44:185-194. [PMID: 30540154 PMCID: PMC6488482 DOI: 10.1503/jpn.180053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Childhood maltreatment is a transdiagnostic risk factor for later psychopathology and has been associated with altered brain circuitry involved in the processing of threat and safety. Examining threat generalization mechanisms in young adults with childhood maltreatment and psychiatric symptoms may elucidate a pathway linking early-life adversities to the presence of subclinical psychopathology. METHODS We recruited youth aged 16–25 years with subclinical psychiatric symptomatology and healthy controls. They were dichotomized into 2 groups: 1 with a high level of childhood maltreatment (n = 58) and 1 with no or a low level of childhood maltreatment (n = 55). Participants underwent a functional MRI threat generalization paradigm, measuring self-reported fear, expectancy of an unconditioned stimulus (US) and neural responses. RESULTS We observed interactions between childhood maltreatment and threat generalization indices on subclinical symptom load. In individuals reporting high levels of childhood maltreatment, enhanced generalization in self-reported fear and US expectancy was related to higher levels of psychopathology. Imaging results revealed that in the group with high levels of childhood maltreatment, lower activation in the left hippocampus during threat generalization was associated with a higher symptom load. Associations between threat generalization and psychopathology were nonsignificant overall in the group with no or low levels of childhood maltreatment. LIMITATIONS The data were acquired in a cross-sectional manner, precluding definitive insight into the causality of childhood maltreatment, threat generalization and psychopathology. CONCLUSION Our results suggest that threat generalization mechanisms may moderate the link between childhood maltreatment and subclinical psychopathology during emerging adulthood. Threat generalization could represent a vulnerability factor for developing later psychopathology in individuals being exposed to childhood maltreatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Iris Lange
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Liesbet Goossens
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Jindra Bakker
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Stijn Michielse
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Ruud van Winkel
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Shmuel Lissek
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Nicole Leibold
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Machteld Marcelis
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Marieke Wichers
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Jim van Os
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Therese van Amelsvoort
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
| | - Koen Schruers
- From the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, School of Mental Health and Neuroscience, EURON, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands (Lange, Goossens, Bakker, Michielse, Leibold, Marcelis, van Os, van Amelsvoort, Schruers); Department of Neuroscience, Center for Contextual Psychiatry, Center for Clinical Psychiatry, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (van Winkel); Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA (Lissek); Institute for Mental Health Care Eindhoven (GGzE), Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Marcelis); Department of Psychiatry, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion Regulation, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands (Wichers); Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, King’s Health Partners, London, UK (van Os); Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands (van Os); Faculty of Psychology, Center for Experimental and Learning Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium Schruers)
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Morriss J, McSorley E. Intolerance of uncertainty is associated with reduced attentional inhibition in the absence of direct threat. Behav Res Ther 2019; 118:1-6. [PMID: 30921530 DOI: 10.1016/j.brat.2019.03.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2018] [Revised: 03/05/2019] [Accepted: 03/18/2019] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is a dispositional tendency to find uncertain situations aversive. There is limited understanding as to how IU may bias attention to uncertainty in the absence of direct threat. Here we examined the extent to which uncertain distractors and individual differences in IU impacted eye-movements during an attentional capture task. Participants were asked to move their eyes towards a target, whilst ignoring an array of distractors. An additional distractor could appear before or after the target in a near or far location from the target. We observed high IU individuals to display fewer first saccades to the target in all conditions. The results were specific to IU, over trait anxiety. Overall, these results suggest that IU modulates attention to uncertainty in the absence of direct threat. Such findings inform the conceptualisation of IU and its relation to psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jayne Morriss
- Centre for Integrative Neuroscience and Neurodynamics, School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom.
| | - Eugene McSorley
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom
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47
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Individual differences in anxiety and fear learning: The role of working memory capacity. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2019; 193:42-54. [PMID: 30590285 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Anxiety disorders are characterised by the perception of fear and threat in the presence of stimuli that are neutral or ambiguous. Attempts in previous research to explain the relationship between anxiety and fear learning have been inconsistent, possibly due to the influence of an unmeasured mechanism that mediates the relationship between them. Working memory capacity has been suggested as one such mechanism. The current study investigated the influence of anxiety-based individual differences upon associative fear learning, while accounting for individual differences in working memory. We hypothesised that individuals high in both anxiety and working memory would show unimpaired fear learning whereas individuals high in anxiety and low in working memory would exhibit dysfunctional fear learning. Sixty participants completed a battery of anxiety and working memory tests, as well as a fear conditioning experiment that tested for blocking, conditioned inhibition and fear discrimination. We found that anxious individuals were more likely to show impaired fear discrimination only if they also had a low working memory capacity. Furthermore, anxiety was particularly associated with poorer learning about safety cues. Such relationships were not observed for blocking and conditioned inhibition. These results suggest that the relationship between anxiety and fear learning is complex and warrants further investigation of the potential mediating role of higher-order cognitive faculties.
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48
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Knowles KA, Olatunji BO. Enhancing Inhibitory Learning: The Utility of Variability in Exposure. COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL PRACTICE 2019; 26:186-200. [PMID: 31787834 PMCID: PMC6884337 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpra.2017.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Exposure therapy has strong empirical support as a treatment for anxiety and related disorders, yet not all participants see clinically meaningful reduction in symptoms, and some experience return of fear. In this review, we examine the theoretical models of exposure therapy, from early precursors to the contemporary inhibitory learning model. The inhibitory learning model is applied to examine one potential method of improving outcomes in exposure therapy: increasing variability in the progression of the exposure hierarchy. We explore mechanisms that support the use of variability in exposure, including the violation of expectancies to enhance learning. In addition, the role of intolerance of uncertainty in anxiety is examined; variable exposure therapy could target this transdiagnostic mechanism in anxiety and related disorders. Suggestions for future research are then offered.
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49
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Morriss J, Chapman C, Tomlinson S, van Reekum CM. Escape the bear and fall to the lion: The impact of avoidance availability on threat acquisition and extinction. Biol Psychol 2018; 138:73-80. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.08.017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2017] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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50
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Keefer A, Kreiser NL, Singh V, Blakeley-Smith A, Reaven J, Vasa RA. Exploring Relationships Between Negative Cognitions and Anxiety Symptoms in Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder. Behav Ther 2018; 49:730-740. [PMID: 30146140 DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2017.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2017] [Revised: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 12/06/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Although cognitions are central to the conceptualization and treatment of anxiety in typically developing (TD) youth, there is scant research investigating automatic thoughts and their relationship with anxiety in youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We sought to examine the types of automatic thoughts experienced by youth with ASD and co-occurring anxiety as well as the predictive relationship of anxiety to different types of automatic thoughts in 97 children, ages 8-14 years. We also explored the relationship of automatic thoughts and intolerance of uncertainty. Consistent with prior data, there was a strong relationship between anxiety and automatic thoughts pertaining to social and physical threat. Anxiety and IU were independently associated with thoughts pertaining to personal failure which raises the hypothesis that personal failure may serve as a common pathway between anxiety, IU, and depression in ASD youth. These findings highlight the importance of assessing and treating negative cognitions in youth with ASD and anxiety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy Keefer
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Center for Autism and Related Disorders; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
| | | | - Vini Singh
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Center for Autism and Related Disorders
| | | | - Judy Reaven
- University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus School of Medicine
| | - Roma A Vasa
- Kennedy Krieger Institute, Center for Autism and Related Disorders; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
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