E-resources
-
Pittig, Andre; Boschet, Juliane M.; Glück, Valentina M.; Schneider, Kristina
Depression and Anxiety, March 2021, Volume: 38, Issue: 3Journal Article
Background Pathological avoidance is a transdiagnostic characteristic of anxiety disorders. Avoidance conditioning re‐emerged as a translational model to examine mechanisms and treatment of avoidance. However, its validity for anxiety disorders remains unclear. Methods This study tested for altered avoidance in patients with anxiety disorders compared to matched controls (n = 40/group) using instrumental conditioning assessing low‐cost avoidance (avoiding a single aversive outcome) and costly avoidance (avoidance conflicted with gaining rewards). Autonomic arousal and threat expectancy were assessed as indicators of conditioned fear. Associations with dimensional symptom severity were examined. Results Patients and controls showed frequent low‐cost avoidance without group differences. Controls subsequently inhibited avoidance to gain rewards, which was amplified when aversive outcomes discontinued. In contrast, patients failed to reduce avoidance when aversive and positive outcomes competed (elevated costly avoidance) and showed limited reduction when aversive outcomes discontinued (persistent costly avoidance). Interestingly, elevated costly avoidance was not linked to higher conditioned fear in patients. Moreover, individual data revealed a bimodal distribution of costly avoidance: Some patients showed persistent avoidance, others showed little to no avoidance. Persistent versus low avoiders did not differ in other task‐related variables, response to gains and losses in absence of threat, sociodemographic data, or clinical characteristics. Conclusions Findings suggest that anxious psychopathology is associated with a deficit to inhibit avoidance in presence of competing positive outcomes. This offers novel perspectives for research on mechanisms and treatment of anxiety disorders.
Shelf entry
Permalink
- URL:
Impact factor
Access to the JCR database is permitted only to users from Slovenia. Your current IP address is not on the list of IP addresses with access permission, and authentication with the relevant AAI accout is required.
Year | Impact factor | Edition | Category | Classification | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP | JCR | SNIP |
Select the library membership card:
If the library membership card is not in the list,
add a new one.
DRS, in which the journal is indexed
Database name | Field | Year |
---|
Links to authors' personal bibliographies | Links to information on researchers in the SICRIS system |
---|
Source: Personal bibliographies
and: SICRIS
The material is available in full text. If you wish to order the material anyway, click the Continue button.