Background and objectives

Studies on the development and treatment of anxiety disorders mostly focus on the comparison of predefined groups. An alternative approach is to use data-driven latent class growth analyses (LCGA) to determine differentiation between groups based on particular mechanistic factors. This study validated the use of LCGA on responses in a compact fear conditioning task and whether specific characteristics are associated with maladaptive fear learning trajectories.

Methods

Healthy subjects (N = 300) completed a fear conditioning task that included uninstructed and instructed acquisition and extinction phases. Subjective fearfulness and US expectancy were used as outcome measures. Latent classes in the responses to the CS+ (coupled with a scream) and the CS- (control stimulus) were determined based on trajectories across the experimental phases. State and trait anxiety were measured during testing, and return of fear and intrusions were measured one and six weeks later.

Results

Fear learning trajectories of poor extinction in responding to the CS+ and generalization of fear to the CS- were associated with higher state and trait anxiety. Individuals belonging to these trajectories reported more intrusions, fear and had higher US expectancy ratings after 1 week.

Limitations

Only 56% of participants completed the six weeks follow-up measures.

Conclusion

Fear learning trajectories are associated with individual characteristics, return of fear and intrusions. Next, this task will be implemented in clinical practice to assess its predictive power for the extent to which patients benefit from exposure treatments.

中文翻译：

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健康参与者的恐惧学习轨迹能够区分个体特征、恐惧的长期性和入侵的不同群体

背景和目标

关于焦虑症的发展和治疗的研究主要集中在预先确定的群体之间的比较。另一种方法是使用数据驱动的潜在类别增长分析 (LCGA) 来确定基于特定机械因素的群体之间的差异。这项研究验证了 LCGA 在紧凑恐惧条件反射任务中的反应的使用，以及特定特征是否与适应不良的恐惧学习轨迹相关。

方法

健康受试者 ( N  = 300) 完成了一项恐惧条件反射任务，其中包括无指导和有指导的获取和消退阶段。主观恐惧和美国期望被用作结果测量。对 CS+（伴随着尖叫声）和 CS-（控制刺激）的反应中的潜在类别是根据整个实验阶段的轨迹确定的。在测试期间测量了状态和特质焦虑，并在 1 周和 6 周后测量了恐惧和入侵的回归。

结果

对 CS+ 反应差的恐惧学习轨迹和对 CS- 的恐惧泛化与更高的状态和特质焦虑有关。属于这些轨迹的个体在 1 周后报告了更多的入侵、恐惧和更高的美国预期评级。

限制

只有 56% 的参与者完成了六周的后续措施。

结论

恐惧学习轨迹与个体特征、恐惧的回归和入侵有关。接下来，这项任务将在临床实践中实施，以评估其对患者从暴露治疗中获益的程度的预测能力。