Objective: A relevance of fear and concerns about vaccine development and its side effects are suggested to explain COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. However, evidence supporting the phobic origin hypothesis of hesitancy for COVID-19 and other vaccinations remains indirect and elusive. Method: We addressed this issue by investigating the existence of a relationship between fear conditioning, extinction, and the respective vaccination hesitancy and anxiety scores in a group of 25 individuals. Results: Overall, we show that the general mechanism of fear extinction learning is impaired in individuals with high vaccine hesitancy. State and trait anxiety scores do not account for this result. Conclusions: These findings suggest that attitudes against vaccination could be linked to an altered inhibitory learning process.
Evidence of Altered Fear Extinction Learning in Individuals with High Vaccine Hesitancy During Covid-19 Pandemic / Vicario, Carmelo M; Makris, Stergios; Culicetto, Laura; Lucifora, Chiara; Falzone, Alessandra; Martino, Gabriella; Ferraioli, Francesca; Nitsche, Michael A; Avenanti, Alessio; Craparo, Giuseppe. - In: CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHIATRY. - ISSN 1724-4935. - ELETTRONICO. - 20:4(2023), pp. 364-369. [10.36131/cnfioritieditore20230417]
Evidence of Altered Fear Extinction Learning in Individuals with High Vaccine Hesitancy During Covid-19 Pandemic
Lucifora, Chiara;Avenanti, Alessio;
2023
Abstract
Objective: A relevance of fear and concerns about vaccine development and its side effects are suggested to explain COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. However, evidence supporting the phobic origin hypothesis of hesitancy for COVID-19 and other vaccinations remains indirect and elusive. Method: We addressed this issue by investigating the existence of a relationship between fear conditioning, extinction, and the respective vaccination hesitancy and anxiety scores in a group of 25 individuals. Results: Overall, we show that the general mechanism of fear extinction learning is impaired in individuals with high vaccine hesitancy. State and trait anxiety scores do not account for this result. Conclusions: These findings suggest that attitudes against vaccination could be linked to an altered inhibitory learning process.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
Vicario_2023ClinNeuropsychiatry_maintext.pdf
accesso aperto
Descrizione: Articolo
Tipo:
Versione (PDF) editoriale
Licenza:
Licenza per Accesso Aperto. Creative Commons Attribuzione (CCBY)
Dimensione
940.01 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
940.01 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.