ArticleBehaviour research and therapy2018
Avoidance and escape: Defensive reactivity and trait anxiety.
Article in Behaviour research and therapy, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- Neuroanatomical and behavioral characterization of corticotropin-releasing factor-expressing lateral Habenula neurons in mice.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Neuroanatomical and behavioral characterization of corticotropin releasing factor-expressing lateral Habenula neurons in mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Facilitators to and experience of psychological resilience during disease response among people with diabetes: a mixed-methods study using resilience framework.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Effects of Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury on Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Modulation of Lateral Habenula Excitability and Motivated Behavior.Journal of neurotrauma · 2025Article
- The linkage between decision-making and bodily states: an investigation using an emotional startle reflex paradigm and the Iowa Gambling task.Psychological research · 2025Article
- Disentangling the Neural Circuits of Arousal and Anxiety-Like Behavior.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025Review
- Assessing motivational biases in brain and behavior: Event-related potential and response time concomitants of the approach-avoidance task.Psychophysiology · 2024Article
- Effects of Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury on Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Modulation of Lateral Habenula Excitability and Motivated Behavior.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Unveiling gender differences in psychophysiological dynamics: support for a two-dimensional autonomic space approach.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2024Article
- Functional sophistication in human escape.iScience · 2023Article
- Coping in the Clinic: Effects of Clinically Elevated Anxiety on Dynamic Neurophysiological Mechanisms of Escape/Avoidance Preparation.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2023Article
- The influence of self-focused attention on emotional picture processing: An ERP study.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2023Article
- Spontaneous instrumental avoidance learning in social contexts.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- School anxiety profiles in Spanish adolescents and their differences in psychopathological symptoms.PloS one · 2022Article
- The relationship between worry and attentional bias to threat cues signalling controllable and uncontrollable dangers.PloS one · 2021Article
- Motivated action: Pupil diameter during active coping.Biological psychology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Although avoidance and escape behaviors each contribute to maintaining anxiety disorders, only avoidance completely eliminates exposure to the aversive context. Current research compared anticipatory defensive engagement when aversion could either be completely avoided or escaped after initial exposure; in addition, this research examined the impact of trait anxiety on coping-related defensive engagement. Cues signaled that upcoming rapid action would avoid (block), escape (terminate), or not affect subsequent aversive exposure; the acoustic startle reflex was measured during each anticipatory interval to index defensive engagement, and blink magnitudes were compared across low-, moderate-, and high-anxious individuals. For all participants, startle was potentiated when aversive exposure was uncontrollable and attenuated when aversion was avoidable. On escape trials, on the other hand, startle potentiation increased with rising participant anxiety. Results suggest 1) defensive engagement is generally reduced in avoidance contexts relative to contexts in which exposure is certain, and; 2) trait anxiety increases defensive engagement specifically when aversive exposure can be controlled but remains certain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.