Predicting Emotional Distress, Based on Acquisition, Extinction, Avoidance, and Generalization Learning.

ABSTRACT: This prospective study aimed to investigate whether fear conditioning parameters measured at baseline could predict the development of emotional distress over a 6-month period among 655 first-year university students. Verbal and behavioral measures of acquisition, extinction, avoidance, and generalization were obtained through an online task at the start of the academic year. Emotional distress was evaluated 4 to 6 months later, with questionnaires assessing anxiety, stress, depression, and coping trajectories. Initial analyses explored the interplay of conditioning parameters at baseline, hypothesizing that the corresponding learning processes may mutually reinforce each other, contributing to distinct vulnerabilities for emotional distress. Although no distinct profiles based on conditio

SUBMITTER: Carpentier N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11918936 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature