A Unique Safety Signal: Social-Support Figures Enhance Rather Than Protect From Fear Extinction

Following treatment of fear-related disorders, return of fear remains a common occurrence. Currently, the presence of safety signals during treatment procedures is considered harmful, yet recent findings have demonstrated that certain safety signals (social-support figures) lead to enhanced fear extinction and thus might reduce return of fear. Here, we tested the effect of social-support-figure (vs. stranger) images on fear extinction outcomes. We found that, for conditional fear stimuli paired with social-support-figure images during extinction, return of fear was inhibited both immediately after extinction and during a fear reinstatement test 24 hr later; however, return of fear occurred for conditional stimuli paired with images of strangers. These findings suggest that social-support stimuli have unique safety-signaling properties that might enhance fear extinction and improve treatment outcomes for individuals with fear-related disorders.