Correlation between laboratory-based vicarious threat learning and emotional disorder symptom dimensions

Abstract

Background and objectives: Vicarious threat conditioning abnormalities are theorized to confer vulnerability to a wide range of emotional problems. We tested two different conceptual models of this non-specificity. First, hypersensitivity to socially conditioned danger cues might predict standing on a general internalizing dimension that represents commonalities among various forms of anxiety and depression. Second, this hypersensitivity might predict specific symptom clusters, such as panic or social anxiety.

Methods: We examined university students' (N = 150) defensive responses during a vicarious threat conditioning task in relation to both broad and specific components of the internalizing domain.

Results: Vicarious conditioning was successful, such that participants exhibited larger subjective and skin conductance responses during their first direct encounters with threatening, as compared to nonthreatening, conditioned stimuli. But, contrary to hypotheses, individual differences in this threat learning process were not robustly correlated with any internalizing dimension.

Limitations: The threat value of the conditioned stimuli was readily apparent, possibly limiting individual differences in defensive responding and, in turn, the correlations between conditioned responses and symptom dimensions. Also, results may differ in clinical populations.

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the association between vicarious threat learning and emotional disorder risk-whether it is conceptualized in terms of broad symptom dimensions that span many categorical diagnoses or more fine-grain symptom processes-is weaker than previously believed, at least in this population. Data, analysis code, and stimulus materials are available at https://osf.io/m3xst/.

Keywords: Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP); Internalizing; Vicarious threat conditioning.