Department of Clinical Psychology, Experimental Psychopathology and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Center for Mind, Brain and Behavior (CMBB), University of Marburg and Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 29;14(1):25925. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-76175-6.
Safety behaviors are core features of anxiety-related disorders, specifically involving behaviors that do not completely terminate aversive situations, but rather prevent the risk of the occurrence of the expected aversive outcome (US). This study aimed to examine the dynamics of defensive reactivity associated with safety behaviors, both before and after their execution, and to investigate changes in these reactions following extensive training. Twenty-four healthy participants underwent a US-avoidance task as an experimental analog to model safety behavior, requiring a button press to avoid the US without terminating the associated warning cue (CS). Two CS+ were used, with one being devalued during a devaluation procedure to assess the formation of avoidance habits. Defensive reactivity was assessed using fear-potentiated startle (FPS) and skin conductance responses (SCR). Participants showed pronounced defensive reactivity to both CS + vs. CS- before the avoidance action, which decreased upon the opportunity to avoid the US. Contrarily, after the avoidance action, a re-emergence of defensive responses was observed as indicated by FPS and increased SCR. Only one participant showed signs of avoidance habit formation. The findings reveal a re-emergence of defensive reactivity following safety behaviors challenging the prevailing belief that relief is the primary sustaining factor of safety behavior.
安全行为是焦虑相关障碍的核心特征，具体涉及到那些不完全终止厌恶情境，而是防止预期的厌恶结果发生的行为（美国）。本研究旨在探讨与安全行为相关的防御反应的动力学，包括在执行之前和之后，并研究在广泛的训练后这些反应的变化。二十四名健康参与者接受了一种 US-avoidance 任务作为安全行为的实验模拟，需要按下按钮以避免 US 而不终止相关的警告线索（CS）。使用了两个 CS+，其中一个在贬值过程中被贬值，以评估回避习惯的形成。防御反应使用恐惧增强的惊跳（FPS）和皮肤电反应（SCR）来评估。参与者在回避动作之前对两个 CS+与 CS-都表现出明显的防御反应，而在有机会避免 US 时，这种反应会降低。相反，在回避动作之后，观察到防御反应的重新出现，这表明 FPS 和增加的 SCR。只有一名参与者表现出回避习惯形成的迹象。研究结果表明，安全行为后会出现防御反应的重新出现，这挑战了安全行为的主要维持因素是缓解的普遍观点。
