Gillan, C.M. and Vaghi, Matilde M. and Hezemans, F.H. and Van Ghesel Grothe, S. and Dafflon, J. and Brühl, A.B. and Savulich, G. and Robbins, T.W. (2021) Experimentally induced and real-world anxiety have no demonstrable effect on goal-directed behaviour. Psychological Medicine 51 (9), pp. 1467-1478. ISSN 0033-2917.
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Abstract
Background: Goal-directed control guides optimal decision-making and it is an important cognitive faculty that protects against developing habits. Previous studies have found some evidence of goal-directed deficits when healthy individuals are stressed, and in psychiatric conditions characterised by compulsive behaviours and anxiety. Here, we tested if goal-directed control is affected by state anxiety, which might explain the former results. Methods: We carried out a causal test of this hypothesis in two experiments (between-subject N = 88; within-subject N = 50) that used the inhalation of hypercapnic gas (7.5% CO2) to induce an acute state of anxiety in healthy volunteers. In a third experiment (N = 1413), we used a correlational design to test if real-life anxiety-provoking events (panic attacks, stressful events) are associated with impaired goal-directed control. Results: In the former two causal experiments, we induced a profoundly anxious state, both physiologically and psychologically, but this did not affect goal-directed performance. In the third, correlational, study, we found no evidence for an association between goal-directed control, panic attacks or stressful life eventsover and above variance accounted for by trait differences in compulsivity. Conclusions: In sum, three complementary experiments found no evidence that anxiety impairs goal-directed control in human subjects.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Science > School of Psychological Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Matilde Vaghi |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Feb 2024 13:36 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Feb 2024 13:43 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/53066 |
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