Thoughts of agoraphobic people during scary tasks.

The authors examined the occurrence of theoretically derived patterns of thinking in 74 agoraphobic participants as they drove alone or tolerated an enclosed place. During the increasingly scary tasks in a behavioral test hierarchy, participants responded to a periodic beep by stating aloud what they were thinking at that moment, yielding more than 1,800 tape-recorded statements. Content analyses revealed that participants were mainly preoccupied with their current anxiety (expressed in 29% of the statements) and with their self-efficacy (15%). Despite participants' mounting feelings of anxiety, fewer than 1% of their statements expressed a thought of danger or an anticipation of future anxiety or panic. The rarity of danger thoughts poses an explanatory challenge for all cognitive theories of phobia and especially for the perceived danger theory of A. T. Beck (1976) and A. T. Beck, G. Emery, and R L. Greenberg (1985). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Worried Mind: Autonomic and Prefrontal Activation During Worrying.

To study the psychophysiological correlates of worrying, the authors recorded heart rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), skin conductance level, and alpha electroencephalographic asymmetry in healthy males during baseline, relaxation, worry induction, and anticipation of an impromptu speech task. Compared with baseline, relaxation, and anticipation, worrying was associated with greater heart rate and lower RSA. Worrying was further characterized by higher skin conductance levels compared with baseline but lower levels than during anticipation. Finally, worrying was associated with relatively greater left frontal activity compared with anticipation. Trait public speaking anxiety was positively correlated with left frontal activity during worrying. These results support the notion that worrying is a unique emotional state that is different from fearful anticipation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How the patient's sense of danger and safety influence the analytic process.

Discusses J. Weiss's (see record 1990-17877-001) proposition that a person may exercise unconscious control over repressions based on unconscious appraisals of danger and safety. This hypothesis derives from Freud's (1926) theory that repression is instituted due to anticipation that certain inner feelings or intentions would bring about a dangerous situation. Anticipation of danger evokes anxiety and leads to defense. The hypothesis implies that anticipation of danger (along with underlying pathogenic belief) is the linchpin that holds pathological formations in place. Clinical observations show that a patient's unconscious appraisals of danger and safety regulate analytic progress. These observations also change intuitions about how powerful unconscious contents may become conscious during analysis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Counselor trainee anxiety during the initial counseling interview.

Investigated the nature and extent of anxiety experienced by beginning practicum students in their initial client interviews. Ss were 20 of 21 students enrolled in a master's level course in supervised counseling experience. Anxiety was assessed by self-report, skin conductance, and heart rate measures obtained in anticipation of and during stimulus situations of reading an article and counseling a client. The design was a 2–2 (Periods?×?Sessions) within-Ss factorial. Results indicate that Ss were more anxious on physiological and self-report measures of anxiety during the counseling interview than during reading. Although most of the self-report data were not related to autonomic arousal during the interview, baseline autonomic data were highly related to autonomic response during the interview. Also, self-report predictions of anxiety were related to self-report anxiety during the interview. It is concluded that (a) the counseling interview is an anxiety-evoking situation, (b) much of the anxiety can be accounted for by Ss' expectations, and (c) anxiety is most meaningfully discussed within the framework of response dimensions. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with mastectomy: Another view.

Responds to T. Silverman-Dresner and L. C. Restaino's (1979) article on feelings commonly experienced by women undergoing mastectomy. Contrary to Silverman-Dresner and Restiano, the author contends that it is not the presence of a lump that generates anxiety, but fear of the unknown, anticipation of pain, disfigurement, and death itself that generates anxiety. (2 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"The role of anxiety sensitivity in the pathogenesis of panic: Prospective evaluation of spontaneous panic attacks during acute stress": Correction to Schmidt et al. (1997).

Reports an error in "The role of anxiety sensitivity in the pathogenesis of panic: Prospective evaluation of spontaneous panic attacks during acute stress" by Norman B. Schmidt, Darin R. Lerew and Robert J. Jackson (Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1997[Aug], Vol 106[3], 355-364). The article contained an error in the scoring of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI). A data conversion error led to transformation of ASI scores that dramatically truncated this measure (scores of 0-2 recoded to 0, 3 receded to 1, and 4 recoded to 2). The corrected values (items scored 0-4), revised statistics, and amended conclusions are presented in the corrected text. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 1997-05214-001.) Expectancy theory posits that anxiety sensitivity may serve as a premorbid risk factor for the development of anxiety pathology (S. Reiss, 1991). The principal aim of the present study was to determine whether anxiety sensitivity acts as a specific vulnerability factor in the pathogenesis of anxiety pathology. A large, nonclinical sample of young adults (N?=?1, 401) was prospectively followed over a 5-week highly stressful period of time (i.e., military basic training). Anxiety sensitivity was found to predict the development of spontaneous panic attacks after controlling for a history of panic attacks and trait anxiety. Approximately 20% of those scoring in the upper decile on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (R. A. Peterson & S. Reiss, 1987) experienced a panic attack during the 5-week follow-up period compared with only 6% for the remainder of the sample. Anxiety sensitivity also predicted anxiety symptomatology, functional impairment created by anxiety, and disability. These data provide strong evidence for anxiety sensitivity as a risk factor in the development of panic attacks and other anxiety symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Anticipation in Crohn's disease may be influenced by gender and ethnicity of the transmitting parent

