Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
11:18
Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Published on: September 12, 2014
Generalized implicit fear associations in generalized anxiety disorder
Andrea Reinecke1, Eni S Becker, Juergen Hoyer
1University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom. andrea.reinecke@psych.ox.ac.uk
Depression and Anxiety
|January 30, 2010
Summary
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) patients exhibit negative implicit associations. Their fear associations extend to neutral stimuli, unlike healthy individuals, indicating a broader worry trigger.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive psychology
- Clinical psychology
- Psychopathology
Background:
- Anxiety theories suggest cognitive processes are guided by distorted fear associations.
- Research has focused on biased processes, neglecting underlying schemata, especially implicit fear in Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD).
- The broad stimulus trigger for worry in GAD remains experimentally uninvestigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate implicit fear associations and stimulus generalization in GAD.
- To examine if fear associations extend to neutral stimuli indirectly related to worry topics.
Main Methods:
- Employed a Single Target Implicit Association Task (STIAT).
- Used negative worry-related and neutral words as stimuli.
- Compared 39 GAD patients with 23 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Both groups demonstrated negative implicit associations with negative words.
- GAD patients uniquely associated neutral words with negative attributes.
- This suggests fear generalization in GAD.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the hypothesis of generalized fear associations in GAD.
- GAD patients' fear extends to stimuli peripherally related to core worries.
- Implicit association tasks can reveal underlying fear schemata in GAD.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is a chronic condition characterized by excessive and uncontrollable worry that persists for at least six months, significantly interfering with daily functioning. Unlike situational anxiety, which arises in response to specific stressors, GAD often occurs without a clear cause. Individuals may experience disproportionate worry about work, health, or relationships. For instance, a person might continuously fear poor health despite normal medical evaluations or...
01:18Anxiety: Overview
Anxiety is a common mental disorder featuring excessive worry, fear, and apprehension, significantly affecting daily life. People with anxiety disorders experience persistent and intense anxiety, interrupting their everyday functioning.
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
Individuals with anxiety often experience a range of physical and emotional symptoms, including sweating, trembling, tachycardia, and disturbances in sleep patterns. These symptoms vary in intensity and frequency but are generally disruptive and distressing.
01:09Preparedness and Phobias
Human fear responses to certain stimuli, such as darkness, heights, deep water, and blood, can often arise despite the absence of direct negative experiences. This phenomenon is rooted in evolutionary psychology, which posits that humans have developed a predisposition to fear stimuli that historically posed significant survival threats. This predisposition, known as preparedness, suggests that early humans who developed a fear of potentially dangerous entities, such as venomous snakes and...
01:28Social Anxiety Disorder
Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is characterized by an intense fear of social situations where one might face humiliation, rejection, embarrassment, or negative evaluation. This disorder leads individuals to avoid activities like casual conversations, public speaking, or seemingly simple tasks such as eating, signing documents, or swimming, in public settings. Its impact extends beyond discomfort, often significantly interfering with daily functioning and quality of life.
01:27Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent and sudden minutes-long episodes of intense fear, known as panic attacks. These attacks may feel like heart attacks and often happen without warning or a specific cause. They can include symptoms such as rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, chest pain, trembling, sweating, dizziness, and a sense of helplessness. During a panic attack, individuals may feel as though they are experiencing a heart attack or are in a...
01:22Behavior Therapy
Behavior therapy incorporates diverse techniques rooted in classical conditioning principles to address maladaptive behaviors and anxiety disorders. These methods aim to reduce avoidance behaviors, foster adaptive coping mechanisms, and alter associations between stimuli and responses, making them effective in a wide range of therapeutic contexts.
Exposure therapy is a cornerstone of behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders. It involves systematic exposure to feared stimuli, either in real...
Exposure therapy is a cornerstone of behavioral treatment for anxiety disorders. It involves systematic exposure to feared stimuli, either in real...