An Examination of Social Support Figures as Prepared Safety Stimuli

当人们在世界上航行时，培养识别和应对威胁的能力是至关重要的。然而，人们了解威胁线索的过程是不精确的，经常产生过度的恐惧，破坏性的恐惧反应和焦虑。基于密切的社会关系对生存的重要性，本研究考察了社会支持数字作为促进生存的刺激。这种“准备好的安全刺激”促进了安全感，并可能减少威胁反应。这与历史上威胁人类生存的“准备好的恐惧刺激”（如蛇、蜘蛛）形成对比。相当多的研究集中在准备好的恐惧刺激上，但很少有先前的工作研究准备好的安全刺激。这项研究将加深对这些独特的安全信号的理解，以及它们在防止人们学习新的恐惧和帮助人们消除旧的恐惧方面可能发挥的有益作用。本研究也将有助于更深入地了解社会支持人物作为预备安全刺激的作用。此外，本研究可能为改善当前旨在减少适应不良恐惧和焦虑的干预措施，从而改善幸福感提供途径。本研究将运用恐惧条件反射、社会缓冲及神经影像等方法，连结社会支持与恐惧学习的相关文献。在一系列研究中，加州大学洛杉矶分校（University of California, Los Angeles）的内奥米·艾森伯格（Naomi Eisenberger）博士将定义准备好的安全刺激，并测试社会支持数据是否符合这些参数。建议的研究将进一步研究社会支持数字作为已编制的安全刺激因素，包括：1)是否社会支持人物，而不是其他熟悉的或有益的刺激（不转向社会支持），作为准备的安全刺激，2)矛盾的支持人物，谁是积极（支持）和消极（压力/消极影响）的来源，是否可以作为准备的安全刺激，3)历史上与社会支持的存在相关的刺激（温暖，柔软）是否作为准备的安全刺激，4)社会支持形象安全效应背后的神经区域；5)支持形象是否抑制恐惧学习并增强对其他刺激的恐惧消退。鉴于焦虑和恐惧相关障碍在美国的普遍存在，了解准备安全刺激的独特功能以及它们在防止恐惧学习或消除习得恐惧方面可能发挥的作用，有可能为针对减少适应不良的恐惧和焦虑的新干预措施铺平道路。

It is crucial that people develop the ability to identify and respond to threats as they navigate the world. Yet, the process by which people learn about threatening cues is inexact, often producing excessive fears, disruptive fear responses, and anxiety. Based on the importance that close social ties have for survival, this research examines social support figures as stimuli that promote survival. Such 'prepared safety stimuli' promote feelings of safety and may reduce threat responses. This is in contrast to 'prepared fear stimuli' that have historically threatened human survival (e.g., snakes, spiders). Considerable research has focused on prepared fear stimuli, but little prior work has examined prepared safety stimuli. This research will develop an understanding of these unique safety signals and the beneficial role they might play in both preventing people from learning new fears and aiding people in extinguishing old ones. This research will also help to develop a deeper understanding of the role of social support figures as prepared safety stimuli. In addition, this research may illuminate avenues for improving current interventions targeted at reducing maladaptive fears and anxiety, thereby improving well-being. The proposed research will bridge the social support and fear learning literatures, employing a combination of fear conditioning, social buffering, and neuroimaging methods. In a series of studies, Dr. Naomi Eisenberger at the University of California, Los Angeles, will define prepared safety stimuli and test whether social support figures fulfill those parameters. The proposed studies will further the examination of social support figures as prepared safety stimuli by examining: 1) whether social support figures, but not other familiar or rewarding stimuli (which are not turned to for social support), serve as prepared safety stimuli, 2) whether ambivalent support figures, who are sources of both positivity (support) and negativity (stress/negative affect), can serve as prepared safety stimuli, 3) whether stimuli historically associated with the presence of social support (warmth, softness) act as prepared safety stimuli, 4) the neural regions that underlie the safety effects of social support figures, and 5) whether support figures inhibit fear learning and enhance fear extinction to other stimuli. Given the prevalence of anxiety and fear-related disorders in the United States, understanding the unique functions of prepared safety stimuli and the role they might play in preventing fear learning or extinguishing learned fears has the potential to pave the way for new interventions targeted at reducing maladaptive fear and anxiety.