Estradiol moderates the relationship between state-trait anxiety and attentional bias to threat in women
Estradiol moderates the relationship between state-trait anxiety and attentional bias to threat in women
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.04.018
复制
发表时间：
2018-07-01
影响因子：
3.7
通讯作者：
Shin, Geena
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Graham, Bronwyn M.;Shin, Geena
焦虑症的特点是恐惧消退受损和对威胁性刺激的注意力分配增强。性激素雌二醇和黄体酮调节雌性大鼠和女性的恐惧消退；这些激素是否与对威胁的注意力偏差也有类似的关系尚未得到检验。在本研究中，74 名女性（53 名骑自行车，21 名使用激素避孕）和 30 名男性作为对照组，完成了状态特质焦虑以及抑郁、焦虑和压力症状的标准评估，然后对注意力偏差（点探测任务）进行了计算机化评估。通过血液样本确定女性的内源性雌二醇和黄体酮水平。没有发现注意力偏差因性别或激素避孕药的使用而存在差异。雌二醇是唯一与威胁注意力偏向独立正相关的测量变量。回归分析揭示了状态特质焦虑、焦虑和压力症状以及由雌二醇调节的注意力偏差之间的双向关系，因此在雌二醇较高的女性中观察到正相关，而在雌二醇较低的女性中观察到负相关。总之，这些结果表明，在焦虑和压力的情况下，女性可能会根据内源性雌二醇水平以不同的方式对待威胁，当雌二醇较低时会回避，而当雌二醇较高时会保持警惕。通过考虑荷尔蒙状态，可以更细致地了解注意力在女性焦虑症中的作用。
Anxiety disorders are characterized by impaired fear extinction and heightened attentional allocation to threatening stimuli. The sex hormones estradiol and progesterone modulate fear extinction in female rats and women; whether these hormones are similarly related to attentional biases to threat has not been examined. In the present study 74 women (53 cycling, 21 using hormonal contraception), and a comparison group of 30 men, completed standard assessments of state-trait anxiety, as well symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, followed by a computerized assessment of attentional bias, the dot-probe task. Women's endogenous estradiol and progesterone levels were ascertained by a blood sample. No differences in attentional bias were found dependent on sex or hormonal contraceptive use. Estradiol was the only variable measured that was independently positively correlated with attentional bias to threat. Regression analyses revealed a bi-directional relationship between state-trait anxiety, symptoms of anxiety and stress, and attentional bias that was moderated by estradiol, such that a positive relationship was observed amongst women with higher estradiol, and a negative relationship was observed amongst women with lower estradiol. Together, these results indicate that under conditions of anxiety and stress, women may attend to threat differently depending on endogenous estradiol levels, being avoidant when estradiol is lower, and vigilant when estradiol is higher. A more nuanced understanding of the role for attention in anxiety disorders amongst women may be developed by taking hormonal status into consideration.