Post-extinction conditional stimulus valence predicts reinstatement fear: relevance for long-term outcomes of exposure therapy.
Exposure therapy for anxiety disorders is translated from fear conditioning and extinction. While exposure therapy is effective in treating anxiety, fear sometimes returns after exposure. One pathway for return of fear is reinstatement: unsignaled unconditional stimuli following completion of extinction. The present study investigated the extent to which valence of the conditional stimulus (CS+) after extinction predicts return of CS+ fear after reinstatement. Participants (N = 84) engaged in a differential fear conditioning paradigm and were randomised to reinstatement or non-reinstatement. We hypothesised that more negative post-extinction CS+ valence would predict higher CS+ fear after reinstatement relative to non-reinstatement and relative to extinction retest. Results supported the hypotheses and suggest that strategies designed to decrease negative valence of the CS+ may reduce the return of fear via reinstatement following exposure therapy.
['Zbozinek|Tomislav D|TD|', 'Hermans|Dirk|D|', 'Prenoveau|Jason M|JM|', 'Liao|Betty|B|', 'Craske|Michelle G|MG|']
D003214:Conditioning, Classical D003463:Cues D004644:Emotions D005108:Extinction, Psychological D005239:Fear D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007171:Implosive Therapy D008297:Male D055815:Young Adult
Reinstatement Exposure therapy Anxiety Fear conditioning Extinction Return of fear