Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2016
Keywords
fear conditioning, extinction, skin conductance, inhibitory learning, obsessive‐compulsive disorder, children
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22468
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Fear acquisition and extinction are central constructs in the cognitive-behavioral model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which underlies exposure-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Youth with OCD may have impairments in fear acquisition and extinction that carry treatment implications. We examined these processes using a differential conditioning procedure.
METHODS: Forty-one youth (19 OCD, 22 community comparisons) completed a battery of clinical interviews, rating scales, and a differential conditioning task that included habituation, acquisition, and extinction phases. Skin conductance response (SCR) served as the primary dependent measure.
RESULTS: During habituation, no difference between groups was observed. During acquisition, differential fear conditioning was observed across participants as evidenced by larger SCRs to the CS+ compared to CS-; there were no between-group differences. Across participants, the number and frequency of OCD symptoms and anxiety severity was associated with greater reactivity to stimuli during acquisition. During extinction, a three-way interaction and follow-up tests revealed that youth with OCD showed a different pattern of SCR extinction compared to the community comparison group.
CONCLUSIONS: Youth with OCD exhibit a different pattern of fear extinction relative to community comparisons. This may be attributed to impaired inhibitory learning and contingency awareness in extinction. Findings suggest the potential benefit of utilizing inhibitory-learning principles in CBT for youth with OCD, and/or augmentative retraining interventions prior to CBT to reduce threat bias and improve contingency detection.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Depression and Anxiety, v. 33, issue 3, p. 229-237
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: McGuire, J. F., Orr, S. P., Wu, M. S., Lewin, A. B., Small, B. J., Phares, V. , Murphy, T. K., Wilhelm, S. , Pine, D. S., Geller, D. and Storch, E. A. (2016), FEAR CONDITIONING AND EXTINCTION IN YOUTH WITH OBSESSIVE‐COMPULSIVE DISORDER. Depress Anxiety, 33: 229-237, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/da.22468. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.
Scholar Commons Citation
McGuire, Joseph F.; Orr, Scott P.; Wu, Monica S.; Lewin, Adam B.; Small, Brent J.; Phares, Vicky; Murphy, Tanya K.; Wilhelm, Sabine; Pine, Daniel S.; Geller, Daniel; and Storch, Eric A., "Fear Conditioning and Extinction in Youth with Obsessive-compulsive Disorder" (2016). Psychology Faculty Publications. 2389.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/psy_facpub/2389
