The Impact of Losing Control Over Threat on the Acquisition, Extinction, and Renewal of Conditioned Fear

Uncontrollable situations are often experienced as more challenging than those within our control. Recently, it has been proposed that threat (un)controllability also affects fear learning processes. Most studies compare two variants of threat control – lacking versus having control. However, losing control might cause more distress than lacking control and be clinically relevant. The current study investigated the impact of loss of control over threat on conditioned fear. We randomly assigned 80 participants to a Continuous Control (CC) or a Loss of Control (LC) group and administered a threat (un)controllability task integrated into a fear conditioning procedure. Participants were presented with two pictures, one of which was consistently paired with an electrical stimulus (US). Participants from the CC group could learn to terminate the US with a mouse click. Participants in the LC group could terminate the stimulus initially but then lost this possibility. During the extinction and renewal phases, the pictures were repeatedly presented without the US. A new background context was introduced in the renewal phase. US-expectancy ratings, skin-conductance responses, fear ratings, and control predictions were collected throughout the procedure. The LC group displayed higher cue-elicited fear and lower expected control than the CC group. A similar pattern persisted during the extinction and renewal phases (increased skin conductance responses and reduced expected control). A general sense of control and anhedonia partially moderated the relationship between threat (un)controllability and fear renewal. These findings present initial evidence for the impact of losing control over threat on fear formation and reduction.