Individual Differences In Anxiety Research Articles

Cueing of visual attention by emotional facial expressions: The influence of individual differences in anxiety and depression

Theoretical models on the development of anxiety disorders and depression have postulated mood-congruent information processing biases as a cognitive vulnerability factor. Hierarchical models of these disorders suggest shared and distinct cognitive processing biases in at-risk individuals. In the present study, attentive processing of emotional facial expressions was investigated in a large group of participants ( N = 144) that were tested on tension/stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. In a modified version of the exogenous cueing paradigm, spatial attention was cued by an angry, sad, happy, or neutral facial expression that correctly or incorrectly predicted the location of a target. Results showed no main or interaction effects of emotional expression and individual differences on attentional cueing. The absence of any attentional cueing effects is discussed in relation to population characteristics and previous null-results in the attentional bias literature.

Individual differences in anxiety trait are related to spatial learning abilities and hippocampal expression of mineralocorticoid receptors

Although high levels of anxiety might be expected to negatively influence learning and memory, it remains to be shown whether individual differences in anxiety may influence spatial learning and memory in outbred rat populations. We have studied this possibility in male Wistar rats whose levels of anxiety were first characterized as either high (HA) or low (LA) according to their behavior in the elevated plus maze or in the open field test. Subsequently, their performance in the Morris water maze was studied, a task dependent on hippocampal activity. Interestingly, LA rats showed a faster acquisition and better memory in the water maze when compared to HA rats. Indeed, this difference in performance could mainly be attributed to the increase in thigmotactic behavior (swimming in circles close to the maze walls) displayed by HA rats during spatial navigation. Glucocorticoids are known to affect the state of anxiety and the hippocampus is the main target of glucocorticoids in the brain. Hence, we investigated whether the hippocampal expression of the two classical corticosteroid receptors, mineralocorticoid (MR) and glucocorticoid (GR) differed in the two groups of rats. We found that LA rats displayed higher hippocampal expression of MR but not GR than HA rats. Indeed, the expression levels for these receptors were positively correlated with the amount of time spent by the animals in the open arms of the elevated plus maze. Moreover, we present evidence that the levels of anxiety quantified in the first stages of our study constitute a trait rather than a state. Taken together, this study has generated evidence of a close interaction between the anxiety trait, hippocampal MR expression and the learning abilities of individuals in stressful spatial orientation tasks.

The influence of acute anxiety on assessment of nociceptive flexion reflex thresholds in healthy young adults

The nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) is a polysynaptic withdrawal reflex that occurs in response to painful stimulation. In human studies, NFR responsiveness has been used as a direct measure of nociception as well as an indirect measure of supraspinal modulation of nociceptive transmission. Previous studies have suggested that anxiety may influence NFR responding, and therefore it has been recommended that anxiety be reduced by familiarizing participants with assessment methodology prior to formal NFR assessment. The present study was designed to assess the influence of anxiety on NFR threshold. Using a repeated measures design, 40 men and women completed an NFR threshold assessment twice within session one, and twice again during a second session conducted 24 h later. Within each assessment session, state anxiety was measured at the beginning of the session and immediately following each NFR threshold assessment. Results indicated that although anxiety increased in response to NFR threshold assessment and was positively related to subjective pain reports, anxiety was not related to observed NFR threshold levels. These findings suggest that individual differences in anxiety do not significantly affect NFR threshold level determinations under standard testing conditions.

Nonhuman Primate Models to Study Anxiety, Emotion Regulation, and Psychopathology

This paper demonstrates that the rhesus monkey provides an excellent model to study mechanisms underlying human anxiety and fear and emotion regulation. In previous studies with rhesus monkeys, stable, brain, endocrine, and behavioral characteristics related to individual differences in anxiety were found. It was suggested that, when extreme, these features characterize an anxious endophenotype and that these findings in the monkey are particularly relevant to understanding adaptive and maladaptive anxiety responses in humans. The monkey model is also relevant to understanding the development of human psychopathology. For example, children with extremely inhibited temperament are at increased risk to develop anxiety disorders, and these children have behavioral and biological alterations that are similar to those described in the monkey anxious endophenotype. It is likely that different aspects of the anxious endophenotype are mediated by the interactions of limbic, brain stem, and cortical regions. To understand the brain mechanisms underlying adaptive anxiety responses and their physiological concomitants, a series of studies in monkeys lesioning components of the neural circuitry (amygdala, central nucleus of the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex) hypothesized to play a role are currently being performed. Initial findings suggest that the central nucleus of the amygdala modulates the expression of behavioral inhibition, a key feature of the endophenotype. In preliminary FDG positron emission tomography (PET) studies, functional linkages were established between the amygdala and prefrontal cortical regions that are associated with the activation of anxiety.

