Muris, P.E.H.M.

Nonverbal and Verbal Transmission of Disgust From Mothers to Offspring: Effects on Children's Evaluation of a Novel Animal (Article)

2013-06-01T00:00:00Z

This study examined parent-offspring communication of disgust-related information and its effects on children's feelings of disgust and fear towards an animal. Mothers were instructed to provide information about a novel animal to their children (N=60) by studying in secrecy either disgusting or neutral attributes that were allegedly characteristic of this animal. First, mothers were instructed to do this in a nonverbal way; then they were also allowed to use verbal utterances. Results indicated that nonverbal communication of disgust by the mothers failed to produce any effects on offspring's subjective evaluations of the animal. However, verbal information transmission did have a differential impact on children's feelings of disgust and fear. That is, children to whom mothers had verbally communicated about a set of disgusting specimens not only displayed higher levels of disgust (Cohen's d=1.02) but also exhibited higher levels of fear (Cohen's d=.62) towards the novel animal as compared to children to whom mothers had verbally communicated about neutral specimens. The effect on fear was mainly due to the fact that children after the verbal neutral information exhibited a clear decline in fear, whereas children to whom mothers had provided verbal disgust information maintained a similar level of fear towards the animal. The implications of these results for the familial transmission of disgust and fear will be discussed.

"Watch Out for the Gerbils, My Child!" The Role of Maternal Information on Children's Fear in an Experimental Setting Using Real Animals (Article)

2013-06-01T00:00:00Z

Using an experimental approach, we examined the effects of verbal information as provided by the mothers on children's fear of real novel animals. Mothers of children aged 8 to 12. years (N=47) were shown a cage containing a pair of exotic rodents (i.e., Mongolian gerbils) and then received either positive or negative information about these animals. Mothers were told that their child would have to approach the animals and had the opportunity to prepare their children for this confrontation. Results showed that mothers spontaneously passed over the information they had received to their children. Most importantly, this information to some extent determined children's fear reactions towards the animals. That is, whereas no clear effects of information were found on subjective fear ratings, the data did indicate that children of mothers in the negative information condition were more reluctant to approach the animals as compared to children of mothers who had received positive information. The findings provide further support for the idea that verbal information as provided by parents may induce fear in their offspring.

Don't be afraid of the General Factor of Personality (GFP): Its relationship with behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms in children (Article)

2013-02-01T00:00:00Z

Two studies examined the relationship between the General Factor of Personality (GFP) and behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms in primary school children. The GFP is assumed to reflect effectiveness in interaction with others. In Study 1, using self-reports and parent ratings of 226 non-clinical children, we found GFP scores to be negatively related to behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms. In Study 2 we compared non-clinical children (N = 81) with children with anxiety disorders (N = 45). In both groups we obtained child and parent ratings. The clinically referred children scored significantly lower on the GFP than the non-clinical children. Moreover, as in Study 1, higher GFP scores were associated with lower levels of behavioral inhibition and anxiety symptoms. The two studies support the view that the GFP is a relevant construct in anxiety proneness and anxiety problems.

Assessment of Disgust Sensitivity in Children With an Age-Downward Version of the Disgust Emotion Scale (Article)

2012-12-01T00:00:00Z

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the Disgust Emotion Scale for Children (DES-C). Principal components analysis of the DES-C data revealed five factors reflecting disgust toward (a) rotting foods, (b) injection and blood, (c) odors, (d) mutilation and death, and (e) animals, which were largely in keeping with the intended subscales. The DES-C showed good reliability, excellent convergent validity (as established by correlations with an alternative self-report index of disgust), fairly good predictive validity (as assessed by correlations with measures of fear/anxiety and a behavioral index of disgust), and acceptable parent-child agreement (in particular with the mothers). Importantly, the DES-C proved to perform better on some psychometric indicators than an age-downward version of the Disgust Scale. These findings indicate that the DES-C should be regarded as the preferred scale for measuring disgust sensitivity and its role in the etiology and maintenance of anxiety problems in children.

