title: Evidence for retarded extinction of aversive learning in anxious children.
abstract: The habituation to intense acoustic stimuli and the acquisition of differentially conditioned fear were assessed in 53 clinically anxious and 30 non-anxious control children and young adolescents. Anxious children tended to show larger electrodermal responses during habituation, but did not differ in blink startle latency or magnitude. After acquisition training, non-anxious children rated the CS+ as more fear provoking and arousing than the CS- whereas the ratings of anxious children did not differ. However, anxious children rated the CS+ as more fear provoking after extinction, a difference that was absent in non-anxious children. During extinction training, anxious children displayed larger blink magnitude facilitation during CS+ and a trend towards larger electrodermal responses, a tendency not seen in non-anxious children. These data suggest that extinction of fear learning is retarded in anxious children.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors.forename: Lisa C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Liberman
authors.forename: Ottmar V
authors.initials: OV
authors.lastname: Lipp
authors.forename: Susan H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: March
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001767:Blinking; D002648:Child; D005108:Extinction, Psychological; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male