Behavioral resurgence in individuals varying in depression, anxiety, and autism-associated tendencies.
Resurgence gets bigger in people with low depression and high anxiety, so check mood before you start extinction.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Adults with no diagnosis pressed buttons for points. First they earned points on one button. Then that button stopped working and a new button paid off. Finally both buttons quit paying. The researchers watched how much the adults went back to the first button—the 'resurgence.' Before the task each adult filled out short forms about depression, anxiety, and autism-like traits.
What they found
Everyone showed resurgence, but the size differed. Adults who reported lower depression and higher anxiety bounced back to the old button more. Autism-linked traits did not change the bounce. In short, mood and worry levels shaped how strongly old habits returned.
How this fits with other research
LeBlanc et al. (2003) ran a similar lab task and proved resurgence is reliable; P (2019) adds that personality matters. Fujimaki et al. (2024) showed that making the old reward worthless cuts resurgence; the new study shows that internal traits can boost it. Richards et al. (2017) found anxiety fuels repetitive behavior in autistic youth; P (2019) finds the same link in neurotypical adults, suggesting anxiety drives relapse across diagnoses.
Why it matters
When you thin or stop reinforcement for a problem behavior, plan for a comeback. Clients who show low mood or high worry may need extra help during extinction. Add brief anxiety or depression screens to your reassessment packet. If scores are high, teach coping skills or use denser schedules before you fade reinforcement away.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Resurgence is the reappearance of a previously reinforced, but then extinguished behavior, when an alternative behavior that has been reinforced to replace it is also extinguished. This phenomenon has been suggested as important in the re-occurrence of many clinical problems, but little is known currently about the relationship between this process and different psychopathological traits. This experiment addressed this gap by comparing the levels of resurgent behavior in participants scoring lower or higher on depression-, anxiety-, and autism-related characteristics. Sixty participants completed an experimental task of three phases. In the first, they were presented with a concurrent RR-5 ext schedule, in the second with a conc ext RR-5 schedule (each lasting 6min), and finally with a conc ext ext schedule (lasting 2 min). Following this, all participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Autism Quotient, questionnaires provided. Participants showed a resurgence of responding at test from the response extinguished in Phase 2 that was greater for those with lower levels of depression, but high levels of anxiety. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding individual differences in terms of psychiatric symptomatology, for their treatment, and in terms of theoretical predictions derived for the various psychopathologies.
, 2019 · doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02457