I feel safe when I know: Contingency instruction promotes threat extinction in high intolerance of uncertainty individuals
I feel safe when I know: Contingency instruction promotes threat extinction in high intolerance of uncertainty individuals
Extinction-resistant threat is considered to be a central feature of pathological anxiety. Reduced threat extinction is observed in individuals with high intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Here we sought to determine whether contingency instructions could alter the course of threat extinction for individuals high in IU. We tested this hypothesis in two identical experiments (Exp 1 n = 60, Exp 2 n = 82) where we recorded electrodermal activity during threat acquisition with partial reinforcement, and extinction. Participants were split into groups based on extinction instructions (instructed, uninstructed) and IU score (low, high). All groups displayed larger skin conductance responses to learned threat versus safety cues during threat acquisition, indicative of threat conditioning. In both experiments, only the uninstructed high IU groups displayed larger skin conductance responses to the learned threat versus safety cue during threat extinction. These findings suggest that uncertain threat during extinction maintains conditioned responding in individuals high in IU.
111-118
Morriss, Jayne
a6005806-07cf-4283-8766-900003a7306f
van Reekum, Carien M
56010ab6-5a14-4c5a-b463-eb2159b3684c
1 May 2019
Morriss, Jayne
a6005806-07cf-4283-8766-900003a7306f
van Reekum, Carien M
56010ab6-5a14-4c5a-b463-eb2159b3684c
Morriss, Jayne and van Reekum, Carien M
(2019)
I feel safe when I know: Contingency instruction promotes threat extinction in high intolerance of uncertainty individuals.
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 116, .
(doi:10.1016/j.brat.2019.03.004).
Abstract
Extinction-resistant threat is considered to be a central feature of pathological anxiety. Reduced threat extinction is observed in individuals with high intolerance of uncertainty (IU). Here we sought to determine whether contingency instructions could alter the course of threat extinction for individuals high in IU. We tested this hypothesis in two identical experiments (Exp 1 n = 60, Exp 2 n = 82) where we recorded electrodermal activity during threat acquisition with partial reinforcement, and extinction. Participants were split into groups based on extinction instructions (instructed, uninstructed) and IU score (low, high). All groups displayed larger skin conductance responses to learned threat versus safety cues during threat acquisition, indicative of threat conditioning. In both experiments, only the uninstructed high IU groups displayed larger skin conductance responses to the learned threat versus safety cue during threat extinction. These findings suggest that uncertain threat during extinction maintains conditioned responding in individuals high in IU.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 8 March 2019
Published date: 1 May 2019
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© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Local EPrints ID: 472472
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472472
ISSN: 0005-7967
PURE UUID: e4ddd820-10bd-48f5-8a31-b00908a81d07
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Date deposited: 06 Dec 2022 17:36
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:14
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Author:
Jayne Morriss
Author:
Carien M van Reekum
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