Parsing relationships between dimensions of anxiety and action monitoring brain potentials in female undergraduates

Abstract

Anxiety is associated with enhanced action monitoring. Research to date, however, has employed extreme group designs that fail to address the full spectrum of anxiety, and in which overlapping and co-occurring symptoms obscure the exact nature of the relationships between anxiety and action monitoring. To address these limitations, relationships between distinct dimensions of anxiety and neural indicators of action monitoring were examined in a sample of female undergraduates. Results revealed that higher anxious apprehension (i.e., worry) was associated with enhanced early action monitoring activity, as indexed by the error-related negativity/correct-response negativity. Anxious arousal (i.e., somatic tension) on the other hand, was unrelated to measures of action monitoring. These findings suggest that the anxiety-action monitoring link holds along the continuum of severity and is specific to the worry component of anxiety.