Abstract
Avoidance is a key characteristic of adaptive and maladaptive fear. Here, we review past and contemporary theories of avoidance learning. Based on the theories, experimental findings and clinical observations reviewed, we distill key principles of how adaptive and maladaptive avoidance behavior is acquired and maintained. We highlight clinical implications of avoidance learning theories and describe intervention strategies that could reduce maladaptive avoidance and prevent its return. We end with a brief overview of recent developments and avenues for further research.
Highlights
Avoidance of genuinely threatening stimuli or situations is a key characteristic of adaptive fear
We address the clinical implications of those principles and relate them to current and novel interventions for maladaptive avoidance such as in anxiety disorders or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
We propose that instrumental learning plays a different role depending on whether the to-be-learned avoidance response belongs to an organism’s Species-Specific Defense Reactions (SSDR) repertoire or not
Summary
Avoidance of genuinely threatening stimuli or situations is a key characteristic of adaptive fear. Excessive avoidance in the absence of real threat can severely impair individuals’ quality of life and may stop them from encountering anxiety-correcting information (Barlow, 2002) In such cases, avoidance loses its adaptive value and may transform into a maladaptive response. New psychological theories of avoidance learning have been proposed (e.g., De Houwer et al, 2005; Lovibond, 2006) and avoidance is quickly becoming a topic of prime empirical interest in experimental psychology and in clinical psychology and psychiatry as well as in behavioral neuroscience (see the present special issue). We review more recent theories of avoidance learning that address informational factors (e.g., expectancies) in avoidance. We end our review with suggestions for closer alignment between basic and clinical science and a few avenues for future research
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