Poor reliability in measuring habituation: Implications for clinical and translational research on exposure and extinction
Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of change indices in exposure therapy. Method: We analyzed data from 119 adults with elevated social anxiety who participated in studies of public speaking exposures. Participants reported their distress using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) at regular intervals. The reliability of within-session habituation, between-session habituation, and expectancy change measures were estimated. Results: Commonly used measures of between-session habituation (BSH) typically demonstrated only moderate reliability, and commonly used measures of within-session habituation (WSH) typically demonstrated poor reliability. Exploratory tests in expectancy change indices suggests these findings apply to other measures of change during exposure. Conclusions: Our results indicate that measures underlying the study of habituation may be inadequate because of low reliability. This threatens the foundation of clinical and translational research, such that no substantive conclusions can be drawn from them.
Versions
Related
- Gradual Extinction via US Intensity Reduction: a Translational Test of Fear Memory Updating in Humans
- Reliability of the figure-of-eight method for measuring foot and ankle edema: Prospective emergency department assessment and literature review
- A simple maximum intensity projection method for measuring proximal femoral anteversion: An observer reliability study.
- Sepsis-associated endothelial dysfunction: clinical phenotypes, biomarkers, bedside evidence, and translational implications
- A clinicopathological and hematological biomarker-based nomogram for overall survival in early-onset colorectal cancer: development, external validation, and translational implications
BibTeX
@misc{dear2026poor,
title = {{Poor reliability in measuring habituation: Implications for clinical and translational research on exposure and extinction}},
author = {Emma Dear and Gabrielle R. Messner and Julia Levitan and Richie Ward Gray and Cheri A Levinson and Eric Lenze and Jaclyn Weisman and Thomas Rodebaugh},
howpublished = {PsyArXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.31234/osf.io/r5ck4_v2},
url = {https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/r5ck4_v2/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Poor reliability in measuring habituation: Implications for clinical and translational research on exposure and extinction
AU - Emma Dear
AU - Gabrielle R. Messner
AU - Julia Levitan
AU - Richie Ward Gray
AU - Cheri A Levinson
AU - Eric Lenze
AU - Jaclyn Weisman
AU - Thomas Rodebaugh
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - PsyArXiv
DO - 10.31234/osf.io/r5ck4_v2
UR - https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/r5ck4_v2/
AB - Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the reliability of change indices in exposure therapy. Method: We analyzed data from 119 adults with elevated social anxiety who participated in studies of public speaking exposures. Participants reported their distress using the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) at regular intervals. The reliability of within-session habituation, between-session habituation, and expectancy change measures were estimated. Results: Commonly used measures of between-session habituation (BSH) typically demonstrated only moderate reliability, and commonly used measures of within-session habituation (WSH) typically demonstrated poor reliability. Exploratory tests in expectancy change indices suggests these findings apply to other measures of change during exposure. Conclusions: Our results indicate that measures underlying the study of habituation may be inadequate because of low reliability. This threatens the foundation of clinical and translational research, such that no substantive conclusions can be drawn from them.
ER -