title: Aversive startle potentiation and fear pathology: Mediating role of threat sensitivity and moderating impact of depression.
abstract: Enhanced startle reactivity during exposure to unpleasant cues (aversive startle potentiation; ASP) appears in the RDoC matrix as a physiological index of acute threat response. Increased ASP has been linked to focal fear disorders and to scale measures of dispositional fearfulness (i.e., threat sensitivity; THT+). However, some studies have reported reduced ASP for fear pathology accompanied by major depressive disorder (MDD) or pervasive distress. The current study evaluated whether (a) THT+ as indexed by reported dispositional fearfulness mediates the relationship between fear disorders (when unaccompanied by depression) and ASP, and (b) depression moderates relations of THT+ and fear disorders with ASP. Fear disorder participants without MDD showed enhanced ASP whereas those with MDD (or other distress conditions) showed evidence of reduced ASP. Continuous THT+ scores also predicted ASP, and this association: (a) was likewise moderated by depression/distress, and (b) accounted for the relationship between ASP and fear pathology without MDD. These findings point to a role for the RDoC construct of acute threat, operationalized dispositionally, in enhanced ASP shown by individuals with fear pathology unaccompanied by distress pathology.
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, United States. Electronic address: yancey@psy.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Yancey
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, United States.
authors.forename: Uma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Vaidyanathan
authors.affiliation: Florida State University, United States. Electronic address: cpatrick@psy.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Patrick
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D003463:Cues; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000502:physiology*; D014427:Twins
keywords: Anxiety disorders; Depression; Fear; Startle; Threat sensitivity