Renewal of threat expectancy in an online contextual avoidance paradigm

Abstract

Extinction of fear and avoidance is not permanent and can return following contextual changes (termed renewal). The aim of the current study was to investigate the renewal of avoidance, threat expectancy, and fear ratings in an online avoidance task administered during the COVID-19 pandemic. One-hundred and two participants completed a task consisting of habituation, threat conditioning, avoidance conditioning, extinction with response prevention, and renewal. Tests for renewal occurred either in the original conditioning context (ABA, n = 52) or the extinction context (ABB, n = 50). Images of a quiet and a busy street served as relevant contexts. Renewal was evident whereby the ABA group showed a significant increase in threat expectancy when tested in the conditioning context, which had not been extinguished. This effect was not found for avoidance or fear ratings, nor for the ABB group who underwent the renewal test in the extinction context. The current study demonstrated differential renewal of threat expectancy in an online contextual avoidance paradigm.