Clinical Science and Psychopathology Research Program, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
J Abnorm Psychol. 2019 May;128(4):315-326. doi: 10.1037/abn0000422. Epub 2019 Mar 4.
Generalization of Pavlovian fear to safe stimuli resembling conditioned-danger cues (CS+) is a widely accepted conditioning correlate of clinical anxiety. Though much of the pathogenic influence of such generalization may lie in the associated avoidance, few studies have assessed maladaptive avoidance decisions associated with Pavlovian generalization. Lab-based assessments of this process, here referred to as aversive Pavlovian-instrumental covariation during generalization (APIC-G), have recently begun. The current study represents a next step in this line of work by conducting the first examination of anxiety-related dimensions of personality that may exacerbate APIC-G. Specifically, we test anxiety sensitivity (AS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) as moderators of relations between Pavlovian generalization and maladaptive avoidance decisions in 102 undergraduate students with wide-ranging levels of IU and AS. Results indicate a facilitative effect of AS on this APIC-G process, with AS strengthening relations between Pavlovian generalization and maladaptive generalized avoidance whether operationalizing Pavlovian generalization with psychophysiological (fear-potentiated startle) or behavioral measures. Additionally, IU was found to facilitate APIC-G when indexing Pavlovian generalization with behavioral but not fear-potentiated startle measures. Moderating effects of AS were most pronounced for stimulus classes bearing the highest resemblance to CS+, whereas effects of IU were most pronounced for the stimulus class with the highest level of threat ambiguity. Results implicate AS and IU as risk factors for the maladaptive decisional correlates of Pavlovian generalization and suggest that established associations between these traits and clinical anxiety may derive, in part, from their enhancement of maladaptive APIC-G. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).
将条件性危险线索(CS+)类似的安全刺激物泛化到巴甫洛夫恐惧中,是一种被广泛接受的临床焦虑症的条件关联。尽管这种泛化的许多致病影响可能在于相关的回避,但很少有研究评估与巴甫洛夫泛化相关的适应不良回避决策。这里称为泛化期间的厌恶性巴甫洛夫-工具性关联(APIC-G)的基于实验室的评估最近已经开始。本研究通过对可能加剧 APIC-G 的与焦虑相关的人格维度进行首次检验,代表了这一研究方向的下一步进展。具体而言,我们在 102 名具有广泛 IU 和 AS 水平的大学生中,检验了焦虑敏感(AS)和不确定性容忍(IU)作为 Pavlovian 泛化与适应不良回避决策之间关系的调节剂。结果表明,AS 对这种 APIC-G 过程具有促进作用,无论使用生理心理学(恐惧增强的 startle)还是行为测量来操作 Pavlovian 泛化,AS 都增强了 Pavlovian 泛化与适应不良泛化回避之间的关系。当使用行为而不是恐惧增强的 startle 测量来索引 Pavlovian 泛化时,IU 被发现有利于 APIC-G。AS 的调节作用在与 CS+最相似的刺激类中最为明显,而 IU 的作用在威胁歧义性最高的刺激类中最为明显。结果表明,AS 和 IU 是 Pavlovian 泛化的适应不良决策相关因素的风险因素,并表明这些特征与临床焦虑之间的既定关联部分源于它们对适应不良的 APIC-G 的增强。(PsycINFO 数据库记录(c)2019 APA,保留所有权利)。