Which fearful toddlers should we worry about? Context, fear regulation, and anxiety risk.

Abstract

The current study tests a model of risk for anxiety in fearful toddlers characterized by the regulation of the intensity of withdrawal behavior across a variety of contexts. Participants included 111, low-risk, 24-month-old toddlers followed longitudinally each year through the fall of their kindergarten year. The key hypothesis was that being fearful in situations that are relatively low in threat (i.e., are predictable, controllable, and in which children have many coping resources) is an early precursor to risk for anxiety development as measured by parent and teacher report of anxious behaviors in kindergarten. Results supported the prediction such that it is not how much fear is expressed, but when the fear is expressed and how it is expressed that is important for characterizing adaptive behavior. Implications are discussed for a model of risk that includes the regulation of fear, the role of eliciting context, social wariness, and the importance of examining developmental transitions, such as the start of formal schooling. These findings have implications for the way we identify fearful children who may be at risk for developing anxiety-related problems.

Attention Biases Towards and Away from Threat Mark the Relation between Early Dysregulated Fear and the Later Emergence of Social Withdrawal

“…SAD often first emerges in adolescence but is preceded by elevated levels of social withdrawal in young children. However, recent studies have highlighted a distinct type of fearful temperament marked by high levels of fear in low-threat situations (i.e., dysregulated fear; DF), that is also associated with an increased risk for social wariness (Buss, 2011) and SAD symptoms (Buss et al, 2013), over and above risks associated with BI.…”

Specific and social fears in children and adolescents: separating normative fears from problem indicators and phobias

“…However, although children can fear a variety of things and situations, more data are needed to identify which fears are most likely to indicate the presence of a significant clinical problem and the presence of specific and social phobia diagnoses. 2 The normative fears observed in most children and adolescents are typically transient. Specific and social fears, considering both their mild and severe forms, touch almost all children and adolescents.…”

The Role of Caregiver Support in the Development of Adaptive Approaches to Learning for Preschoolers Who Exhibit Anxious-Withdrawal

“…One such group is those who display higher levels of anxiouswithdrawal (AW), which is characterized by increased reticence and nervousness when in less familiar settings. While disengagement in social interactions can stem from a variety of factors, such as peer rejection, a preference for solitude, and developmental delays, which can be difficult to differentiate (Coplan, Ooi, Rose-Krasnor, & Nocita, 2014;Eisenberg, Shepard, Fabes, Murphy, & Guthrie, 1998;Rubin, Coplan, & Bowker, 2009), one prevailing theory is that young children most often display anxious withdrawal due to a combination of a more cautious/fearful disposition and exposure to an environment that is perceived as threatening in some way (Buss, 2011;Degnan, et al, 2014;Eisenberg et al, 1998;Gazelle, 2006). This early cautiousness has also been associated with development of social anxiety, which is largely characterized by a fear negative social appraisal (Clauss & Blackford, 2012;Coplan & Arbeau, 2008;Hirshfeld-Becker, 2007).…”

“…This last group of children is often described as anxious-withdrawn i (AW; Gazelle, 2006). The tendency to exhibit AW behaviors is generally believed to arise from the dynamic interplay between a more inhibited temperament and exposure to environmental factors that exacerbate anxiety (Blair, Peters, & Granger, 2004;Buss, 2011;Rapee, 2014;RimmKaufman & Kagan, 2005;Williams et al, 2009). Hence, these children often display increased wariness and withdrawal in novel and more demanding situations (Coplan et al, 2004;Hirshfeld-Becker et al, 2007;O'Connor, Cappella, McCormick, & McClowry, 2014;Rapee, Kennedy, Ingram, Edwards, & Sweeney, 2006).…”

“…This might present as quickly crying or freezing when in less familiar settings. Subsequently, these children have a higher risk for developing an anxiety disorder (Buss, 2011;Buss et al, 2013;Clauss & Blackford, 2012;Degnan et al, 2014;Hudson et al, 2011). For instance, in a sample of 146 preschoolers who displayed profound levels of behavioral inhibition, 90% met criteria for a diagnosable anxiety disorder (Rapee et al, 2005).…”