The impact of modification of stimulus-outcome contingencies on extinction and exposure in anxiety disorders (A13)

• Subject Area: Personality Psychology, Clinical and Medical Psychology, Methodology
• Term: since 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 316803389

Fear learning is highly dependent on the ability to detect and process contingencies between aversive stimuli and potential negative outcomes. Within this context, previous research has shown that providing verbal information about the exact association between fear stimuli and negative outcomes affects both the course and magnitude of fear acquisition and extinction in healthy individuals. The present project aims to investigate whether providing verbal information about CS-US contingencies during fear conditioning affects fear extinction learning and extinction retrieval in healthy subjects and patients with different anxiety disorders. In a parallel line of research, the role of deficiencies in processing of contingencies between fear stimuli and negative outcomes in exposure therapy will be studied. To this end, an innovative cognitive modification procedure will be used to reduce patients’ overestimation of contingencies between fear stimuli and negative outcomes prior to exposure therapy. A multimethod approach will be adopted to assess the effect of the developed add-on intervention on exposure therapy efficacy in specific phobias.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1280: Extinction Learning
• Applicant Institution: Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Jürgen Margraf; Professorin Dr. Marcella Woud, since 7/2021; Professor Dr. Armin Zlomuzica