Editorial: Integrative Advances in the Understanding and Treatment of Fears and Phobias

Shakiela K Davies^1,2*

• ¹University of South Wales, Treforest, United Kingdom
• ²University of South Wales, Pontypridd, United Kingdom

An especially prominent and consequential area within psychopathology, both in terms of its widespread prevalence and the persistent uncertainties concerning its origins and effective therapeutic approaches, is the investigation of fears and phobias. Traditional 2025) conducted a survey of 60 vignettes related to fear and disgust associated with three forms of threat: 1) ancestral, 2) modern and 3) airborne. The study showed that fear is largely attributed to modern threats such as electricity and car accidents, while disgust is predominantly elicited by ancestral stimuli such as bodily waste and worms. Interestingly, modern hazards (e.g., toxic chemicals) failed to evoke disgust, but elicited fear and anger. The findings also demonstrated that sensitivity to disgust dissipated with age, however fear presented as a compensatory mechanism for contamination avoidance. Meaning that the brain appears to transfer the emotional processing of disgust to fear as way to protect aging adults from potential contamination.Attentional processes and types of threat -Snakes and blood-injury-injection stimuli (BII) Previous research on visual threat processing has predominantly overlooked the differences between types of threat, despite findings of category specific neural responses for certain fears. Zsido and Kiss (2024) investigated visual attentional effects of two types of threat -snakes and blood-injury-injection (BII) -presented as taskirrelevant distractors, whilst participants performed a visual search task. Findings showed that BII-related distractor pictures delayed reaction times compared to snake pictures. A key finding showed that those participants who used emotional regulation strategies showed enhanced performance in overriding the interference of threat stimuli on visual attention. The implications of emotional regulation and individual differences in threat perception and attention is highlighted. Therapeutic advancement, specifically via Immersive Virtual Reality (iVR), represents a key focus for future research on anxiety disorders. Findings on VRET (Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy) for acrophobia (severe anxiety when one is close to heights) confirms symptom reduction equivalent to that achieved through in vivo exposure-so long as are therapist-led. Yet, suboptimal immersion, absence of biofeedback, and human presence impair efficacy. Varšová and Juřík (2024) argue that Collaborative Immersive Virtual Environments (CIVEs)-multiuser VR systems-offer promise by reintroducing essential therapist-patient interaction into the simulated context. VRET has shown to be a promising effective intervention for the treatment of acrophobia.Taken together, the articles in this special edition highlight four converging themes:• Prevalence and demographics -Nomophobia is an emergent digitally-driven fear that is becoming rapidly prevalent and requires further research and tailored interventions.• Evolutionary: Disgust and Fear -are underpinned by BIS and other specialized neural circuits.• Attentional processes and types of threat -Snakes and blood-injury-injection stimuli (BII) -specific forms of threat may trigger distinct behavioural responses highlighting the need for consideration of individual differences in anxiety, disgust and emotional regulation within this field.