Secure attachment priming protects against relapse of fear in Young adults

Previous studies have shown that activating the attachment system attenuates fear learning. This study aimed to explore whether attachment priming can also impact on fear extinction processes, which underpin the management of anxiety disorders. In this study, 81 participants underwent a standard fea...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Translational psychiatry 2021-11, Vol.11 (1), p.584-584, Article 584
Main Authors: Toumbelekis, Metaxia, Liddell, Belinda J., Bryant, Richard A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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Anxiety disorders
Attachment
Behavioral Sciences
Biological Psychology
Conditioning, Classical
Extinction, Psychological
Fear
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Neurosciences
Pharmacotherapy
Psychiatry
Questionnaires
Recurrence
Reflex, Startle
Young Adult
Young adults
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Summary:Previous studies have shown that activating the attachment system attenuates fear learning. This study aimed to explore whether attachment priming can also impact on fear extinction processes, which underpin the management of anxiety disorders. In this study, 81 participants underwent a standard fear conditioning and extinction protocol on day 1 and returned 24 h later for an extinction recall and reinstatement test. Half the participants were primed to imagine their closest attachment figure prior to undergoing extinction training, while the other half were instructed to imagine a positive situation. Fear-potentiated startle and subjective expectancies of shock were measured as the primary indicators of fear. Attachment priming led to less relapse during the reinstatement test at the physiological but not subjective levels. These findings have translational potential to imply that activating awareness of attachment figures might augment long-term safety memories acquired in existing treatments to reduce relapse of fear.
ISSN:2158-3188
2158-3188
DOI:10.1038/s41398-021-01715-x