The Effect of catastrophic cognitions on fear acquisition and extinction in posttraumatic stress disorder
This study examined the potential role of catastrophic cognitions in mediating threat
expectancy during fear conditioning and extinction in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD). It was hypothesised that participants with PTSD would display heightened
catastrophic thinking and greater threat expectancy during fear extinction; the
potential for catastrophic cognitions to mediate the relationship between PTSD
symptom severity and threat expectancy during fear extinction was also assessed.
Fifty-nine participants (21 PTSD, 19 TEC, and 19 NTEC) completed measures of
catastrophic thinking (CCQ-M and PTSI) and the differential fear conditioning and
extinction paradigm. The PTSD group demonstrated significantly greater trauma-specific
catastrophic thinking than both control groups, but group differences in more
generalised catastrophic cognition were non-significant. The PTSD group also
exhibited more rapid fear acquisition and impaired fear extinction. Trauma-related
catastrophic thinking did not mediate the relationship between PTSD symptoms and
threat expectancy in the early extinction phase of the fear conditioning paradigm.