Can you escape the virtual room? A novel paradigm to assess avoidance behaviour

Pauline Dibbets,Anke Lemmens,Richard Benning,Tom Smeets

doi:10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100061

Pauline Dibbets, Anke Lemmens + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2021.100061

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Abstract

Anxiety patients often experience conflicts between approaching (pass barking dog) and avoiding (take detour) feared situations. In most experimental avoidance paradigms, response options are limited or forced, making it difficult to generalize the results to daily life situations. The aim of the present study was twofold: 1) to develop a more ecologically valid avoidance paradigm; 2) to examine the influence of individual characteristics (trait anxiety; distress tolerance) on approach-avoidance behaviour. To encourage free exploration behaviour, a virtual reality (VR) escape room was developed. In this room, participants searched for cues to decipher a code-locked door. Opening a marked vase (conditioned stimulus, CS) was followed by a jump scare, a rat jumping out of the vase (unconditioned stimulus, US). Avoidance was measured via questionnaires and relative manipulation time of CS-marked (EXPgen) or nonmarked (CONT) objects in the room; questionnaires measured trait anxiety and distress tolerance. EXPgen participants reported higher US expectancies and more avoidance of the (marked) vase compared to the CONT participants, yet behavioural data did not support these ratings. Additionally, higher trait anxiety scores coincided with higher US expectancies before the jump scare. The current flexible free-exploratory paradigm provides multiple opportunities to examine avoidance behaviour in different populations and settings.

Highlights

Avoidance of actual threatening stimuli or situations is a core characteristic of adaptive fear
Avoidance was measured via questionnaires and relative manipulation time of CS-marked (EXPgen) or nonmarked (CONT) objects in the room; questionnaires measured trait anxiety and distress tolerance
Of these expectancies (VASexp-csgen) and avoidance of the vase (VASavvase) in Room 3. In each of these analyses, condition (EXPgen and CONT) served as factor. These analyses indicated that the experimental avoidance generalization (EXPgen) gave higher US expectancies than did the CONT condition for both the vase (VASexp#2), F (1, 54) 1⁄4 18.45, p < .001, ηp2 1⁄4 0.25, and the marked/non-marked objects (VASexp-csgen), F (1, 55) 1⁄4 4.59, p 1⁄4 .037, ηp2 1⁄4 0.077

Summary

Introduction

Avoidance of actual threatening stimuli or situations is a core characteristic of adaptive fear. It is wise to run away from a forest fire and to take a detour to avoid a wild-barking dog. These avoidance tendencies are important as they foster survival. Avoidance loses its adaptive value and may become maladaptive, hindering daily functioning. This maladaptive avoidance is a core characteristic of a variety of mental disorders such as anxiety disorders, trauma and stress-related disorders, and obsessive compulsive disorder (American Psychiatric American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Avoidance keeps a person from taking a plane (flight phobia) or pressing an elevator button (contamination fear), making the world smaller and fostering fear that hinders daily-life routines

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