ArticleInternational journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology2020
Gender differences in anxiety: The mediating role of sensitivity to unpredictable threat.
Article in International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed.
- Leverage Points for Wellbeing and Achievement in Vocational Education: A Network Analysis of Psychological Factors Across Gender and Majors.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Activity of Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Neurons in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis Reduces Anxiety-Potentiated Startle in Female Rats in an Estrous Phase-Dependent Manner.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Pessimism or optimism? A tri-spatial analysis of public risk perception bias and its influencing mechanisms: evidence from 31 major cities in China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Living with uncertainty: associations of personal and environmental uncertainty, resilience, and self-efficacy with anxiety symptoms in young adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Mediating effect of fear of happiness between intolerance of uncertainty and anxiety among Lebanese adults.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Research on the influence of passenger spatial perception on non-adaptive evacuation behavior in railway stations.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Comparative analysis of quality of life in solid organ transplant recipients: the influence of skin cancer.Archives of dermatological research · 2025Article
- Predicting the side effects of influenza vaccination.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2025Article
- Psychometric validation of the Chinese-adapted eczema behavior checklist extent scale in pediatric atopic dermatitis patients.Frontiers in allergy · 2025Article
- Practical guidance for monitored anesthesia care during awake craniotomy.Anesthesia and pain medicine · 2025Review
- Significant Preoperative Anxiety Associated with Perceived Risk and Gender in Cataract Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Impact of handgun ownership and biological sex on startle reactivity to predictable and unpredictable threats.International journal of psychophysiology : official journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology · 2024Article
- Effects of sex and gender on the etiologies and presentation of select internalizing psychopathologies.Translational psychiatry · 2024Review
- Adolescent mental health and cardiorespiratory fitness: A comparison of two cohorts 12 years apart.PloS one · 2024Article
- The risks of unconcern: low sensitivity to threat can have unfortunate consequences.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The impact of threat of shock-induced anxiety on alerting, orienting, and executive function in women: an ERP study.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2023Article
- DNA Methylation Patterns in Relation to Acute Severity and Duration of Anxiety and Depression.Current issues in molecular biology · 2023Article
- Family study of the startle reflex and event-related potentials in anticipation of predictable and unpredictable threat in adolescents and their parents.Psychophysiology · 2023Article
- Sensory sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty and sex differences predicting anxiety in emerging adults.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Cognitive impairments in a Down syndrome model with abnormal hippocampal and prefrontal dynamics and cytoarchitecture.iScience · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Anxiety disorders and symptoms disproportionately impact women relative to men, but it is unclear what mechanism(s) contribute to this phenomenon. The present study examined sensitivity to unpredictable threat as a potential mechanism of gender differences in panic symptoms. The sample included 67 participants (35 women) who completed the no, predictable, and unpredictable threat (NPU-threat) startle paradigm with electric shocks as the aversive stimulus. Participants also completed the self-report Inventory of Depression and Anxiety Symptoms to assess current panic and depression symptoms. Results indicated that women, relative to men, reported greater panic symptoms and demonstrated increased startle potentiation in anticipation of predictable and unpredictable threat. Furthermore, across all participants increased startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable (but not predictable) threat was associated with greater panic symptoms, but there was no relationship with depression symptoms. Finally, the gender difference in panic symptoms was mediated by startle potentiation in anticipation of unpredictable (but not predictable) threat. The present study suggests that a heightened sensitivity to unpredictable threat might be a mechanism that contributes to increased anxiety in women.
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