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Generalization and Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Adolescents and Adults: Objective, Subjective, and Neural Outcomes.

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Title: Generalization and Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Adolescents and Adults: Objective, Subjective, and Neural Outcomes.
Authors: McCallum, Madeleine (AUTHOR), Hallford, David J. (AUTHOR), Kim, Jee Hyun (AUTHOR), Manthey, Marie Kristin (AUTHOR)
Source: Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269). 7/7/2026, Vol. 2026, p1-18. 18p.
Subjects: Teenagers, Anxiety disorders, Emotional conditioning, Neurophysiology, Fear in animals, Prefrontal cortex, Adults
Abstract: The highest incidence of anxiety disorders is reported during adolescence, which may be explained by immaturity of Pavlovian conditioned fear processes. They are relevant to key mechanisms associated with anxiety disorders including: the development of fearful responses to a stimulus (conditioning), the expression of this fear onto similar stimuli (generalization), the reduction of fear to the stimulus due to exposure without any threatening outcomes (extinction), and the relapse of extinguished fear (extinction recall). The aim of the present narrative review is to organize and synthesize the findings from studies examining these facets of conditioned fear in adolescents and adults. A SCOPUS and reference list search yielded 18 eligible studies for inclusion. Study results were tabulated based on the use of social v.s nonsocial conditioning protocols and organized based on subjective, objective, and neural measures of fear conditioning, generalization, extinction, and its recall. Overall, many studies reported that adolescents and adults similarly acquire fear conditioning and extinction based on subjective and objective measures. However, studies using subjective measures tend to show adolescent deficits in discriminating between threat and safety cues and hence overgeneralization of conditioned fear. There was evidence of impaired extinction and extinction recall in adolescents compared to adults in objective measures. Some studies that examined extinction and extinction recall were confounded by failures in conditioning or extinction. To accurately assess extinction, social protocols with objective measures are recommended to produce similar conditioning in adults and adolescents. Adolescents often differed from adults in prefrontal activity and its functional connectivity with stimulus detection and emotional regulation regions such as the amygdala, which suggests immaturity in the prefrontal control of attention and emotion may underlie adolescent overgeneralization of conditioned fear and potential extinction deficits. These results deepen our understanding of the unique susceptibility of adolescents to anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection
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  Data: Generalization and Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Adolescents and Adults: Objective, Subjective, and Neural Outcomes.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Depression+%26+Anxiety+%281091-4269%29%22">Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269)</searchLink>. 7/7/2026, Vol. 2026, p1-18. 18p.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teenagers%22">Teenagers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Anxiety+disorders%22">Anxiety disorders</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Emotional+conditioning%22">Emotional conditioning</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Neurophysiology%22">Neurophysiology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Fear+in+animals%22">Fear in animals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Prefrontal+cortex%22">Prefrontal cortex</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Adults%22">Adults</searchLink>
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  Data: The highest incidence of anxiety disorders is reported during adolescence, which may be explained by immaturity of Pavlovian conditioned fear processes. They are relevant to key mechanisms associated with anxiety disorders including: the development of fearful responses to a stimulus (conditioning), the expression of this fear onto similar stimuli (generalization), the reduction of fear to the stimulus due to exposure without any threatening outcomes (extinction), and the relapse of extinguished fear (extinction recall). The aim of the present narrative review is to organize and synthesize the findings from studies examining these facets of conditioned fear in adolescents and adults. A SCOPUS and reference list search yielded 18 eligible studies for inclusion. Study results were tabulated based on the use of social v.s nonsocial conditioning protocols and organized based on subjective, objective, and neural measures of fear conditioning, generalization, extinction, and its recall. Overall, many studies reported that adolescents and adults similarly acquire fear conditioning and extinction based on subjective and objective measures. However, studies using subjective measures tend to show adolescent deficits in discriminating between threat and safety cues and hence overgeneralization of conditioned fear. There was evidence of impaired extinction and extinction recall in adolescents compared to adults in objective measures. Some studies that examined extinction and extinction recall were confounded by failures in conditioning or extinction. To accurately assess extinction, social protocols with objective measures are recommended to produce similar conditioning in adults and adolescents. Adolescents often differed from adults in prefrontal activity and its functional connectivity with stimulus detection and emotional regulation regions such as the amygdala, which suggests immaturity in the prefrontal control of attention and emotion may underlie adolescent overgeneralization of conditioned fear and potential extinction deficits. These results deepen our understanding of the unique susceptibility of adolescents to anxiety disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Depression & Anxiety (1091-4269) is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1155/da/6001839
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Anxiety disorders
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      – SubjectFull: Emotional conditioning
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      – SubjectFull: Neurophysiology
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      – SubjectFull: Fear in animals
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Prefrontal cortex
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      – SubjectFull: Adults
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Generalization and Extinction of Conditioned Fear in Adolescents and Adults: Objective, Subjective, and Neural Outcomes.
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            NameFull: McCallum, Madeleine
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            NameFull: Hallford, David J.
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            NameFull: Kim, Jee Hyun
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            NameFull: Manthey, Marie Kristin
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            – D: 07
              M: 07
              Text: 7/7/2026
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              Y: 2026
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              Value: 2026
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