Corrigendum to: “Conceptual fear generalization gradients and their relationship with anxious traits: Results from a Registered Report” [Int. J. Psychophysiol. 170 (2021) 43–50]

The authors regret to inform that an error was made in the data analysis syntax for the analyses reported in the referenced article. Particularly, we included the “Behavioral Inhibition Scale” (BIS) in this study and correlated the scores on this questionnaire to generalization gradients in a fear generalization paradigm. Accidentally, we used items from the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), rather than the BIS, to calculate the BIS total scores. As a result of this error, the average BIS total score and the correlations that we report in Table 1 of the original article with this scale are incorrect. We report the correct BIS total score, standard deviation, and correlations with this scale in the updated table below (Table 1). Please note that, using the correct BIS scores, the correlation between the Generalization Index (GI) for fear potentiated startle (FPS) and BIS (r = −0.19; p = .037) now reached the conventional alpha cut-off level for statistical significance (0.05). However, this correlation was not significant according to our adjusted alpha level (0.017) that we had pre-specified for our study. As such, all the main conclusions of the original article remain unchanged. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

Corrigendum to: “Conceptual fear generalization gradients and their relationship with anxious traits: Results from a Registered Report” [Int. J. Psychophysiol. 170 (2021) 43–50]

The authors regret to inform that an error was made in the data analysis syntax for the analyses reported in the referenced article. Particularly, we included the “Behavioral Inhibition Scale” (BIS) in this study and correlated the scores on this questionnaire to generalization gradients in a fear generalization paradigm. Accidentally, we used items from the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS), rather than the BIS, to calculate the BIS total scores. As a result of this error, the average BIS total score and the correlations that we report in Table 1 of the original article with this scale are incorrect. We report the correct BIS total score, standard deviation, and correlations with this scale in the updated table below (Table 1). Please note that, using the correct BIS scores, the correlation between the Generalization Index (GI) for fear potentiated startle (FPS) and BIS (r = −0.19; p = .037) now reached the conventional alpha cut-off level for statistical significance (0.05). However, this correlation was not significant according to our adjusted alpha level (0.017) that we had pre-specified for our study. As such, all the main conclusions of the original article remain unchanged. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

Reduction of conditioned avoidance via contingency reversal

There is an increased interest in how excessive avoidance can diminish. Avoidance reduction is typically tested by using Extinction with Response Prevention (ExRP) protocols, where feared stimuli are presented without any aversive outcome while avoidance is prevented. These effects, however, often do not persist. Here, we tested whether pairing an avoidance response with the presence of an aversive event would reduce avoidance more than ExRP. Participants (N = 58) first saw a picture of a square (A) being paired with a shock whereas another picture of a square (B) not being paired with a shock. Then, they learned to press a button during the presentation of A to avoid the shock. Afterwards, the ExRP group saw unreinforced presentations of A and B without being able to press the avoidance button, whereas the Contingency Reversal group (ConR) received a shock whenever they pressed the button in presence of A. In the test phase, participants saw unreinforced presentations of A and B. Results showed that after successful acquisition of fear and avoidance, in the test phase the ConR group avoided A less often than did the ExRP group. Research on contingency reversal could prove helpful for developing avoidance reduction protocols

Future-oriented imagery rescripting facilitates conducting behavioral experiments in social anxiety

Distressing mental images are common in anxiety disorders and can make it difficult for patients to confront feared situations. This study examined whether imagery rescripting focused on a feared social situation prepares participants to engage in a feared situation. Sixty healthy individuals were asked to formulate a behavioral experiment to test negative beliefs about a social situation they feared. They were assigned to one of two groups: imagery rescripting focused on the feared outcome of the behavioral experiment or no imagery rescripting (i.e., a break). All participants were then asked to complete ratings scales and to conduct the behavioral experiment. Before the behavioral experiment, the imagery rescripting condition, compared to the control condition, showed reduced anticipated probability and severity of the feared outcome, lower anxiety and helplessness levels, and increased willingness to conduct the behavioral experiment. Imagery-based interventions focused on feared outcomes seem promising to prepare anxious individuals to engage in treatment

Future-oriented imagery rescripting facilitates conducting behavioral experiments in social anxiety

Distressing mental images are common in anxiety disorders and can make it difficult for patients to confront feared situations. This study examined whether imagery rescripting focused on a feared social situation prepares participants to engage in a feared situation. Sixty healthy individuals were asked to formulate a behavioral experiment to test negative beliefs about a social situation they feared. They were assigned to one of two groups: imagery rescripting focused on the feared outcome of the behavioral experiment or no imagery rescripting (i.e., a break). All participants were then asked to complete ratings scales and to conduct the behavioral experiment. Before the behavioral experiment, the imagery rescripting condition, compared to the control condition, showed reduced anticipated probability and severity of the feared outcome, lower anxiety and helplessness levels, and increased willingness to conduct the behavioral experiment. Imagery-based interventions focused on feared outcomes seem promising to prepare anxious individuals to engage in treatment

Positive future thinking without task-relevance increases anxiety and frontal stress regulation

Negative anticipatory biases can affect the way we interpret and subjectively experience events. Through its role in emotion regulation, positive future thinking may provide an accessible way to attenuate these biases. However, it is unclear whether positive future thinking works ubiquitously, independent of contextual relevance. Here, we used a positive future thinking intervention (task-relevant; task-irrelevant and control condition) prior to a social stress task to adapt the way this task was experienced. We assessed subjective and objective stress measures and also recorded resting state electroencephalography (EEG) to assess intervention related differences in the level of frontal delta-beta coupling, which is considered a neurobiological substrate of stress regulation. Results show that the intervention reduced subjective stress and anxiety, and increased social fixation behavior and task performance, but only if future thinking was task-relevant. Paradoxically, task-irrelevant positive future thoughts enhanced negative perceptual biases and stress reactivity. This increase in stress reactivity was corroborated by elevated levels of frontal delta-beta coupling during event anticipation, which suggests an increased demand for stress regulation. Together, these findings show that positive future thinking can mitigate the negative emotional, behavioral and neurobiological consequences of a stressful event, but that it should not be applied indiscriminately

The relationship between Intolerance of Uncertainty and conditioned fear acquisition: Evidence from a large sample

Despite being considered a valid model for the etiology of anxiety disorders, the fear conditioning paradigm does not always show clear correlations with anxious personality traits that constitute risk factors for the development of anxiety disorders. This may in part due to error variance and the fact that fear conditioning studies are typically underpowered to investigate inter-individual differences. In the current study, we focus on the relationship between conditioned fear acquisition and Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU). In a re-analysis of a large previous study (N = 120), which was conducted using a healthy student sample and a partial reinforcement procedure (75%) with words as Conditioned Stimuli (CSs), the relationship between IU and several outcome measures (i.e., fear ratings, expectancy ratings, skin conductance responses, and startle responses) during fear acquisition was examined. We find that IU is positively related to fear ratings towards the CS+ (r = 0.29), even when controlling for the shared variance with trait anxiety. Furthermore, we find a subtle relationship between IU and startle responses to the CS− (r = −0.23), though this correlation did not survive correction for the shared variance with trait anxiety. Taken together, we replicate some of the correlations previously reported in the literature. However, we recommend that future studies employ even larger samples and more advanced statistical techniques such as structural equation modelling to investigate the correlations between fear acquisition indices and anxious traits in a fine-grained manner