Safety Behavior After Extinction Triggers a Return of Threat Expectancy

Safety behavior is involved in the maintenance of anxiety disorders, presumably because it prevents the violation of negative expectancies. Recent research showed that safety behavior is resistant to fear extinction. This fear conditioning study investigated whether safety behavior after fear extinction triggers a return of fear in healthy participants. Participants learned that two stimuli (A and C) were followed by an aversive loud noise (“threat”), and one stimulus (B) was not. Participants then learned to use safety behavior that prevented the loud noise. Next, A and C were no longer followed by the loud noise, which typically led to extinction of threat expectancy. Safety behavior then became available again for C, but not for A and B. All participants used safety behavior on these C trials. In a final test phase, A, B, and C were presented once without the availability to use safety behavior. At each stimulus presentation, participants rated threat expectancy by indicating to what extent they expected that the loud noise would follow. Compared with the last extinction trial, threat expectancy increased for C in the test phase, whereas it did not increase for A and B. Hence, safety behavior after the extinction of classically conditioned fear caused a partial return of fear. The findings suggest that safety behavior may be involved in relapse after exposure-based therapy for anxiety disorders.     

Willingness to Seek Treatment Among Black Students With Anxiety or Depression: The Synergistic Effect of Sociocultural Factors With Symptom Severity and Intolerance of Uncertainty

Anxiety and depressive disorders are among the most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorders, yet they remain largely undertreated in the U.S. and Black adults are especially unlikely to seek or receive mental health services. Symptom severity has been found to impact treatment-seeking behaviors as have sociocultural factors. Yet no known research has tested whether these factors work synergistically to effect willingness to seek treatment. Further, emerging data point to the importance of transdiagnostic risk factors such as intolerance of uncertainty (IU). IU may be negatively related to seeking treatment given that Black adults may be uncertain whether treatment might benefit them. Thus, the current study examined the relations between symptom severity/IU and willingness to seek treatment for anxiety/depression problems and the impact of key sociocultural variables (i.e., cultural mistrust–interpersonal relations [CMI-IR], perceived discrimination [PED]) on these relations among 161 (85% female) Black undergraduates. Consistent with prediction, symptom severity was positively related to willingness, but unexpectedly, IU was positively related. There was a significant Symptom Severity × CMI-IR interaction such that severity was positively related to willingness among students with lower cultural mistrust, but not higher mistrust. There were also significant IU × PED interaction such that IU was positively related to willingness among students with lower PED, but not higher PED. Results highlight the importance of considering the interplay between symptom severity, transdiagnostic vulnerability factors, and sociocultural variables when striving to identify factors related to treatment seeking behaviors among anxious and/or depressed Black students.     

Predictive Relationship Between Parental Beliefs and Accommodation of Pediatric Anxiety

Behavior performed by parents to assist a youth in avoiding or alleviating anxiety, known as accommodation, is ubiquitous among pediatric anxiety disorders and strongly related to poor treatment outcome. According to cognitive-behavioral theory, the beliefs parents hold regarding accommodation should predict parental accommodating behavior. Unfortunately, little is known about the beliefs parents hold regarding accommodation, as there exists no validated measure of this construct. First, the psychometric properties were examined for the Parental Accommodation Scale (PAS), a novel measure of parental accommodating behavior frequency (PAS-Behavior scale) and parental beliefs about accommodation (PAS-Belief scale). Second, the relationship between parental beliefs about accommodation and accommodation frequency was examined. Results provide preliminary evidence of the internal consistency and convergent validity of the PAS. Stronger positive beliefs about accommodation significantly predicted accommodation frequency, even after controlling for youth anxiety severity. Specifically, beliefs that accommodation prevents youth from losing behavioral and emotional control significantly predicted accommodation frequency. Therefore, efforts to decrease accommodation in clinical settings should involve correcting maladaptive parental beliefs about accommodation, with a particular emphasis on beliefs regarding the necessity of accommodation in preventing a youth from losing behavioral and emotional control.     

Profile Analysis of Psychological Symptoms Associated With Misophonia: A Community Sample

Misophonia is characterized by extreme aversive reactions to certain classes of sounds. It has recently been recognized as a condition associated with significant disability. Research has begun to evaluate psychopathological correlates of misophonia. This study sought to identify profiles of psychopathology that characterize misophonia in a large community sample. A total of N = 628 adult participants completed a battery of measures assessing anxiety and anxiety sensitivity, depression, stress responses, anger, dissociative experiences, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and beliefs, distress tolerance, bodily perceptions, as well as misophonia severity. Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) was employed to evaluate profiles associated with elevated misophonia and those without symptoms. Three profiles were extracted. The first two accounted for 70% total variance and did not show distinctions between groups. The third profile accounted for 11% total variance, and showed that misophonia is associated with lower obsessive-compulsive symptoms for neutralizing, obsessions generally, and washing compared to those not endorsing misophonia, and higher levels of obsessive-compulsive symptoms associated with ordering and harm avoidance. This third profile extracted also showed significant differences between those with and without misophonia on the scale assessing physical concerns (that is, sensitivity to interoceptive sensations) as assessed with the ASI-3. Further research is called for involving diagnostic interviewing and experimental methods to clarify these putative mechanisms associated with misophonia.     

