Anxiety and Depression Symptom Dimensions Demonstrate Unique Relationships with the Startle Reflex in Anticipation of Unpredictable Threat in 8 to 14 Year-Old Girls

Abstract

There is growing evidence that heightened sensitivity to unpredictability is a core mechanism of anxiety disorders. In adults, multiple anxiety disorders have been associated with a heightened startle reflex in anticipation of unpredictable threat. Child and adolescent anxiety has been linked to an increased startle reflex across baseline, safety, and threat conditions. However, it is unclear whether anxiety in youth is related to the startle reflex as a function of threat predictability. In a sample of 90 8 to 14 year-old girls, the present study examined the association between anxiety symptom dimensions and startle potentiation during a no, predictable, and unpredictable threat task. Depression symptom dimensions were also examined given their high comorbidity with anxiety and mixed relationship with the startle reflex and sensitivity to unpredictability. To assess current symptoms, participants completed the self-report Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and Children’s Depression Inventory. Results indicated that social phobia symptoms were associated with heightened startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat and attenuated startle potentiation in anticipation of predictable threat. Negative mood and negative self-esteem symptoms were associated with attenuated and heightened startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable threat, respectively. All results remained significant after controlling for the other symptom dimensions. The present study provides initial evidence that anxiety and depression symptom dimensions demonstrate unique associations with the startle reflex in anticipation of unpredictable threat in children and adolescents.

Defensive motivation and attention in anticipation of different types of predictable and unpredictable threat: A startle and event‐related potential investigation

“…The NPU‐threat task has been employed using a variety of aversive stimuli, including shocks (Bradford, Shapiro, & Curtin, ; Grillon et al, ; Nelson & Shankman, ; Shankman et al, ), noises (Nelson & Hajcak, ; Schmitz et al, ), air blasts (Chamberlain et al, ; Grillon et al, ), and a breathing occlusion (Schroijen et al, ). In one of the few investigations that included multiple aversive stimuli, Grillon and colleagues (2004) used a between‐subjects design to examine the startle reflex in anticipation of predictable and unpredictable air blasts and shocks.…”

Rest, Reactivity, and Recovery: A Psychophysiological Assessment of Borderline Personality Disorder

“…One potentially important, yet unaddressed consideration that may contribute to the variable results across studies is that the underlying relationships between psychophysiological responding and core elements of psychiatric disorders might be obscured by categorical diagnoses ( 45 , 46 ). This could be especially relevant to BPD which has a complex, polythetic presentation, with notable individual differences in BPD symptom severity among individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for BPD, as well as among individuals in the general population, albeit at sub-diagnostic levels ( 47 , 48 ).…”

Neighborhood Disadvantage Associated With Blunted Amygdala Reactivity to Predictable and Unpredictable Threat in a Community Sample of Youth

“…Uncertainty is known to elicit subjective distress (even in healthy individuals). This anxious apprehension is exaggerated in clinical populations ( 52 – 55 ) and may have maladaptive downstream consequences, including behavioral avoidance ( 53 ). Work in youth samples has suggested that the potentiating effects of uncertainty on threat responding are present across development ( 55 – 57 ).…”

“…This anxious apprehension is exaggerated in clinical populations ( 52 – 55 ) and may have maladaptive downstream consequences, including behavioral avoidance ( 53 ). Work in youth samples has suggested that the potentiating effects of uncertainty on threat responding are present across development ( 55 – 57 ). Neuroimaging work on threat predictability—conducted primarily in adults—demonstrates involvement of threat circuitry, including the amygdala and thalamus, during various aspects of unpredictable threat anticipation and response ( 58 – 61 ).…”