Exposure-based therapies are the gold standard treatment for anxiety disorders, and recent advancements in basic and clinical research point to the need to update the implementation of exposure. Recent research has highlighted the importance of transdiagnostic factors such as anxiety sensitivity (AS), or fear of anxiety-related sensations. Elevated AS is common among all anxiety disorders and contains three dimensions, or expectancies, that can be used to guide treatment. Recently, treatments directly targeting AS have shown potential in reducing symptoms of anxiety. In addition, inhibitory learning theory (ILT) provides an alternative explanation of exposure processes based on basic learning research. ILT extends the current framework by accounting for renewal of fear, which is important given the substantial number of individuals who experience a return of symptoms following treatment. The current paper will provide an overview of ILT and discuss several ILT techniques that can be used to target AS. These two converging bodies of research hold strong potential for optimizing treatment for anxiety.

基于暴露的疗法是治疗焦虑症的黄金标准，基础和临床研究的最新进展表明需要更新暴露的实施。最近的研究强调了跨诊断因素的重要性，例如焦虑敏感性 (AS) 或对焦虑相关感觉的恐惧。AS 升高在所有焦虑症中都很常见，包含三个维度或期望值，可用于指导治疗。最近，直接针对 AS 的治疗已显示出减轻焦虑症状的潜力。此外，抑制性学习理论（ILT）提供了基于基础学习研究的暴露过程的替代解释。ILT 通过考虑恐惧的更新来扩展当前的框架，鉴于大量个体在治疗后症状复发，这一点很重要。本论文将概述 ILT，并讨论可用于针对 AS 的几种 ILT 技术。这两个融合的研究机构在优化焦虑症治疗方面具有巨大的潜力。