The role of Anxiety Sensitivity in fear conditioning: a moderation effect

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bianca Gerardo ◽  
Raquel Nunes R. M. Guiomar ◽  
Mariana Moura-Ramos ◽  
Ana Ganho-Ávila

Anxiety sensitivity (AS; the degree of fear of experiencing or imagining experiencing anxiety symptoms and its possible consequences) is associated with expression of conditioned fear responses. However, findings regarding the relationship between AS and fear acquisition indexed by skin conductance responses are rather conflicting. Here we aim to clarify this interaction. We classified 144 women that underwent fear conditioning procedures as either high-AS or low-AS. We found that high-AS participants show one of two patterns maintained over time: poor stimuli discrimination or good stimuli discrimination. This suggests that different patterns of fear acquisition potentially support the distinction between anxiety disorders.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Carpenter ◽  
Laura Bragdon ◽  
Suzanne L. Pineles

Objective: PTSD is often associated with heightened physiological reactivity during fear conditioning procedures, but results vary across studies. The present study examined whether anxiety sensitivity (AS), or the fear of arousal-related sensations, strengthens the relationship between PTSD symptoms and skin conductance responses (SCR) during fear conditioning and extinction. Because gonadal hormones implicated in fear learning processes fluctuate across the menstrual cycle, the stability of these relationships in women was examined in two distinct menstrual cycle phases. Method: Thirty-two trauma-exposed women with (n=16) and without PTSD (n=16) completed the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale, Anxiety Sensitivity Inventory, and a fear conditioning and extinction paradigm during the mid-luteal (mLP) and early-follicular (eFP) menstrual cycle phases. Results: In the mLP, stronger SCR to stimuli paired with shock (CS+) during fear acquisition significantly predicted greater PTSD symptoms only when AS was high and after removing an outlier. This appeared driven by effects on Numbing and Hyperarousal symptom clusters. Other hypothesized interactions between AS and CS responses were not significant. However, in the eFP, differential SCR between the CS+ and CS- during extinction predicted significantly greater PTSD symptoms, and there was a trend for this effect being stronger as AS increased. Conclusions: Results offer preliminary evidence that high AS contributes to a stronger relationship between physiological responses during fear acquisition and PTSD symptoms, at least among women in the mLP. Further research investigating the impact of individual differences in traits such as AS on the relationship between conditioned fear responses and PTSD symptoms is warranted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (6) ◽  
pp. 622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-France Marin ◽  
Rachel G. Zsido ◽  
Huijin Song ◽  
Natasha B. Lasko ◽  
William D. S. Killgore ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Palkar ◽  
Eric Hollander

In recent years, advances in the fields of neuroimaging and experimental psychology increased our understanding of the basic mechanisms of classical conditioning and learning, contributing to our knowledge of the neurobiology of anxiety disorders. Research has shown that the amygdala is the cornerstone of fear circuitry and that abnormalities in amygdala pathways can affect the acquisition and expression of fear conditioning. Activation of the amygdala in response to disorder-relevant stimuli has been observed in anxiety disorders. The roles of the hippocampus, nucleus accumbens, periaqueductal gray, and insular and medial prefrontal cortices in response to fear have been identified as well. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, γ-aminobutyric acid, glutamate, and some neurosteroids play an important part in the neurobiology of anxiety disorders. Neuropeptides such as oxytocin, neuropeptide Y, galanin, and cholecystokinin have been shown to modulate stress response. Drugs such as N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists and blockers of voltage-gated calcium channels in the amygdala are anxiolytic. Fear extinction, which entails new learning of fear inhibition, is the mechanism of effective antianxiety treatments such as d-cycloserine, a partial NMDA agonist. Extinction is thought to occur by the medial prefrontal cortex, which inhibits the lateral amygdala under hippocampal modulation. Harnessing extinction to delink neutral stimuli from aversive responses is an important goal of the psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders. Discovery of the role of microRNAs in the etiology of anxiety disorders and their possible utility as targets to treat these disorders is fascinating. In this review, we discuss the neurobiology of anxiety disorders, which will help us better manage them clinically. This review contains 5 figures, 6 tables, and 39 references. Key words: Amygdala, anxiety disorders, neurobiology, fear conditioning, neurocircuitry, neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, neurosteroids, endogenous opioids.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33
Author(s):  
Linart Janbout

Corporate philanthropy is one of the most debated topics among scholars for socially responsible firms. This study examines the impact of corporate philanthropy on customer citizenship behavior. Furthermore, this study aims to investigate the mediation effect of corporate reputation as well as the moderation effect of customer socialization on the relationship between corporate philanthropy and customer citizenship behavior. The population of this study consists of 393 students from one university in North Cyprus. Using the regression analysis method, the findings of this study revealed that corporate philanthropy positively affects customer citizenship behavior and such a relationship is partially mediated by corporate reputation. The result of the interaction effect reported for a positive significant effect of customer socialization on the relationship between corporate philanthropy and customer citizenship behavior. The research contributes to the literature by providing empirical findings on the relationship between corporate philanthropy and customer citizenship behavior as well as examining the underline mechanisms of how and under what conditions corporate philanthropy enhances customer citizenship behavior.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 210
Author(s):  
I Wayan Widnyana ◽  
I Made Dauh Wijana ◽  
Almuntasir Almuntasir

