The Fear Survey Schedule as a measure of anxious arousal: Evidence from ERPs

Anxious arousal and anxious apprehension have been proposed to be two aspects of anxiety that are differentially lateralized. Two prior event-related potential (ERP) studies have found right-lateralized ERPs that correlate with scores on the Fear Survey Schedule (FSS) but not with the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) scores. This study attempts to replicate the findings of right-lateralization of FSS correlates using high-density ERPs (n = 58). A spatial cueing task where emotional faces validly or invalidly cued targets was used. A right-lateralized posterior component (P296) greatest in amplitude for high FSS scores was found. This finding further supports the proposition that the FSS measures anxious arousal and that anxious arousal can be right-lateralized.