Sacrificing Reward to Avoid Threat: Characterizing PTSD in the Context of a Trauma-Related Approach-Avoidance Conflict Task

Shelby S Weaver; Emily B Kroska; Marisa C Ross; Anneliis Sartin-Tarm; Kyrie A Sellnow; Katherine Schaumberg; Kent A Kiehl; Michael Koenigs; Josh M Cisler

doi:10.1037/abn0000528

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Sacrificing Reward to Avoid Threat: Characterizing PTSD in the Context of a Trauma-Related Approach-Avoidance Conflict Task

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Sacrificing Reward to Avoid Threat: Characterizing PTSD in the Context of a Trauma-Related Approach-Avoidance Conflict Task

Shelby S Weaver, Emily B Kroska, Marisa C Ross, Anneliis Sartin-Tarm, Kyrie A Sellnow, Katherine Schaumberg, Kent A Kiehl, Michael Koenigs and Josh M Cisler

Journal of abnormal psychology (1965), Vol.129(5), pp.457-468

07/2020

DOI: 10.1037/abn0000528

PMCID: PMC7393639

PMID: 32437204

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Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized by heightened avoidance, cognitive inflexibility, and impaired reward processing. Maladaptive behavior in PTSD may reflect an imbalance between approach and avoidance, but no research has investigated approach-avoidance conflict (AAC) in PTSD. The current study investigated approach-avoidance behavior in PTSD using a trauma-related AAC (trAAC) task in two independent samples. In Study 1, 43 women with a current diagnosis of PTSD and 18 healthy comparison subjects were recruited from the community. In Study 2, 53 women with trauma exposure and a range of PTSD symptoms were recruited from a correctional institution. Trials were separated into two phases: conflict (the option most likely to win points was most likely to show a trauma-related image) and congruent (the option most likely to win points was least likely to show a trauma-related image). In Study 1, reward obtainment varied with the task manipulation (i.e., fewer points earned during conflict compared to congruent Phase) in PTSD but not healthy subjects. These results indicate that when avoidance is advantageous (congruent phase), individuals with PTSD show increased task performance, whereas when avoidance is maladaptive (conflict phase), individuals with PTSD show increased sacrifice of reward. In Study 2, higher PTSD symptoms predicted decreased reward earning during the conflict phase, again indicating a sacrifice of reward when avoidance is maladaptive. Across both studies, PTSD associated with increased AAC and sacrifice of reward in the presence of trauma-related stimuli. These studies shed light on AAC in PTSD and could inform more targeted therapy approaches. General Scientific Summary Approach-avoidance conflict is a key aspect of posttraumatic stress disorder but has not been explicitly tested using behavioral tasks. The results of this study indicate that PTSD is associated with greater approach-avoidance conflict than healthy subjects, and this conflict is associated with a sacrifice of reward.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

avoidance bias

approach-avoidance conflict

sacrifice of reward

Details

Title: Subtitle: Sacrificing Reward to Avoid Threat: Characterizing PTSD in the Context of a Trauma-Related Approach-Avoidance Conflict Task
Creators: Shelby S Weaver - Department of Psychology and Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Emily B Kroska - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Iowa
Marisa C Ross - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Anneliis Sartin-Tarm - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Kyrie A Sellnow - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Katherine Schaumberg - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kent A Kiehl - The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Michael Koenigs - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Josh M Cisler - Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Contributors: Angus MacDonald (Editor)
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of abnormal psychology (1965), Vol.129(5), pp.457-468
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000528
PMID: 32437204
PMCID: PMC7393639
NLM abbreviation: J Abnorm Psychol
ISSN: 0021-843X
eISSN: 1939-1846
Publisher: American Psychological Association
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000025, name: National Institute of Mental Health, award: MH108753, MH109329; DOI: 10.13039/100000027, name: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, award: AA026290
Language: English
Date published: 07/2020
Academic Unit: Psychological and Brain Sciences
Record Identifier: 9984213396002771

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