ArticleJournal of anxiety disorders2023
A transdiagnostic evaluation of contrast avoidance across generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and social anxiety disorder.
Article in Journal of anxiety disorders, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 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
27 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dampening of positive affect as an emotional contrast avoidance strategy: An experimental test of the contrast avoidance model.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Trial
- A brief ecological momentary intervention for generalized anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled trial of the worry outcome monitoring app.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2026Trial
- Savoring changes novel positive mindset targets of GAD treatment: Optimism, prioritizing positivity, kill-joy thinking, and worry mediation.Behaviour research and therapy · 2024Trial
- Reducing contrast avoidance in GAD by savoring positive emotions: Outcome and mediation in a randomized controlled trial.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2023Trial
- Social Anxiety Profiles and Psychopathological Symptom Differences in Spanish Adolescents.Child psychiatry and human development · 2026Article
- Development and validation of the eight item contrast avoidance questionnaire-general emotion scale (CAQ-GE-8): An item-response theory analysis.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2026Article
- Illness Perceptions in Psychiatric Disorders: Assessing Differences and Associations With Symptom Severity.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Article
- Dampening of Positive Affect Serves an Emotional Contrast Avoidance Function: Preliminary Evidence From an Adult Community Sample.Journal of clinical psychology · 2026Article
- [Why do people feel anxious and worried? Development of the Japanese version of the Contrast Avoidance Questionnaire].Shinrigaku kenkyu : The Japanese journal of psychology · 2026Article
- Thought suppression worsens mood and obsessions but improves them subsequently: First evidence of a contrast avoidance effect for the maintenance of thought suppression.Behaviour research and therapy · 2026Article
- The Cognitive-Affective Social Processing and Emotion Regulation (CASPER) model.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Review
- Validation of the Chinese version of the Contrast Avoidance Questionnaires.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Trait anxiety, dispositional hope and mental well-being: examining longitudinal mediation.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Why do individuals with generalized anxiety disorder and depression engage in worry and rumination? A momentary assessment study of positive contrast enhancement.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2025Article
- Contrast avoidance as a diagnostic feature of OCD: A receiver-operator characteristic curve analysis of the contrast avoidance questionnaires.Journal of affective disorders · 2025Article
- Treatment condition as a moderator and change in trait mindfulness as a mediator of a brief mindfulness ecological momentary intervention for generalized anxiety disorder.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2024Article
- An initial test of the contrast avoidance model in bipolar spectrum disorders.Journal of psychiatric research · 2024Article
- From Tripping and Falling to Ruminating and Worrying: A Meta-Control Account of Repetitive Negative Thinking.Current opinion in behavioral sciences · 2024Article
- The Contrast Avoidance Model: Conclusion and synthesis of new research in the special issue.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- Introduction to a special issue on the contrast avoidance model.Journal of anxiety disorders · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe contrast avoidance model (CAM) proposes that persons with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) are sensitive to sharp increases in negative emotion or decreases in positive emotion (i.e., negative emotional contrasts; NEC) and use worry to avoid NEC. Sensitivity to and avoidance of NEC could also be a shared feature of major depressive disorder (MDD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD).
methodsIn a large college sample (N = 1409), we used receiver operating characteristics analysis to examine the accuracy of a measure of emotional contrast avoidance in detecting probable GAD, MDD, and SAD.
resultsParticipants with probable GAD, MDD, and SAD all reported higher levels of contrast avoidance than participants without the disorder (Cohen's d = 1.32, 1.62 and 1.53, respectively). Area under the curve, a measure of predictive accuracy, was 0.81, 0.87, and 0.83 for predicting probable GAD, MDD, and SAD, respectively. A cutoff score of 48.5 optimized predictive accuracy for probable GAD and SAD, and 50.5 optimized accuracy for probable MDD.
conclusionA measure of emotional contrast avoidance demonstrated excellent ability to predict probable GAD, MDD, and SAD. Sensitivity to and avoidance of NEC appears to be a transdiagnostic feature of these disorders.
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.