The assessment of an inhibited, anxiety-prone temperament in a Dutch multi-ethnic population of preschool children. (Article)

2012-11-01T00:00:00Z

The Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire-Short Form (BIQ-SF) is a 14-item parent-rating scale for assessing an inhibited, anxiety-prone temperament in preschool children. This study examined the psychometric properties of the BIQ-SF scores in a multi-ethnic community population of Dutch boys and girls aged 2.5-6 years (total N = 2,343, from which various subsamples were derived). Results revealed that the factor structure of the BIQ-SF was as hypothesized: a model with six correlated factors representing children's inhibited behaviors in various social and non-social contexts provided a good fit for the data. The internal consistency of the BIQ-SF was generally satisfactory and scores on the scale were found to be fairly stable over a time period of up to 2 years. Parent-teacher agreement was acceptable, and relations between the BIQ-SF and observations of an inhibited temperament were moderate. Finally, BIQ-SF scores were positively associated with measures of anxiety and internalizing symptoms, whereas no significant links were found with externalizing symptoms. Altogether, these results provide support for the reliability and validity of the BIQ-SF as an economical method for assessing behavioral inhibition and anxiety proneness in young children.

Psychopathology symptoms in a sample of female cosmetic surgery patients (Article)

2012-03-01T00:00:00Z

Objective: During the past decades, cosmetic surgery has become increasingly popular. People with certain psychopathology disorders, for example, body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), are dissatisfied with their physical appearance, and a significant number try to receive cosmetic medical treatment for their complaints. It seems relatively easy for them to receive this type of surgery, despite the fact that it has no or even adverse effects on the symptoms. The present study aimed to investigate the psychological condition and especially the presence of psychopathological symptoms such as BDD in cosmetic surgery patients. Methods: Questionnaires about body image dissatisfaction, symptoms of BDD and psychopathology in general and satisfaction about surgery were sent to patients who had been treated in a large cosmetic surgery clinic. Results: Of the patients who replied, 86% were pleased with the outcome of the cosmetic procedure. Further, 21-59% of these former patients scored higher on questionnaires of body image dissatisfaction and psychopathological symptoms than a norm group from the general population. When differentiating the group on the basis of BDD symptomatology, it appeared that the high BDD symptomatic group displayed significantly worse outcome on all measurements. That is, high BDD symptomatic patients were more dissatisfied about the result of surgery, exhibited higher levels of psychopathology, and had lower self-esteem than the low symptomatic BDD patients. Conclusion: These findings clearly suggest that the evaluation of the psychological condition and motivation of the candidate patient might be a valuable addition to the standard procedure in cosmetic medical treatment settings.

Psychometric properties of an instrument for measuring threat/control- override symptoms (Article)

2011-10-01T00:00:00Z

Threat/control-override symptoms refer to delusional persecutory thoughts and feelings of losing control over mind and body. The Threat/Control-Override Questionnaire (TCOQ) was developed to assess such symptoms, and the purpose of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of this measure in nonclinical students (n = 759) and acute and stabilized psychotic patients (n = 111 and 33, respectively). Factor analysis of TCOQ data in students and acute psychotic patients yielded a two-factor solution, with components referring to "threat" and "control-override" symptoms. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were satisfactory and concurrent and discriminant validity were shown by a meaningful pattern of correlations with other self-report and interview measures. Group comparisons showed that patients displayed significantly higher scores on the TCOQ than did the nonclinical students. Altogether, it can be concluded that the TCOQ is a reliable and valid index for assessing feelings of persecution and losing control. Copyright

Training children to approach or avoid novel animals: Effects on self-reported attitudes and fear beliefs and information-seeking behaviors (Article)

