Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders and this is why developing effective treatments and prevention methods targeting them is highly relevant. Extinction therapy is one of...Show moreAnxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders and this is why developing effective treatments and prevention methods targeting them is highly relevant. Extinction therapy is one of the possible tools enabling us to combat these highly prevalent disorders. One of the ways to facilitate the process of extinction is introducing a novel stimulus during extinction training, in order to reduce chances of spontaneous recovery of the conditional response, being fear. This research paper investigates the question if subjective stress levels influence the effect of novelty on fear extinction. The aim of the present study was to understand the role of stress in novelty-facilitated extinction and whether there are any sex differences in the effect of novelty on fear extinction. In an experimental setting, participants were conditioned with fear, exposed to the novelty-facilitated extinction procedure and were asked to fill in a Perceived Stress Scale Questionnaire. An effect of stress was found within the male sample, showing that highly stressed men are not as susceptible to the effects of the novelty-facilitated extinction as less stressed men. The main limitations of this study were missing norm values for evaluating the stress questionnaire and missing a tool to establish the kind of stressors, which were affecting participants. For further research, a sample with the same number of males and females is recommended to evaluate gender differences.Show less
The present study investigated the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on anxiety, mindfulness and worry compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU), and examined whether worry mediates...Show moreThe present study investigated the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) on anxiety, mindfulness and worry compared to treatment-as-usual (TAU), and examined whether worry mediates the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety in 103 adults with treatment-resistant anxiety disorders. Within a RCT, participants were randomised to receive either MBCT or TAU over 8 weeks. Subjects completed online questionnaires assessing demographics, mindfulness (Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire), worry (Penn State Worry Questionnaire) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory; BAI, Fear Questionnaire; FQ) at baseline, midterm, post-test and follow-up. The aims were investigated using baseline and post-test data for analysis. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that MBCT significantly reduced worry and anxiety measured by the FQ, increased mindfulness, and that it was more effective in reaching these outcomes than TAU. Scores on anxiety measured by the BAI also improved significantly, however, results indicated no difference between groups. Mediation analyses identified a mediating role of worry between mindfulness and anxiety if anxiety was measured by the FQ, but not if it was measured by the BAI. These results demonstrate a superiority in treatment effectiveness of MBCT over TAU, next to establishing MBCT’s effectiveness for patients with anxiety disorders who did not respond to their first treatment. The mixed findings on anxiety suggest that mindfulness may be more relevant to symptoms of behavioural avoidance than to somatic symptoms of anxiety, emphasising a need for further investigation. The present results contribute meaningfully to available literature in the field, promoting treatment optimisation in the long-term.Show less
