关键词: 自我同情写作, 恐惧消退, 高特质焦虑, fNIRS

Abstract: Individuals with high trait anxiety often show impaired fear extinction, linked to reduced medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) activation. While self-compassion writing may facilitate extinction, its efficacy and neural mechanisms in this population remain unclear. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the impact of self-compassion writing on fear extinction in individuals with high trait anxiety. A total of 62 individuals with high trait anxiety were recruited and randomly assigned to either the self-compassion writing group (SCWG) or the control writing group (CG). The experimental procedure consisted of five phases: habituation, negative emotion induction, fear acquisition, writing intervention, and fear extinction. Prior to the experiment, all participants completed the Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (SCS-SF), the State Self-Compassion Scale–Long Form (SSCS-L), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). After the negative emotion induction, participants completed the PANAS again; following the writing intervention and fear extinction phases, they completed the SSCS-L, the State Anxiety Inventory (SAI), and the PANAS. During the negative emotion induction phase, participants were asked to write for 10 minutes about a negative event that made them feel distressed. The writing intervention phase lasted 15 minutes. Participants in the self-compassion writing group wrote guided by three prompts, focusing on self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. Participants in the control group were asked to write about their daily activities from yesterday, today, and tomorrow in a factual, objective, and emotionally neutral manner. Throughout the experiment, participants’ behavioral, physiological, and neural fear responses were continuously recorded and assessed. The results showed that self-compassion writing significantly increased participants’ state self-compassion and positive affect. In addition, both self-compassion writing and daily activities writing significantly reduced state anxiety and negative affect. During the fear acquisition phase, no group differences were observed, and all participants successfully acquired fear. In the early phase of fear extinction, no significant differences were found between the two groups. In the late phase of fear extinction, compared with the control group, participants in the self-compassion writing group exhibited lower shock expectancy ratings for both threat and safety stimuli and higher mPFC activation in response to threat stimuli, while no significant differences were observed in SCR. Overall, the results demonstrate that self-compassion writing may facilitate fear extinction in individuals with high trait anxiety by modulating behavioral (shock expectancy) and neural (mPFC activity) responses to threat. These findings elucidate the mechanism by which self-compassion aids extinction and underscore the value of integrating cognitive interventions into extinction paradigms.

Key words: Self-compassion writing, Fear extinction, Trait anxiety, fNIRS