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine whether anticipation (an earlier age of onset in succeeding generations) is observed in Crohn's disease (CD) patients within the New York metropolitan area, and whether there are differences in the degree of anticipation with respect to gender and ethnicity of the affected parent. METHODS: Sixty-one parent-child pairs both affected by CD were identified; about half of the pairs were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. An additional 17 pairs of second-degree relatives with CD were also identified. The intergenerational difference in age at diagnosis (AAD) was used to perform regression analysis and the degree of anticipation among subsets of patients separated on the basis of gender and ethnicity of the transmitting parent was determined. RESULTS: The AAD was consistently (90% of the time) lower in the younger member of the 61 parent-child pairs (35.3+/-1.6 yr vs 20.8+/-1.1 yr, p = 0.0001). Furthermore, the degree of anticipation was significantly greater for father-child pairs (20.6+/-3.2 yr) than for mother-child pairs (11.7+/-2.1 yr). However, when the patient population where the parent had an AAD of < 28 was analyzed separately, there was a lack of clear-cut evidence of anticipation in the population as a whole. Only when the population was subdivided by ethnicity was there convincing evidence of anticipation in the Jewish population. CONCLUSION: Ascertainment bias may be responsible for the apparent anticipation observed in the CD population as a whole or in the nonJewish CD subgroup. However, the Jewish CD population displays strong evidence of anticipation even after correction for ascertainment bias.     

Anxiety or pain: What does the scale measure?

E. R. Katz et al (see record 1980-22464-001) report the development of an observational scale to measure distress behavior in children with cancer. They discuss this scale as if it measured anxiety, but the present authors suggest that the scale probably reflects both anxiety and pain. The terms are difficult to distinguish because they refer to constructs. Therefore, future research should build upon the work of Katz et al by elaborating the theoretical definition of anxiety and pain and by using a somewhat altered rating methodology. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Relative Effectiveness of Various Instructional Approaches in Developing Anticipation Skill.

The relative effectiveness of explicit instruction, guided discovery, and discovery learning techniques in enhancing anticipation skill in young, intermediate-level tennis players was examined. Performance was assessed pre- and postintervention, during acquisition, and under transfer conditions designed to elicit anxiety through the use of laboratory and on-court measures. The 3 intervention groups improved from pre- to posttest compared with a control group (n = 8), highlighting the benefits of perceptual-cognitive training. Participants in the explicit (n = 8) and guided discovery (n = 10) groups improved their performance during acquisition at a faster rate than did the discovery learning (n = 7) group. However, the explicit group showed a significant decrement in performance when tested under anxiety provoking conditions compared with the guided discovery and discovery learning groups. Although training facilitated anticipation skill, irrespective of the type of instruction used in this experiment, guided discovery methods are recommended for expediency in learning and resilience under pressure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Championship pressures: Choking or triumphing in one's own territory?

R. F. Baumeister and A. Steinhilber's (see record 1984-31312-001) provocative, widely accepted analysis proposed that professional sports teams play unusually badly (choke) under the pressure created by their home fans and perform poorly in decisive home games of championship series. However, a reanalysis of the data, including the results of recent championships in baseball and basketball, finds no evidence of a home-field championship choke. The home field is an advantage, and the home team wins about as often late as early in championship series. Teams show an ability to triumph over pressure in asymmetrical "must-win" situations late in championship series. When choking occurs, it is associated with the anticipation of an important failure, not the distractions of possible success as suggested by Baumeister and Steinhilber. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Suppression of an inhibitory jaw reflex by the anticipation of pain in man

Electromyographic recordings (EMGs) were made from the active masseter muscle, of the inhibitory reflex evoked by application of electrical stimuli to the skin of the upper lip in 15 human subjects. In control sequences, the reflex had a mean latency and duration (+/- S.E.M.) of 45.4 +/- 1.3 msec and 47.9 +/- 2.8 msec, respectively. Significant decreases in the reflex as well as increases in heart rate and anxiety levels assessed by a visual analogue scale, occurred when the subjects were stressed by the anticipation of receiving painful electrical stimuli above the ankle (P < 0.00005; Student's t-tests). During such sequences, the magnitude of the reflex measured by integration of the EMG, was reduced by 47.7 +/- 5.6%. This effect involved a reduction in both the duration and depth of the inhibitory wave. It occurred regardless of whether the painful stimuli were applied during or after the recording of the reflex and of whether the baseline activity in the muscle was inadvertently raised or lowered during the stressful sequences. It is concluded that stress induced by the anticipation of pain, can markedly reduce an inhibitory jaw reflex in man by exerting an influence on the reflex pathway prior to the motoneurones.     

Voluntary control of human heart rate: Effect on reaction to aversive stimulation: A replication and extension.

