Extinction in multiple contexts reduces the return of extinguished responses: A multilevel meta-analysis.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Extinguished responses can reappear, modeling relapse after therapies like exposure therapy.
• Extinction in multiple contexts is a potential method to reduce this response recovery.
• Understanding the efficacy of this technique is crucial for therapeutic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analytically examine if extinction in multiple contexts consistently reduces the recovery of extinguished responses.
• To quantify the effect size of using multiple contexts during extinction.
• To identify potential moderators influencing the effectiveness of this intervention.

Main Methods:

• A systematic search of multiple databases was conducted.
• Experiments with extinction in multiple contexts, appropriate designs, and statistical reporting were included.
• A multilevel meta-analytic approach was used to calculate the average weighted effect size (Cohen's d).

Main Results:

• Twenty-five studies comprising 37 experiments were analyzed.
• A large overall effect size was found, indicating significant reduction in response recovery.
• Moderators included conditioned stimulus exposure length, subject type, and recovery type.

Conclusions:

• Extinction in multiple contexts demonstrates a robust effect in reducing relapse.
• This technique is recommended for clinicians and researchers involved in exposure therapy.
• Further research and clinical application of this method are encouraged.