The influence of state anxiety on the acquisition and extinction of fear

ObjectiveFear conditionability has been found to be elevated in samples with high trait anxiety or anxiety disorders. Since these studies provide circumstantial evidence for a causal link between anxiety and conditionability we examined fear conditionability after experimental induction of anxiety in two experiments.MethodIn Experiment 1, 60 participants were randomized to one of two film conditions inducing an anxious or happy emotional state. They subsequently underwent a differential conditioning acquisition procedure. Two pictures of faces served as conditioned stimuli (CS+ and CS−), and an electric stimulus served as aversive unconditioned stimulus (US). In Experiment 2, after similar acquisition procedure as used in Experiment 1, 90 participants watched one of three films (anxious, neutral, happy) prior to an extinction procedure. In both studies, skin conductance response (SCR) served as measure of fearful responding.ResultsConditioning was successful in both studies. In Experiment 1, the anxious group exhibited decreased SCRs to both CS+ and CS− during acquisition. In Experiment 2, during extinction SCRs to both CSs were highest in the anxious group, intermediate in the neutral, and lowest in the happy group.DiscussionState anxiety did not enhance conditionability during acquisition or reduce the extinction procedure. However, individuals in an anxious state show less responding during fear learning, but more responding during unlearning. Thus, our results suggest that state anxiety changes the sensitivity with which individuals react to stimuli presented in different contexts.

Research highlights
► State anxiety decreases conditionability during acquisition in women.
► State anxiety enhances responding to both CSs during extinction in women.
► After an aversive experience individuals with state anxiety might need more time to recover from fear that is associated with the aversive context.