Overcoming avoidance in anxiety disorders: The contributions of Pavlovian and operant avoidance extinction methods
Abstract
Avoidance is generally adaptive, yet excessive rates of avoidance can become maladaptive and lead to functional impairment and psychopathology. Laboratory-based treatment research has provided important insights about the acquisition, maintenance, and extinction of maladaptive avoidance. Despite this, laboratory research on avoidance learning and extinction in humans is relatively underdeveloped. A better understanding of avoidance extinction methods has implications for basic research with humans and the development of treatment interventions aimed at replacing maladaptive behavior with an adaptive, functional repertoire. The present article reviews, for the first time, the use of the term extinction in human research on avoidance, contrasts existing Pavlovian and operant approaches to the extinction of avoidance, considers the validity of approaches to avoidance extinction, and suggests a consistent terminology and research gaps for future translational research on anxiety and related disorders.
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The majority of research on mechanisms of exposure and relapse has examined Pavlovian processes, with very little research on operant contributions to relapse.
“However, the majority of this research has examined Pavlovian processes, with very little research on operant contributions to relapse (Craske, Hermans, & Vervliet, 2018; Dymond, 2019).”
From Relapse of anxiety-related fear and avoidance: Conceptual analysis of treatment with acceptance and commitment therapy (2020) · cites this paper as Dymond, 2019
Research conducted to date has focused primarily on the acquisition and extinction of avoidance, with little known about the treatment-relevant relapse of avoidance.
“Research conducted to date has focused primarily on the acquisition and extinction of avoidance, with little known about the treatment-relevant relapse of avoidance (Dymond, 2019; LeDoux et al., 2016; Urcelay & Prével, 2019).”
From Relapse of anxiety-related fear and avoidance: Conceptual analysis of treatment with acceptance and commitment therapy (2020) · cites this paper as Dymond, 2019
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References 137 · Cited by 79
- Authors
- Dymond, S.
- Affiliations
- Reykjavík University (IS)
- Corresponding author
- Dymond, Simon
- ORCID
- Dymond, Simon
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2019-03
- Volume
- 98
- Pages
- 61-70
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2908237489
- Cited by
- 79
- References
- 137
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 8
- FWCI
- 1.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Keywords
- avoidance, avoidance extinction, anxiety disorders, avoidance learning, translational research, treatment development
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Avoidance Learning, Conditioning, Classical, Conditioning, Operant, Extinction, Psychological, Humans
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