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Stress and Brain 2022, 2(4): 198-208 https://doi.org/10.26599/SAB.2022.9060028
Research Article | Open Access | Issue | Published: 30 December 2022

Buildup of implementation intention reduces anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population

Show Author's Information Dongmei Zhao1,§,  Hong Li1,2,3,§,  Jixuan Mao1,3,  Jiajin Yuan1,  Shengdong Chen4,  Jiemin Yang1( )
The Affect Cognition and Regulation Laboratory, Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
Taiyuan Chengcheng Middle School, Taiyuan 030000, China
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chonqqing 400715, China
School of Education, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 237165, China

§ Dongmei Zhao and Hong Li contributed equally to this work.

Keywords:
emotion regulation, anticipatory anxiety, implementation intention, cue–target paradigm
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Zhao D, Li H, Mao J, et al. Buildup of implementation intention reduces anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population. Stress and Brain, 2022, 2(4): 198-208. https://doi.org/10.26599/SAB.2022.9060028
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Abstract Full text About this article

Previous research demonstrates that the cue–target paradigm is effective in inducing anticipatory anxiety, whereas the setup of implementation intention is effective in relieving anticipatory anxiety in a healthy sample. However, exploring whether this method can reduce anticipatory anxiety symptoms in high-anxiety individuals is necessary. The response to this question is of importance to clinical application. For this reason, this study applied the cue–target paradigm to induce anticipatory anxiety to potential negative pictures in subjects classified as high- vs. low-anxiety individuals. In addition, subjects were instructed to receive implementation intention or no-regulation instructions to examine the variation in the regulatory effects of implementation intention according to the severity of anxiety. The results demonstrated that high-anxiety participants exhibited increased anticipatory anxiety during uncertain and negative cues compared with those of low-anxiety subjects. In addition, anticipatory anxiety was reduced during implementation intention relative to the control condition. The size of this reduction was similar between the high- and low-anxiety groups. Third, the buildup of implementation intention reduced the anticipatory anxiety of high-anxiety individuals to a level similar to that of low-anxiety individuals in the control condition. These results suggest that setting up implementation intention can effectively down-regulate the symptoms of anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population.


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About this article

Buildup of implementation intention reduces anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population

Show Author's information Dongmei Zhao1,§, Hong Li1,2,3,§, Jixuan Mao1,3, Jiajin Yuan1, Shengdong Chen4, Jiemin Yang1( )
The Affect Cognition and Regulation Laboratory, Institute of Brain and Psychological Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610066, China
Taiyuan Chengcheng Middle School, Taiyuan 030000, China
Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chonqqing 400715, China
School of Education, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 237165, China

§ Dongmei Zhao and Hong Li contributed equally to this work.

Abstract

Previous research demonstrates that the cue–target paradigm is effective in inducing anticipatory anxiety, whereas the setup of implementation intention is effective in relieving anticipatory anxiety in a healthy sample. However, exploring whether this method can reduce anticipatory anxiety symptoms in high-anxiety individuals is necessary. The response to this question is of importance to clinical application. For this reason, this study applied the cue–target paradigm to induce anticipatory anxiety to potential negative pictures in subjects classified as high- vs. low-anxiety individuals. In addition, subjects were instructed to receive implementation intention or no-regulation instructions to examine the variation in the regulatory effects of implementation intention according to the severity of anxiety. The results demonstrated that high-anxiety participants exhibited increased anticipatory anxiety during uncertain and negative cues compared with those of low-anxiety subjects. In addition, anticipatory anxiety was reduced during implementation intention relative to the control condition. The size of this reduction was similar between the high- and low-anxiety groups. Third, the buildup of implementation intention reduced the anticipatory anxiety of high-anxiety individuals to a level similar to that of low-anxiety individuals in the control condition. These results suggest that setting up implementation intention can effectively down-regulate the symptoms of anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population.

Keywords: emotion regulation, anticipatory anxiety, implementation intention, cue–target paradigm

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Publication history
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Publication history

Received: 19 April 2022
Revised: 21 November 2022
Accepted: 03 December 2022
Published: 30 December 2022
Issue date: December 2022

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© The Author(s) 2022

Acknowledgements

This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31871103 and 31971018).

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