Academic goals and learning strategies in secondary education Spanish students with social anxiety / Metas académicas y estrategias de aprendizaje en estudiantes españoles de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria con ansiedad social

The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between high social anxiety, academic goals and learning strategies in a sample of 2,022 (51.1% male) Spanish adolescents aged 12–16. The Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory (SPAI), Achievement Goal Tendencies Questionnaire (AGTQ) and Learning and Studies Skills Strategies Inventory — High School Version (LASSI-HS) were used to assess the variables. The results showed no statistically significant differences in goal orientations between students with and without high social anxiety. However, students with high social anxiety used learning strategies significantly less. In addition, the logistic regression results indicated that high social anxiety acts as a significant predictor for setting social reinforcement goals and learning and study strategies.     

Specificity of relations between adolescents’ cognitive emotion regulation strategies and symptoms of depression and anxiety

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which cognitive emotion regulation strategies were “common or transdiagnostic correlates” of symptoms of depression and anxiety and/or “specific correlates” distinguishing one problem category from the other. The sample comprised 582 13- to 16-year-old secondary school students. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were measured by the SCL-90, and cognitive emotion regulation strategies were measured by the CERQ, in a cross-sectional design. Multivariate regression analyses were performed. Before controlling for comorbidity, the same cognitive emotion regulation strategies that were related to symptoms of depression were also related to symptoms of anxiety. However, after controlling for comorbid anxiety symptoms, rumination, self-blame (only girls), positive reappraisal, and positive refocusing (the latter two inversely) were uniquely (and significantly) associated with depression symptoms; and after controlling for comorbid depression symptoms, catastrophising and other-blame were uniquely related to anxiety symptoms. The results supported the cognitive content-specificity model, in which anxiety is supposed to be uniquely characterised by thoughts concerning the overestimation of threats and harm, and depression is supposed to be uniquely characterised by negative evaluations of self, and of past and future events.     

农村留守儿童焦虑情绪的异质性:基于潜在剖面分析

采用中学生心理健康诊断量表（MHT）对湖南省1292名留守儿童的焦虑情绪进行施测,并用潜在剖面分析方法探究留守儿童的焦虑情绪问题是否存在异质性,以及留守儿童相关的人口学因素对焦虑情绪异质性的作用机制。结果发现,留守儿童的焦虑情绪存在明显的异质性,可以分为三种潜在类别：“严重焦虑情绪型”、“中等程度焦虑情绪型”和“低焦虑情绪型”;留守男生、小学五年级、高中二年级、留守时间越长、留守初始年龄越小的留守儿童更容易焦虑情绪严重;无论是父亲外出、母亲外出还是双亲外出对留守儿童的焦虑情绪严重性的影响是一致的。由此,应根据留守儿童的性别、年级、留守时长和留守的初始年龄等情况特点,开展针对性的预防和干预措施,缓解留守儿童焦虑。     

大学生自尊与网络过激行为的关系:社交焦虑和双自我意识的作用

本研究探讨了自尊与网络过激行为的关系,以391名大学生为被试,采用问卷法考察了社交焦虑在自尊与网络过激行为关系中的中介作用,以及该过程是否受到公我意识、私我意识水平的调节。结果发现：（1）在控制了性别、年龄后,自尊对网络过激行为具有负向预测作用;（2）社交焦虑在自尊和网络过激行为间起部分中介作用;（3）公我意识调节自尊对网络过激行为的直接作用。相对于公我意识水平高的大学生,直接效应对公我意识水平低的大学生更显著;（4）自尊对社交焦虑的作用还受到个体私我意识的调节,相对于私我意识水平低的大学生,间接效应对于私我意识水平高的大学生更显著。     

留守妇女与儿童焦虑的代际传递:有调节的中介效应

基于发展系统论和社会提供论构建的有调节的中介模型,对322名留守、323名非留守母子进行为期半年共两次的追踪测查,考察家庭（母亲心理控制）、学校（教师支持）和同伴（朋友支持）系统对焦虑代际传递的影响机制。结果发现：（1）心理控制对留守、非留守母子焦虑的代际传递均起部分中介作用;（2）留守母子焦虑代际传递的中介效应受教师支持的调节,随教师支持水平的提高,中介效应变得不再显著;（3）留守、非留守母子焦虑代际传递的直接效应受朋友支持的调节,随朋友支持水平的提高,直接效应变得不再显著。未来研究可聚焦于母亲、教师、同伴的视角打破留守母子焦虑的代际传递。     

贫困大学生元刻板印象威胁对群际关系的影响:群际焦虑的中介和自尊的调节作用

元刻板印象威胁是指消极元刻板印象所导致的群体成员的一种社会心理困境和认知不平衡状态,会诱发压力和害怕体验,进而损害其行为表现。基于群际焦虑模型,本研究拟考查元刻板印象、群际焦虑、自尊等因素对群际关系的影响,具体为贫困大学生消极元刻板印象对群际关系的影响及群际焦虑的中介作用、自尊的调节作用。研究以江苏省徐州市某高校的158名贫困大学生为被试,通过操控指导语的方式将其随机分为威胁组（消极元刻板印象激活组）和无威胁组（元刻板印象未激活组）。结果如下：（1）威胁组被试的群际焦虑水平显著高于无威胁组,群际关系水平显著低于无威胁组;（2）群际焦虑在元刻板印象威胁与群际关系间起中介作用,自尊在前半路径（元刻板印象和群际焦虑间）和后半路径（群际焦虑与群际关系间）均起调节作用。结论：激活贫困大学生消极元刻板印象会对群际关系产生威胁效应。