Indonesia's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered the backbone of the national economy. However, the fact that SMEs still contribute less to the national gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of value-added, need to be addressed. While previous studies mainly focused on financial (access) constraints as one of the major constraints faced by small enterprises which affect their growth and performances, this study aims to extend the relationship between capital and financial performance of Indonesia SMEs with the moderating effect of financial constraints and partners. This study is different from others as it uses a bigger panel dataset which is about 4.36 million SMEs in Indonesia and is the first to explore the role of financial partners comprehensively. Moreover, the panel regression model with geographic analysis unit uses as a data analysis method. The results of the study show that financial capital has a positive and significant effect on the financial performance of SMEs. Furthermore, while the moderation role of financial partners on the relationship between financial capital and financial performance of Indonesia SMEs was failed to prove, the negative moderation effect of financial constraints was able to prove in this study.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maren Klingelhöfer-Jens ◽  
Jayne Morriss ◽  
Tina B Lonsdorf

Individuals who score high in self-reported Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) tend to find uncertainty unacceptable and aversive. In recent years, research has shed light on the role of IU in modulating subjective (i.e. expectancy ratings) and psychophysiological responses (i.e. skin conductance) across different classical fear conditioning procedures, particularly that of immediate extinction. However, there remain gaps in understanding how IU, in comparison to other negative emotionality traits (STAI-T), impact different types of subjective and psychophysiological measures during different classical fear conditioning procedures. Here, we analyzed IU, STAI-T, subjective (i.e. fear ratings) and psychophysiological (i.e. skin conductance, auditory startle blink) data recorded during fear acquisition training and 24h-delayed extinction training (n = 66). Higher IU, over STAI-T, was: (1) significantly associated with greater fear ratings to the learned fear cue during fear acquisition training, and (2) at trend associated with greater fear ratings to the learned fear versus safe cue during delayed extinction training. Both IU and STAI-T were not related to skin conductance or auditory startle blink during fear acquisition training and delayed extinction training. These results add to and extend our current understanding of the role of IU on subjective and physiological measures during different fear conditioning procedures, particularly that of delayed extinction training. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Caligiuri

The aim of the study is to ascertain how the original Grotian formula ‘aut dedere aut punire’ has been implemented and evolved in international law. The first step is to classify the multilateral conventions that have accepted an aut dedere aut judicare clause. The goal is to bring out peculiarities of the different treaty texts, describing the relationship between the two options dedere and judicare, and the different obligations that arise for the contracting states. We will then examine the content of the two options, to define the legal boundaries within which the contracting states shall or may operate. At this point, we will focus on the legal nature of the aut dedere aut judicare principle that over time may have risen to the status of customary rule. The study will conclude with analysis of reactions to the breach of the aut dedere aut judicare clause by non-complying countries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (139) ◽  
pp. 52-74
Author(s):  
Henrique Espada Lima

Abstract This article examines postmortem inventories and notarial records from Brazilian slaveholders in southern Brazil in the nineteenth century. By discussing selected cases in detail, it investigates the relationship between “precarious masters” (especially the poor and/or disabled, widows without family, and single elderly slaveholding women and men) and their slaves and former slaves to whom they bequeathed, in their testaments and final wills, manumission and property. The article reads these documents as intergenerational contractual arrangements that connected the masters’ expectations for care in illness and old age with the slaves’ and former slaves’ expectations for compensation for their work and dedication. Following these uneven relationships of interdependence and exploitation as they developed over time, the article suggests a reassessment of the role of paternalism in Brazil during the country’s final century of slavery. More than a tool to enforce relations of domination, paternalism articulated with the dynamics of vulnerability and interdependency as they changed over the life courses of both enslaved people and slave owners. This article shows how human aging became a terrain of negotiation and struggle as Brazilian slave society transformed throughout the nineteenth century.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Zahid Hameed ◽  
Ikram Ullah Khan ◽  
Muhammad Adnan Zahid Chudhery ◽  
Donghong Ding

This research aims to extend the literature on stress by exploring the relationship between incivility and employees' counterproductive work behavior (CWB). We investigate the mediating role of psychological distress (PD) to understand the relationship of family and workplace incivility with CWB. The study also evaluates the moderation effect of emotional regulation between incivility and PD. Analysis of three-wave lagged data (N=328), collected from bank employees in Pakistan, indicates that PD mediates the effect of family and workplace incivility on CWB and emotional regulation moderates the effect of family and workplace incivility on PD. Our findings highlight the fact that emotional regulation and PD are important mechanisms in the incivility–CWB relationship. The inclusion of these two constructs is a key to understanding the relationships among family incivility, workplace incivility, and work-related outcomes. The paper concludes with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications.


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