The relationship of child worry to cognitive biases: Threat interpretation and likelihood of event occurrence

Suárez, Lourdes; Bell-Dolan, Debora

doi:10.1016/s0005-7894(01)80029-0

Cited by 53 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…[120] Finally, individuals with high trait anxiety or GAD tend to interpret ambiguous events as threatening (e.g., [121] ). These findings also are true for anxious children; compared to controls, anxious children expect a larger number of negative outcomes and more negative events to happen to them (e.g., [122] ). Studies of lexical decisions that assess ''on-line'' interpretations at the time participants are exposed to ambiguous stimuli have similarly shown a negative bias in relation to trait anxiety and social anxiety (e.g., [123] ), albeit not always (e.g., [124] ).…”

Section: Information Processing Biasmentioning

confidence: 74%

What is an anxiety disorder?

et al. 2009

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Initiated as part of the ongoing deliberation about the nosological structure of DSM, this review aims to evaluate whether the anxiety disorders share features of responding that define them and make them distinct from depressive disorders, and/or that differentiate fear disorders from anxious-misery disorders. The review covers symptom self-report as well as on-line indices of behavioral, physiological, cognitive, and neural responding in the presence of aversive stimuli. The data indicate that the anxiety disorders share self-reported symptoms of anxiety and fear; heightened anxiety and fear responding to cues that signal threat, cues that signal no threat, cues that formerly signaled threat, and contexts associated with threat; elevated stress reactivity to aversive stimuli; attentional biases to threat-relevant stimuli and threat-based appraisals of ambiguous stimuli; and elevated amygdala responses to threat-relevant stimuli. Some differences exist among anxiety disorders, and between anxiety disorders and depressive disorders. However, the differences are not fully consistent with proposed subdivisions of fear disorders vs. anxious misery disorders, and comparative data in large part are lacking. Given the high rates of comorbidity, advances in our understanding of the features of responding that are shared across vs. unique to anxiety and depressive disorders will require dimensional approaches. In summary, the extant data help to define the features of responding that are shared across anxiety disorders, but are insufficient to justify revisions to the DSM nosology at this time. Depression and Anxiety

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Section: Information Processing Biasmentioning

confidence: 74%

What is an anxiety disorder?

et al. 2009

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“…Non-aggressive children, particularly those who may be described as socially wary and withdrawn, may view interpersonal situations such as peer group entry as stressful and anxiety-producing; in their case, avoidance evoked by fear or wariness may be the social consequence. Thus, an inability to regulate emotional arousal under certain circumstances could influence several steps of the information processing and behavioral enactment process.Whereas the majority of attention has been devoted to the study of aggression (see Orobio de Castro, Veerman, Koops, Bosch, & Monshouwer, 2002), social information-processing models have also been proposed as being relevant for the understanding of peer victimization (Graham & Juvonen, 1998), childhood anxiety (Bell-Dolan, 1995;Daleiden & Vasey, 1997;Suarez & Bell-Dolan, 2001), and childhood/adolescent depression (e.g., Garber, Keiley, & Martin, 2002). Although not all withdrawn children experience anxiety and depression, social withdrawal is generally considered a symptom of internalizing problems (Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1981;Rubin, Burgess, Kennedy, & Stewart, 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Information Processing and Coping Strategies of Shy/Withdrawn and Aggressive Children: Does Friendship Matter?

