Panic-relevant predictability preferences: a laboratory test.
In the present investigation the authors evaluated the role of verbally instructed safety periods as they relate to predictability preference within a single-session challenge paradigm involving recurrent administrations of 20% carbon dioxide (CO-sub-2) enriched air. Participants included 160 nonclinical young adults (91 women, 69 men) between the ages of 18 and 59 (M=21.6 years; SD=7.23). Results indicated that equivalent levels of anxiety were experienced during predictable and unpredictable administrations of 20% CO-sub-2, yet participants preferred predictable compared with unpredictable trials, with women showing a stronger predictability preference than men. Lower anxiety was reported during known safety periods (predictable room air trials) but not during predictable compared with unpredictable administrations of 20% CO-sub-2. Findings are discussed in relation to theoretical and applied implications for the role of predictability in the nature of anxiety and its disorders.
Yartz
Andrew R
AR
Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405-0134, USA.
Zvolensky
Michael J
MJ
Bernstein
Amit
A
Bonn-Miller
Marcel O
MO
Lejuez
C W
CW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies