Journal of behavior therapy and experimental psychiatry
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J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry · Jun 2012
Assessing dog fear: evaluating the psychometric properties of the Dog Phobia Questionnaire.
The Dog Phobia Questionnaire (DPQ; Hong & Zinbarg, 1999) is a 27-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess symptoms of dog phobia. The present study investigated the psychometric properties of the DPQ. ⋯ The DPQ may be a useful tool for measuring the severity of fear in dog phobic individuals. Implications for the theoretical assumptions underlying the development of the DPQ are discussed.
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J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry · Jun 2012
Expectancy bias in a selective conditioning procedure: trait anxiety increases the threat value of a blocked stimulus.
In a blocking procedure, a single conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), such as electric shock, in the first stage. During the subsequent stage, the CS is presented together with a second CS and this compound is followed by the same US. Fear conditioning studies in non-human animals have demonstrated that fear responding to the added second CS typically remains low, despite its being paired with the US. Accordingly, the blocking procedure is well suited as a laboratory model for studying (deficits in) selective threat appraisal. The present study tested the relation between trait anxiety and blocking in human aversive conditioning. ⋯ The observed shock expectancy bias might be one of the mechanisms leading to non-specific fear in individuals at risk for developing anxiety disorders. A deficit in blocking, or a deficit in selective threat appraisal at the more general level, indeed results in fear becoming non-specific and disconnected from the most likely causes or predictors of danger.