Psychometric Considerations in Assessing Fear Generalization as a Predictor of Anxiety.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The ability to adaptively transfer acquired fear to novel situations is fundamental for survival in ever-changing environments and may contribute to the emergence and persistence of anxiety disorders. Consequently, research has focused on the assessment of fear generalization profiles to predict individual differences in anxiety. However, substantial heterogeneity in the operationalization of generalization hampers comparisons across studies and poses a risk to the replicability of findings.

Methods

To address these issues, we reviewed the literature to identify commonly used methods for characterizing perceptual fear generalization profiles. Then, we conducted simulation analyses to examine correlations between indices and probe their robustness against measureme

SUBMITTER: Stegmann Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12454897 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature