Safety learning during development: Implications for development of psychopathology

Grasser, Lana Ruvolo; Jovanović, Tanja

doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2021.113297

Cited by 37 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 289 publications

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“…Our results were in line with those of a study that has shown that anxiety-liked individuals display increased threat generalization and less differentiation in uncertain contexts (Morriss et al, 2016). A similar effect has been observed for individuals with AD (Lissek et al, 2009;Grasser and Jovanovic, 2021). The safety-signal theory accounts for this observation (Seligman and Binik, 1997), which indicates that safety cues lose their safe signal function during uncertainty in individuals with HTA.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Early Safety Discrimination Under Uncertainty in Trait Anxiety: An Event-Related Potential Study

Jin

Zhang²,

Chen³

et al. 2022

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Detection of safety-threat signals during uncertainty is an important mechanism of developmental anxiety disorder (AD). Although extensive research has focused on the detection of uncertain threat signals in anxious individuals, relatively little attention has been given to the identification of safety signals during uncertainty, which is an important way to relieve anxiety in individuals with AD. To investigate this phenomenon, 16 subjects with high trait anxiety (HTA) and 16 with low trait anxiety (LTA) completed a modified cue-target task in certain and uncertain stimulus blocks. In the uncertain block, the cue was followed by a threat picture or safety picture in 20% of trials, respectively; in the certain block, the cue could be followed by a threat picture or a safety picture on 100% of trials. Behavioral responses and event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The ERP results demonstrated that LTA participants exhibited larger P2 amplitudes in the detection of safety cues than of threat cues during the uncertain block, whereas HTA participants showed significant P2 amplitudes between the safety and threat cues during the certain block, impairing the detection of safety stimuli during uncertainty. However, all participants exhibited greater N2 amplitudes following threat cues in certainty or uncertainty conditions. These findings pertaining to the P2 amplitude suggested distinctive attentional biases between HTA and LTA individuals, whereas the N2 amplitude showed association learning in uncertain conditions, compensating for safety-threat detection in HTA individuals.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Early Safety Discrimination Under Uncertainty in Trait Anxiety: An Event-Related Potential Study

Jin

Zhang²,

Chen³

et al. 2022

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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“…This finding is supported by the strong positive association between re-experiencing symptom severity and SCR to trauma interview. Such autonomic hyperactivation may be an early risk factor for future mental and physical health problems, and youth who experience heightened SCR may benefit from mindfulness-based stress reduction and creative arts/movement therapies (Feen-Calligan et al, 2020 ; Grasser & Javanbakht, 2021 ; Grasser & Jovanovic, 2021 ; Grasser, Al-Saghir, Wanna, Spinei, & Javanbakht, 2019 ). The association between trauma exposure and SCR to trauma interview replicates that from another child and adolescent sample from a different demographic background – Black Americans – further supporting the notion that trauma may affect autonomic reactivity in highly exposed youth, however, causal conclusions cannot be made from either dataset (Wiltshire et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas re-experiencing symptoms may predict task-specific autonomic arousal, hyperarousal symptoms may be linked to more tonic autonomic states. In adults, salivary alpha amylase and heart rate variability have also been associated with reexperiencing symptoms (Rombold et al, 2016a ; 2016b ; Rombold-Bruehl et al, 2017 ; Schultebraucks et al, 2019 ); more broadly, startle response and fear-potentiated startle have been correlated with trauma-related psychopathology (Grasser & Jovanovic, 2021 ), and other physiological responses of the autonomic nervous system – including respiratory rate and blood pressure (Michopoulos et al, 2015 ) – may constitute candidate biomarkers of PTSS. Future research that investigates these and other biomarkers alongside SCR to trauma interview may provide convergent validity (Krabbe, 2017 ) for SCR to trauma interview as a biomarker of reexperiencing symptoms and for SCR to trauma interview as a biomarker of PTSS more broadly.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skin conductance response to trauma interview as a candidate biomarker of trauma and related psychopathology in youth resettled as refugees

Grasser

Saad

Bazzi

et al. 2022

European Journal of Psychotraumatology

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Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) include a constellation of physical and emotional profiles that youth exposed to trauma may experience. An estimated 20% of youth are exposed to trauma, and in refugee populations, up to 54% experience posttraumatic stress. Given the physical and mental health consequences associated with trauma exposure and subsequent psychopathology, identifying biomarkers of symptom severity is a top research priority. Objective: Previous research in adults found that skin conductance responses to trauma interview predicted current and future PTSS. We extended this method to refugee youth exposed to civilian war trauma and forced migration, to examine associations between PTSS and skin conductance in this uniquely vulnerable child and adolescent population. Methods: 86 refugee youth ages 7–17 years completed a trauma interview and assessment of self-reported PTSS. The mobile eSense app on a iPad was used to obtain continuous recordings of skin conductance level (SCL) during a trauma interview (trauma SCL). Skin conductance response (SCR) was calculated by subtracting the baseline SCL from the maximum amplitude of the trauma SCL. Results: SCL during trauma was significantly greater than baseline SCL, Trauma exposure was significantly associated with SCR to trauma interview, R 2 = .084, p = .042 . SCR to trauma interview was positively correlated with reexperiencing ( R 2 = .127, p = .028), and hyperarousal symptoms ( R 2 = .123, p = .048). Conclusions: The present study provides evidence for feasibility of SCR to trauma interview as a candidate biomarker of PTSS in youth. This is the first study to look at SCR to trauma interview in youth resettled as refugees and is part of the limited but growing body of research to look at biomarkers in refugee cohorts more broadly. As the number of forcibly displaced persons surges, early detection and prevention of trauma-related psychology is becoming more important than ever. HIGHLIGHTS Using the mobile eSense app, we demonstrate that skin conductance is measurable in a variety of research settings and that skin conductance response may be a biological indicator of trauma and related psychopathology – namely re-experiencing symptoms – in youth resettled as refugees.

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“… 17 Children are disproportionately impacted by migration and conflict-associated morbidity and mortality 13 —in Syrian refugee cohorts, for example, nearly half show clinically significant levels of anxiety. 63 , 84 Given exposure to chronic stress during critical and sensitive periods of development, 85 youth who resettle as refugees are at greater risk for health disparities that may be either aggravated 17 or alleviated upon resettlement. These factors, in turn, may impact development and cognition.…”

Section: Trauma Exposure Mental Health Problems and Screening Thereof...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing Mental Health Concerns in Refugees and Displaced Populations: Is Enough Being Done?

Grasser¹

2022

RMHP

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There are over 82.4 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, about a quarter of whom are resettling as refugees. In the wake of the global refugee crisis spurred by conflict, religious and political persecution, human rights violations, and climate disasters, a mental health has crisis followed. Not only does trauma experienced in home countries and as part of forced migration affect mental health, so too do post-migration traumatic events, discrimination, lack of access to quality and affordable healthcare and housing, and acculturation. To address mental health concerns in refugees and displaced populations, collective action is needed not only from health care providers but also from mental health researchers, funders, journals, resettlement agencies, government entities, and humanitarian organizations. The present review highlights the work of numerous scholars and organizations with the goal of understanding the mental health concerns of forcibly displaced persons within and across ecological systems. The present review seeks to bring attention to the experiences of forcibly displaced persons, summarize the growing body of research understanding the acute and chronic effects of forced displacement and possible interventions, and give a call to action for all members of the global community at every level to engage in joint efforts to improve mental health in refugees and displaced persons. Notably, there is a need for more interventions at the familial and community level that serve not only as treatment but also as prevention. Smartphone-based interventions, mind-body modalities, and interventions delivered by lay and non-clinician community members hold promise. Numerous strides could be made in refugee mental health and treatment when funding agencies include these goals in their research priorities. Despite the challenges they have faced, persons who resettle as refugees are incredibly resilient and deserve to be afforded every right, opportunity, dignity, and respect.

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Safety learning during development: Implications for development of psychopathology

Cited by 37 publications

References 289 publications

Early Safety Discrimination Under Uncertainty in Trait Anxiety: An Event-Related Potential Study

Early Safety Discrimination Under Uncertainty in Trait Anxiety: An Event-Related Potential Study

Skin conductance response to trauma interview as a candidate biomarker of trauma and related psychopathology in youth resettled as refugees

Addressing Mental Health Concerns in Refugees and Displaced Populations: Is Enough Being Done?

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