On the relationship between attention and personality: covert visual orienting of attention in anxiety and impulsivity

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between covert visual orienting of attention guided by peripheral or central cues and individual differences in anxiety and impulsivity. Ninety-six female students performed sequentially two versions of Posner's cued-reaction time paradigm, one with peripheral and the other with central cues; two intervals between cue and target onsets (SOA) were considered (100 or 800 ms). Individual differences in anxiety and impulsivity were assessed by means of the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward Questionnaire (SPSRQ). In addition to the expected effects—reaction times were faster when targets appeared after a peripheral cue, in the cued location, at the long SOA condition, and in the right visual field—analyses showed that scores on the SP scale were related to a greater difficulty in disengaging attention from a peripheral cue at the short SOA, whereas scores on the SR scale were related to a greater ability to disengage attention from the location signaled by a central cue at the long SOA. It is concluded that anxiety facilitates automatic detection of peripheral (and thus, potentially dangerous) stimuli, whereas impulsivity facilitates conscious shifting of attention when covert orienting is guided by expectation.

The measurement of individual differences in Behavioural Inhibition and Behavioural Activation Systems: a comparison of personality scales

The measurement of anxiety and impulsivity dimensions is one of the main problems that Gray's model faces in human research. Contrary to most personality models, Gray's model has no standard way to assess the personality dimensions that arise from the theory. Multiple measurement strategies have been used, some of them introducing conceptual errors and difficult outcome comparisons. In this paper, scales most used in anxiety and impulsivity assessment are studied and compared in order to provide some empirical clues that could help in the decision on which scale to use for the assessment of individual differences in anxiety and impulsivity dimensions. Some validity criteria are proposed as convergence with other measures, orthogonality, and correlations with the Extraversion and Neuroticism scales. From the analyses performed with 538 university students, a high homogeneity in anxiety measures is observed, being the Sensitivity to Punishment and Harm Avoidance scales which best fits in validity criteria. A lesser homogeneity is observed across impulsivity scales; in this case the Sensitivity to Reward and I 7 scales showed the best results.

Neurobiological Correlates of Individual Differences in Novelty-Seeking Behavior in the Rat: Differential Expression of Stress-Related Molecules

It is well established that individual rats exhibit marked differences in behavioral responses to a novel environment. Rats that exhibit high rates of locomotor activity and sustained exploration in such an environment also exhibit high concentrations of stress-induced plasma corticosterone, linking this behavior to the stress system. Furthermore, these high-responding (HR) rats, in contrast to their low-responding (LR) counterparts, have a greater propensity to self-administer drugs. Thus, HR rats have been described as "novelty" seeking in that they are more active and explore novel stimuli more vigorously, despite the fact that this elicits in them high stress responses. In this study, we have further characterized the behavior of HR and LR rats in tests of anxiety and characterized their stress responses to either experimenter- or self-imposed stressors. We then investigated the physiological basis of these individual differences, focusing on stress-related molecules, including the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) in the context of the limbic-hypothalamo-pituitary adrenal axis. We have found that HR rats did not differ from LR in their basal expression of POMC in the pituitary. However, HR rats exhibited higher levels of CRH mRNA in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus but lower basal levels in the central nucleus of the amygdala. The basal expression of hippocampal MR is not different between HR and LR rats. Interestingly, the basal expression of hippocampal GR mRNA is significantly lower in HR than in LR rats. This low level of hippocampal GR expression in HR rats appears to be responsible, at least in part, for their decreased anxiety in exploring novelty. Indeed, the anxiety level of LR rats becomes similar to HR rats after the administration into the hippocampus of a GR antagonist, RU38486. These data indicate that basal differences in gene expression of key stress-related molecules may play an important role in determining individual differences in responsiveness to stress and novelty. They point to a new role of hippocampal GR, strongly implicating this receptor in determining individual differences in anxiety and novelty-seeking behavior.

Anxiety and counter-conditioning: the role of the behavioral inhibition system in the ability to associate aversive stimuli with future rewards

A total of 130 female undergraduates performed a counter-conditioning choice-task. This task presented two response alternatives and subjects were instructed to earn the maximum number of points. Responses to button 1 were normally followed by an immediate reward (an average gain of 7.5 points). Responses to button 2 were always followed by a punishment (an average loss of 20 points), but caused the next-but-one press on button 1 to give an average gain of 115 points. Thus, subjects were required to learn and maintain this counter-conditioning association. Four groups of subjects were formed according to the scores on the Sensitivity to Punishment and Sensitivity to Reward scales (which are measures of individual differences of Gray's anxiety and impulsivity personality dimensions, respectively). A 69.2% of subjects learned and maintained the counter-conditioning association. As predicted, personality results confirmed that subjects with lower scores on the Sensitivity to Punishment scale learned the counter-conditioning association better and faster when compared with high scorers. Results are consistent with Gray's Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS) model of anxiety which holds that individual differences in anxiety may relate to the ability to associate aversive stimuli with a future reward. Assuming that anxiety depends on BIS functioning, our results show that high trait anxious subjects, if compared with low anxious ones, would have a lower ability for associating an aversive event with a later appetitive one. This learning process would serve non-anxious subjects to reduce the aversiveness of cues of punishment and to cope better with stressful situations.

Responses of consecutive patients to reassurance after gastroscopy: results of self administered questionnaire survey

Objective: To study the time course and prediction of responses to reassurance after gastroscopy showing no serious illness.Design: Selection of consecutive patients were assessed before gastroscopy, immediately after reassurance, and...

Individual differences in anxiety, coping, and post-traumatic stress in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf war

This paper explores individual differences in the post-traumatic reactions of Israelis following the grave experience of exposure to missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War. Data were gathered about 3 months following the cease fire in the Persian Gulf War on a sample of 822 adult respondents. Demographic and personal variables, coping and perceived stress emotions at time of war were assessed as correlates of post-traumatic stress and affective reactions after the war. The results imply that the effects of the war on key variables, i.e. post-traumatic stress, anxiety, bodily symptoms, as well as changes in everyday functioning and general attitudes, were rather weak. Trait-anxiety and emotion-focused coping appeared to be the most salient variables associated with stress-related variables across the various analyses. In addition, respondents' affective reactions in the post-traumatic stress period were compared with those of a sample tested during the war. Levels of state-anxiety were found to be substantially lower in the post-war sample than the war sample. Overall, the data appear to be more consistent with the predictions of the “evaporation” than the “residual effects” hypothesis. The data were discussed and explicated in the context of post-traumatic stress and coping theory and research.

Individual differences in anxiety and the restriction of working memory capacity

M.W. Eysenck has proposed that the performance deficits often associated with elevated levels of anxiety reflect an underlying restriction in the functional capacity of working memory. The current experiment was designed to test this account, by contrasting the performance of 24 high anxiety and 24 low anxiety students on a grammatical reasoning task performed under two simultaneous memory load conditions. As anticipated, the high anxiety group did indeed show disproportionately long decision latencies on this reasoning task. Furthermore, the effects of the simultaneous memory load manipulation were fully consistent with predictions derived from Eysenck's theoretical account of this performance deficit. Specifically, although all subjects were slower to perform the reasoning task under the high simultaneous memory load condition, this slowing was disproportionately severe for the high anxiety subjects. It is argued that these results provide support for Eysenck's proposal, that a restriction in working memory capacity underlies the performance deficits commonly shown by highly anxious individuals.

A New Test of an Old Hypothesis: A Quantification of Sequence in the Rorschach

Rorschach interpretation often assumes that successive responses are not independent of one another but rather that they are part of a series of interconnected events. In this study, methods that have been used to analyze event sequence data were applied to Rorschach protocols. Results from a nonclinical group of 102 university students showed that location scores on successive responses were repeated more frequently than was predicted by chance. There was also a tendency for subjects to make transitions from larger to smaller or more detailed areas of the inkblot on successive responses. In addition, we found that subjects tended to make transitions from more adequate to less adequate use of form, and that the unusual and minus form categories tended to be repeated. A modest association between transition frequencies and individual differences in anxiety, but not between transition frequencies and depression or overall symptomatology, was demonstrated.

Lateralized response to diazepam predicts temperamental style in rhesus monkeys.

Based on previous findings in humans and rhesus monkeys suggesting that diazepam has asymmetrical effects on frontal lobe activity and other literature supporting a role for the benzodiazepine system in the mediation of individual differences in anxiety and fearfulness, the relation between asymmetrical changes in scalp-recorded regional brain activity in response to diazepam and the temperamental dimension of behavioral inhibition indexed by freezing time in 9 rhesus monkeys was examined. Animals showed greater relative left-sided frontal activation in response to diazepam compared with the preceding baseline. The magnitude of this shift was strongly correlated with an aggregate measure of freezing time (r = .82). The implications of these findings for understanding the role of regional differences in the benzodiazepine system in mediating individual differences in fearfulness are discussed.

Individual differences in anxiety level and eyewitness memory.

The present study investigated the relationship between individual differences in anxiety and eyewitness performance. Instructions designed to produce evaluative threat were given to anxious and nonanxious subjects at encoding and/or at retrieval. The performance of those subjects who were given anxiety-arousing instructions at encoding and retrieval and who scored high on the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS; Sarason, 1972) was less accurate on an eyewitness task than was that of the subjects who scored low on the scale. This difference in performance was attributable to improvement in the performance of nonanxious subjects, rather than debilitation in the performance of anxious subjects. Faced with the threat of failure, low-anxious subjects appeared to have the potential for increased effort. High-anxious subjects seemed to perform at or near capacity under all the experimental conditions because of their predisposition for task-irrelevant worry, which limited the possibility of an increase in working memory capacity.

A social relations model test of Sullivan's anxiety hypothesis.

Interpersonal relationships and mutual influence are important aspects of both personality and behavior. However, empirical tests of mutual influence in anxiety have not occurred because of difficulties in design and assessment. In this report, we present a study of two training groups of graduate students and a study of an outpatient psychotherapy group. In both studies relationship-specific variance was significant and accounted for a substantial proportion of the systematic variance. In the training groups, there were also significant individual differences in experienced anxiety. These studies support the importance of relationships in anxiety but not Sullivan's hypothesis of the exclusive interpersonal nature of anxiety (Sullivan, 1964). The results address Endler and Magnusson's (1976a, 1976b) interactional approach to anxiety by assessing dynamic interaction rather than mechanistic interaction. In addition, these studies extend the use of the Social Relations Model to a new area, anxiety, and demonstrate its use in separating relationship-specific adjustments in anxiety from individual differences in anxiety.

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The neurodevelopmental disorder Williams syndrome (WS) has been associated with a social phenotype of hypersociability, non-social anxiety and an unusual attraction to faces. The current study uses eye tracking to explore attention allocation to emotionally expressive faces. Eye gaze and behavioural measures of anxiety and social reciprocity were investigated in adolescents and adults with WS when compared to typically developing individuals of comparable verbal mental age (VMA) and chronological age (CA). Results showed significant associations between high levels of behavioural anxiety and attention allocation away from the eye regions of threatening facial expressions in WS. The results challenge early claims of a unique attraction to the eyes in WS and suggest that individual differences in anxiety may mediate the allocation of attention to faces in WS.

Individual differences in preschool object play: The influences of anxiety proneness and peer affiliation

Individual differences in anxiety and peer affiliation were investigated as factors influencing variability of object play among preschoolers. Eighteen three-year-olds were divided into high- and low-anxious groups on the bases of separation anxiety and general anxiety scales. Their mature and immature object play, their peer affiliation, and their peer-watching behaviors were observed in preschools. Low-anxious children played more, showed more mature play, and watched peers less when they were alone; high-anxious children showed no play increases but watched peers more when alone. Separation anxiety scores predicted preschool differences more sensitively than general anxiety scores. It was theorized that separation anxiety related mechanisms hinder children's ability to fully profit from preschool experiences.

Individual differences and associational strategies within whole-list, mastery paired-associate learning

Learning efficiency was studied as a function of instructed learning strategies and individual differences in anxiety and achievement motivation. Within a self-paced whole-list design, college subjects learned to mastery a paired-associate list under one of three experimental conditions: rote repetition, mediation, and an uninstructed control. Although mediation proved superior to rote repetition, both techniques were inferior to the control. Anxiety was positively correlated with performance under rote repetition. No relationships emerged for achievement motivation. The evidence suggests that the learning styles of college students may be too sophisticated to be improved by any one learning technique and that the interrelationships of personality variables and individual learning styles may be difficult to extract.

Habituation of the orienting response as a function of individual differences in anxiety and autonomic lability.

Habituation of the orienting response as a function of individual differences in anxiety and autonomic lability.