et al. 2006

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The primary objectives of this investigation were to examine the attributions, emotional reactions, and coping strategies of shy/withdrawn and aggressive girls and boys and to examine whether such social cognitions differ within the relationship context of friendship. Drawn from a sample of 5 th and 6 th graders (M age = 10.79 years; SD = .77), 78 shy/withdrawn, 76 aggressive, and 85 control children were presented with hypothetical social situations that first involved unfamiliar peers, then a mutual good friend. Results revealed group and gender differences and similarities, depending on the relationship context. From our findings emerges a central message: friends' involvement during interpersonal challenges or stressors mitigates children's attributions, emotions and coping responses.The ways in which children process information about social situations and others' behaviors have been the subject of much scrutiny in the social-cognitive and developmental psychology literatures. For example, Crick and Dodge (1994) proposed that when children find themselves in social company, and when a dilemma confronts them, they first encode and interpret social cues and information; next, they access their cognitive repertoires, decide upon, and evaluate possible responses to the given situation; and lastly, they select and enact the chosen response. Researchers who have applied this model have typically reported that aggressive or rejected children attribute hostile intent to the actions of others (e.g., "The child did X on purpose to hurt or harm me."), even when the behaviors leading to untoward consequences may be objectively appraised as having an ambiguous cause (e.g., Dodge et al., 2003).More recently, Lemerise and Arsenio (2000) integrated emotional experiences within Crick and Dodge's (1994) social information processing model. For example, aggressive children's emotional reactions to problematic social situations might include frustration or anger. These emotions, in turn, may influence the information attended to, the information recalled, and the ways children respond to negative events befalling them. Non-aggressive children, particularly those who may be described as socially wary and withdrawn, may view interpersonal situations such as peer group entry as stressful and anxiety-producing; in their case, avoidance evoked by fear or wariness may be the social consequence. Thus, an inability to regulate emotional arousal under certain circumstances could influence several steps of the information processing and behavioral enactment process.Whereas the majority of attention has been devoted to the study of aggression (see Orobio de Castro, Veerman, Koops, Bosch, & Monshouwer, 2002), social information-processing models have also been proposed as being relevant for the understanding of peer victimization (Graham & Juvonen, 1998), childhood anxiety (Bell-Dolan, 1995;Daleiden & Vasey, 1997;Suarez & Bell-Dolan, 2001), and childhood/adolescent depression (e.g., Garber, Keiley, & Martin, 2002). Although not al...

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“…These results along with the conclusions of Szabó and Lovibond's [42] study and Suarez and Bell-Dolan's [43] work highlight the importance of bias in information processing and its consequent distorted cognitive products (dysfunctional cognitions) as a normal phenomenon in the developmental course of children from this age group [13,28,43,44].…”

Section: Contents With Positive Valence and Characteristics Of Normatmentioning

confidence: 80%

Exploring Childhood Cognitions Through the Contents of Childrens Thoughts Related to Anxiety: A Qualitative Approach

Valadao-Dias¹,

Oliveira²,

Rodrigues³

et al. 2016

Clin Exp Psychol

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Aim: The main aim of this study was to explore the contents of children's cognitive products (positive and negative thoughts) related to stories that describe anxiety situations. Method:The final sample was composed of 274 children aged between 10 and 11 years (M = 10.62, SD = 0.5) from a Portuguese community sample. The Portuguese version of the Nine Ambiguous Stories was used. Children's responses to the stories were analyzed using mixed content analysis -the pre-categories and categories were established a priori, the sub-categories emerged from the material. The agreement rate of the main coders had Intra-Correlation Coefficients above 0.97 (p<0.05). Response units were analyzed regarding their frequency and specific contents.Results: Content analysis provided 6,665 recording units of cognitive response allocated to 75 different subcategories. In the nine stories, every positive and negative thought contained expressed emotions. Other contents were also found and divided into 57 sub-categories; 32 were related to negative thoughts and 25 to positive thoughts. Conclusion:The large number of recording units within the dimension of expressed emotions highlights their importance when studying children's cognitive characteristics. Negative thoughts' contents suggest that beliefs related to factors of vulnerability may contribute to higher anxiety symptoms. Some contents of positive thoughts demonstrate the existence of positive beliefs related to characteristics of childhood development that are more stable and that can contribute to the development or maintenance of adequate anxiety manifestations.

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The relationship of child worry to cognitive biases: Threat interpretation and likelihood of event occurrence

Cited by 53 publications

References 41 publications

What is an anxiety disorder?

What is an anxiety disorder?

Social Information Processing and Coping Strategies of Shy/Withdrawn and Aggressive Children: Does Friendship Matter?

Exploring Childhood Cognitions Through the Contents of Childrens Thoughts Related to Anxiety: A Qualitative Approach

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