Background: Habitually attending to threat may contribute to anxiety. This threat-oriented attentional bias (AB) may occur in state anxiety (SA) and/or trait anxiety (TA). Current evidence is mixed...Show moreBackground: Habitually attending to threat may contribute to anxiety. This threat-oriented attentional bias (AB) may occur in state anxiety (SA) and/or trait anxiety (TA). Current evidence is mixed, possibly due to the low reliability/internal validity of a popular AB measurement tool, the Dot Probe. This study aims to clarify previous findings with a novel tool, the Dual Probe. Hypothesis: We predict those high in TA and SA will exhibit the highest threat-orientation levels, followed by those with solely high SA, then those with solely high TA. We predict low TA/SA to correlate with threat-avoidance or neutrality. Methods: Female Leiden University students (n = 58) completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. The Dual Probe task involved two on-screen pictures (mildly-threatening, neutral). After image offset, two letters appeared (50ms) in their respective locations, with participants instructed to press whichever key they saw. Threat-orientation was scored as proportion of threat-associated versus neutral-associated keypresses. Results: Analysis indicated re-test reliability of the Dual Probe (Spearman-Brown of .88). Bivariate Pearson’s r found no correlations between TA/SA and threat-orientation (TA revealed r = .03, p = .817; SA revealed r = -.05, p = .689). A multiple regression found no evidence of interaction effects (F (3, 54) = 0.986, p = .406, R2 = -.001). Discussion: Results suggest either a limited role of threat-oriented AB in the occurrence/maintenance of anxiety, or limitations in the study methods and sample. Possible theoretical connections to existing literature and practical implications for treatment are discussed, alongside future directions for the Dual Probe.Show less
BACKGROUND: Exposure therapy, which is based on extinction learning, is the therapy of choice for several anxiety disorders. However, the remission rate is not optimal for adults with an anxiety...Show moreBACKGROUND: Exposure therapy, which is based on extinction learning, is the therapy of choice for several anxiety disorders. However, the remission rate is not optimal for adults with an anxiety disorder, which could be due to non-response or to the return of the original fear after exposure therapy. Persons with high levels of anxiety have more difficulties constructing and consolidating extinction memories. Stimulating the vagus nerve (tVNS) is a promising method of enhancing the process of extinction learning as shown in previous animal and human studies. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess whether participants with high levels of anxiety would benefit more from the addition of tVNS measured in US expectancy ratings and skin conductance response. METHOD: This paper is a reanalysis of the data from the study of Burger et al. (2018). In this study healthy humans participated in a prepared fear learning paradigm, spider pictures were used as conditioned stimulus. After the acquisition phase participants were randomly allocated to the tVNS condition (N=42) and to the sham condition (N=43) for the extinction phase. High- and low-scoring groups were created based on the state and trait subscales of the STAI. RESULTS: There were no differences found between the high- and low-scoring groups in the effectiveness of tVNS, although the low state group in the tVNS condition showed lower US expectancy ratings for the CS- trials. CONCLUSION: This distinct study does not provide conclusive evidence to support the direction of studying tVNS in a clinical sample.Show less