In anticipation of receiving painful stimuli, 20 female Ss learned to regulate their heart rate (HR) when provided with meter biofeedback and monetary bonuses for HR changes and instructions to increase or decrease their rate. Voluntary slowing of HR was associated with a relative reduction in perceived aversiveness of the stimuli, particularly in those Ss who scored high on a cardiac-awareness questionnaire (i.e., reported experiencing cardiac reactions to fear situations in daily life). These fingings replicate and extend previous findings by the authors (see record 1974-31631-001) on HR self-regulation, perception of aversive stimulation, and individual differences in cardiac awareness. They also provide further support for the hypothesis that biofeedback training for relevant physiological responses may serve as a behavioral strategy for changing anxiety and fear reactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of Motivational Cues on Perceptual Asymmetry: Implications for Creativity and Analytical Problem Solving.

In 4 experiments, participants were led to focus on either the prospect of positive outcomes (approach anticipation) or the prospect of negative outcomes (avoidance anticipation) and were subsequently administered behavioral measures of relative hemispheric activation. It was found that approach, relative to avoidance-related anticipatory states, produced greater relative right (diminished relative left) hemispheric activation. Experiment 3 additionally demonstrated that this pattern of activation was reversed when approach and avoidance states were not merely anticipatory but were also emotionally arousing. Finally, Experiment 4 replicated earlier findings demonstrating an influence of approach and avoidance anticipatory states on creativity and analytical problem solving (R. S. Friedman & J. F?rster, 2001, 2003) and provided evidence that such effects are mediated by differences in relative hemispheric activation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensation Seeking and the Aversive Motivational System.

Sensation seeking (SS) has traditionally been viewed as a phenomenon of the appetitive motivational system. The limited SS research exploring contributions from the aversive motivational system reveals greater anxious reactivity to dangerous activities among low sensation seekers. The present study extends this line of work by comparing levels of fear and anxiety during anticipation of predictable and unpredictable aversive stimuli across high- and low-SS groups. Low sensation seekers displayed greater fear-potentiated startle (FPS) to predictable aversive stimuli, and only those low on SS showed FPS and skin conductance response effects during experimental contexts in which aversive stimuli were delivered unpredictably. Findings implicate enhanced apprehensive anticipation among those low on SS as a potential deterrent for their participation in intense and threatening stimulus events. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Testing the influence of external and internal cues on smoking motivation using a community sample.

Exposing smokers to either external cues (e.g., pictures of cigarettes) or internal cues (e.g., negative affect induction) can induce urge to smoke and other behavioral and physiological responses. However, little is known about whether the two types of cues interact when presented in close proximity, as is likely the case in the real word. Additionally, potential moderators of cue reactivity have rarely been examined. Finally, few cue-reactivity studies have used representative samples of smokers. In a randomized 2 × 2 crossed factorial between-subjects design, the current study tested the effects of a negative affect cue intended to produce anxiety (speech preparation task) and an external smoking cue on urge and behavioral reactivity in a community sample of adult smokers (N = 175), and whether trait impulsivity moderated the effects. Both types of cues produced main effects on urges to smoke, despite the speech task failing to increase anxiety significantly. The speech task increased smoking urge related to anticipation of negative affect relief, whereas the external smoking cues increased urges related to anticipation of pleasure; however, the cues did not interact. Impulsivity measures predicted urge and other smoking-related variables, but did not moderate cue-reactivity. Results suggest independent rather than synergistic effects of these contributors to smoking motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of ErbB-2 tyrosine kinase receptor in cellular intrinsic chemoresistance: mechanisms and implications

In central New York, aerial mosquito adulticide applications have been used in response to eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) outbreaks and have targeted the swamp habitats of the primary enzootic vector of EEE virus, Culiseta melanura (Coquillett). The organophosphate insecticide naled (1, 2, dibromo-2, 2-dichloroethyl dimethyl phosphate) has been the insecticide of choice in this region. This study reports on analyses of 11 years (1984-94) of mosquito collection data from Cicero and Toad Harbor swamps in relation to applications of naled. Naled applications were successful in achieving short-term reductions in mosquito abundance. However, despite repetitive applications, populations of the primary vector of EEE virus, Cs. melanura, have increased 15-fold at Cicero Swamp. Preventive applications had no noticeable impact on the enzootic amplification of EEE virus, and isolations of virus following preventive applications have resulted in additional spraying. The possibility that applications of naled contributed to increased populations of Cs. melanura discredits the rationale that preventive applications of naled reduce the risk of EEE.     

Voluntary control of human heart rate: Effect on reaction to aversive stimulation.

In anticipation of receiving painful stimuli, 20 female 21-27 yr old Ss learned to control their heart rate when provided with external feedback and reward for criterion heart rate changes and were instructed to increase or decrease their rate. Voluntary slowing of heart rate led to a relative reduction in the perceived aversiveness of the stimuli, particularly for those Ss who reported experiencing cardiac reactions to fear situations in daily life. It is concluded that biofeedback training for relevant physiological responses may possibly serve as a behavioral strategy for changing anxiety and fear reactions. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)