Pattern-Induced Visual Discomfort and Anxiety in Migraineurs: Their Relationship and the Effect of Colour

In migraineurs, coloured lenses were found to reduce the visual stress caused by an aversive pattern known to trigger migraines by 70%, but do such patterns also produce a low-level anxiety/fear response? Is this response lessened by colour? We sought to investigate this in a study comprising a broad screening component followed by a dot-probe experiment to elicit attentional biases (AB) to aversive patterns. Undergraduate psychology students completed headache and visual discomfort (VD) questionnaires (N = 358), thereby forming a subject pool from which 13 migraineurs with high visual discomfort and 13 no-headache controls with low visual discomfort, matched on age and sex, completed a dot-probe experiment. Paired stimuli were presented for 500 ms: aversive achromatic 3 cpd square wave gratings vs control, scrambled patterns. These conditions were repeated using the colour that was most comfortable for each participant. VD was greater in the more severe headache groups. On all measures, the migraineurs were more anxious than the controls, and a positive relationship was found between VD and trait anxiety. The 3 cpd gratings elicited an aversive AB in the migraine group which was somewhat reduced by the use of colour, and this was not seen in the controls. The results suggest a new role for colour in reducing visual stress via anxiety/fear reduction.

Examining the effects of safety behaviours on fear reduction during exposure

The use of safety behaviours has been considered one of the primary maintaining mechanisms of anxiety disorders; however, evidence suggests that they are not always detrimental to treatment success. This study examined the effects of safety behaviours on behavioural, cognitive, and subjective indicators of fear during exposure for fear of spiders. A two-stage design examined fear reduction and approach distance during an exposure task for participants (N = 43) assigned to either a safety behaviour use (SBU) or no safety behaviour use (NSB) condition. No differences were observed between the groups in subjective or cognitive measures at prettest, posttest, and one-week follow-up; however, unlike the NSB group, the SBU group did not maintain their gains in approach distance at follow-up, though this was no longer true after self-efficacy was covaried. These results call for a reconsideration of the practice of completely eliminating safety behaviours during exposure-based treatments for specific fears.

Examining the effects of safety behaviours on fear reduction during exposure

The use of safety behaviours has been considered one of the primary maintaining mechanisms of anxiety disorders; however, evidence suggests that they are not always detrimental to treatment success. This study examined the effects of safety behaviours on behavioural, cognitive, and subjective indicators of fear during exposure for fear of spiders. A two-stage design examined fear reduction and approach distance during an exposure task for participants (N = 43) assigned to either a safety behaviour use (SBU) or no safety behaviour use (NSB) condition. No differences were observed between the groups in subjective or cognitive measures at prettest, posttest, and one-week follow-up; however, unlike the NSB group, the SBU group did not maintain their gains in approach distance at follow-up, though this was no longer true after self-efficacy was covaried. These results call for a reconsideration of the practice of completely eliminating safety behaviours during exposure-based treatments for specific fears.

Across the wide prairie: Exploring fear of crime in a small Canadian municipality

Although fear of crime is well-researched in urban domains, the predictors of fear of crime in non-urban contexts are less established. Using a sample of 559 people, this study aims to address this gap by evaluating the role of individual and ecological-level predictors on fear of crime in a small Canadian municipality. Key findings of this study include support for the influence of social cohesion, informal social control and social and physical disorder on fear in a small municipality. However, no clear relationship is found between gender and fear of crime. Additionally, nuanced relationships between social predictors and fear emerge that may be uniquely explained by non-metropolitan context. The findings have implications for the use of urban-based criminological theories of fear and for the use of crime prevention and fear reduction strategies in non-metropolitan contexts.

Fear follows form: A study of the relationship between neighborhood type, income and fear of crime at train stations

In pursuing fear-reduction strategies in public transport, the total experience of accessing rail stations should be taken into account. This article correlates passengers’ fear of crime at train stations with neighborhood types and income data within the pedestrian catchment area. The research is based on urban form and income around 84 S-train stations in the Copenhagen metropolitan area and nine years of passenger surveys on fear of crime at these stations. The study reveals a significant positive correlation between low income and fear of crime; the lower the income in an urban area, the more unsafe passengers feel at the station. However, when controlling for the relationship between income, safety and neighborhood type, stations in neighborhoods with urban form associated with low incomes have the lowest ratings of safety. The research indicates that train passengers’ sense of security is connected to neighborhood type and the city’s planning characteristics. This is an important finding for urban designers and planners working on the integration of public transport and station design in urban areas.

Smartglass-guided exposure for anxiety disorders: A proof-of-concept study

Exposure is a highly effective treatment for pathological fear and anxiety, but rarely usedin routine care. Issues of practicability and lack of therapists in rural areas are main barriers forthe dissemination of exposure. Smartglass devices may enable therapists to guide exposurefrom their own office via real-time feedback and may thereby increase practicability. The presentstudy explored the technological usability and clinical feasibility of Smartglass-guided exposurein a behavioral approach test in spider fearful individuals (N=40).Fearful individuals were asked to start the Smartglass themselves and established aconnection to a therapist, who guided the exposure test from afar. Clinical severity of spider fearwas assessed via questionnaire. Technological usability was assessed with establishedmeasures of usability, user experience, and user acceptance. Exploratory, individualcharacteristics of exposure were collected (e.g., within-session fear reduction, duration, safetybehavior).Overall, fearful individuals (94.9%) and therapists (100%) were able to establish aconnection. Usability of Smartglass-guided exposure was evaluated as positive. Within-sessionfear reduction was large (d=1.91). Adverse events were minimal. There were, however, someassociations between exposure characteristics and usability evaluation (e.g., lower userfriendlinessand longer exposure duration). Two case examples further highlight chances andrisks of Smartglass-guided exposure.These findings provide first evidence that Smartglass-guided exposure could be usefulin exposure therapy. Smartglass-guided exposure may ultimately help to increase practicabilityof exposure and increase dissemination, also in rural areas. These findings are promising forfuture research on the long-term outcome of evidence-based exposure in treatment seekingpatients.

Sense of Place and Feelings of Safety: Examining Young Adults’ Experiences of their Local Environment using Mobile Surveys

This study aims to examine feelings of safety and the correlates to feelings of decreased worry toward crime within individuals’ proximate environments. Data from adults living in Southeast Queensland ( N = 72) were collected using a mobile application. Findings of a thematic analysis of these data suggest that safety perceptions are primarily driven by (a) physical features of the proximate environment, (b) social characteristics of a place, and (c) location familiarity or awareness. This study concludes with a discussion of how these themes may be leveraged to develop more focused fear–reduction strategies that involve modifying features of the physical environment, improving social characteristics of place and increasing knowledge/awareness of place.