Modeling Trait Anxiety: From Computational Processes to Personality

Abstract

Computational methods are increasingly being applied to the study of psychiatric disorders. Often, this involves fitting models to the behavior of individuals with subclinical character traits that are known vulnerability factors for the development of psychiatric conditions. Anxiety disorders can be examined with reference to the behavior of individuals high in "trait" anxiety, which is a known vulnerability factor for the development of anxiety and mood disorders. However, it is not clear how this self-report measure relates to neural and behavioral processes captured by computational models. This paper reviews emerging computational approaches to the study of trait anxiety, specifying how interacting processes susceptible to analysis using computational models could drive a tendency to experience frequent anxious states and promote vulnerability to the development of clinical disorders. Existing computational studies are described in the light of this perspective and appropriate targets for future studies are discussed.

Keywords: anxiety; anxiety disorders; associative learning; attentional control; avoidance; computational modeling; trait anxiety.

Figure 1

Relationship between biological trait vulnerability, anxiolytic environment, self-report evidence of frequent anxious states, and diagnosed anxiety disorders; STAI-Y2 is the “trait” score on the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Figure 2

Proposed factors underlying a high trait anxiety score; the trait vulnerability is decomposed into genetically mediated biological factors and resulting long-term alterations in learning. This can be considered an unpacking of the “Biological trait vulnerability” node and accompanying thick arrow from the previous figure.

Figure 3

Factors underlying trait vulnerability based on existing computational studies discussed in the section on “Existing Computational Studies of Trait Anxiety.” The reference to Robinson et al. (50) justifies the arrow going back from “Frequent anxious states” to “Increased threat processing.” Dashed lines represent connections that do not have experimental support.