Expressive flexibility and anxiety

Background: The ability to flexibly enhance and suppress emotional expressions plays an important role in emotion regulation and the fostering of social connections. Deficits in expressive flexibility have been linked with posttraumatic stress disorder and prolonged grief reactions. Previous studies have suggested that the ability to respond flexibly in the context of an immediate threat (a nonconscious prime) may be important. In this study we sought to extend this work by examining the impact of individual differences in anxiety on expressive flexibility. Methods: Eighty four participants with high and low trait anxiety viewed blocks of negative images with instructions to enhance or suppress emotional expressions. Across blocks one of three nonconscious primes (threat, safety, neutral) appeared before each image. Observers blind to the study's design rated participants' emotional expressiveness. Results: Repeated Measures Anova's showed that high trait anxiety was associated with lower levels in enhancement ability. Further, low trait anxiety was associated with less emotion in response to the threat prime irrespective of expressive instruction. Limitations: This study was cross-sectional which precludes causal relationships. Participants were drawn from a student population and the generalizability to other populations will need to be established Conclusions: This study identified trait anxiety as factor that may contribute to expressive flexibility deficits. High trait anxiety is a feature of many clinical conditions. Strategies to target expressive flexibility may relevant to a range of anxiety related clinical conditions.