2011-10-01T00:00:00Z

We examined the effects of training to approach or avoid novel animals on fear-related responses in children. Ninety-nine primary school children (9-12 years old) were instructed to repeatedly move a manikin toward or away from pictures of novel animals. The training produced more positive self-reported attitudes for the animal that was repeatedly approached and more negative attitudes for the animal that was repeatedly avoided. After the training, children reported more fear of the avoided animal than of the approached animal. Interestingly, children showed a training-congruent confirmation bias effect on an information-seeking task. That is, they displayed a tendency to seek more positive information about the approached animal, whereas they were inclined to search for more negative information about the avoided animal. No significant training effects were observed on implicit attitudes. The finding that a simple approach-avoidance training influences children's fear-related responses and leads to biased information-seeking behaviors lends support to general theories of fear acquisition in children as well as to models that try to explain the intergenerational transmission of anxiety.

Reduction of verbally learned fear in children: A comparison between positive information, imagery, and a control condition (Article)

2011-06-01T00:00:00Z

This study explored the effects of positive information and imagery as ways of reducing a verbally installed fear in children. Seventy-two primary school children aged 9-13 years were first exposed to negative information to induce fear of a novel animal, and were then randomly assigned to three interventions: positive information, imagery, or a control condition. Outcome of various interventions was assessed by means of a standardized scale of fear beliefs and an index of confirmation bias (defined as the tendency to search for threat information in relation to the feared stimulus). Results indicated that both positive information and imagery were more effective in reducing fear than the control condition. Some evidence was also obtained showing that positive information was more effective than imagery, which suggests that this intervention represents the most optimal treatment approach when dealing with verbally acquired fears in children.

Experimental modification of interpretation bias regarding social and animal fear in children (Article)

2011-06-01T00:00:00Z

Using an experimental bias modification task, an interpretation bias towards or away from threat was induced about animal or social situations in a sample of 103 children split into a young (7-10 years) and old age group (11-15 years). Children rapidly learned to select outcomes of ambiguous situations which were congruent with their assigned modification condition. Following positive modification, children's threat interpretation biases significantly decreased, while threat biases increased (non-significantly) after negative modification. Bias modification effects also varied as a function of age with children appearing particularly vulnerable to acquiring biases about stimuli that were congruent with the normative fears for their age group. Weak age-related modification-congruent effects on younger but not older children's anxiety vulnerability in response to a behavioral task were also observed. However, no consistent effects of bias modification on avoidance behavior were found.

To Look or Not to Look: An Eye Movement Study of Hypervigilance During Change Detection in High and Low Spider Fearful Students (Article)

2011-06-01T00:00:00Z

Previous eye movement studies of attentional bias in spider fear reported inconsistent results with respect to early attentional capture, suggesting that overt attentional capture only reliably occurs under specific circumstances. In addition, none of these studies explored covert attention. The present study examined attentional bias in spider phobia using a change detection paradigm that was expected to provide good conditions for documenting attentional capture. In contrast to our expectations, eye movement data showed that all participants' first fixations were fastest on general negative targets, whereas participants' first fixations on spider targets were slower in the spider fearful than in the nonfearful group. In addition, spider fearful participants made more nontarget fixations before fixating on a spider target than did nonfearful participants. Thus, we found that participants' overt attention was more quickly focused on general negative targets, whereas covert attentional processes enabled initial avoidance of fear-relevant (i.e. spider) stimuli. The present findings have important implications for research on attention and fear as they indicate that fearful individuals are not characterized by static attentional orienting toward threat but, under certain conditions, may avert attention from threat automatically.

Threat/control-override symptoms and emotional reactions to positive symptoms as correlates of aggressive behavior in psychotic patients (Article)

2011-05-01T00:00:00Z

This cross-sectional multicenter study was carried out to examine whether the experience of threat/control-override symptoms and emotional reactions to positive symptoms (e.g., anger, anxiety) are related to aggressive behavior. Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, delusional disorder, psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, or a schizoaffective disorder (N = 124) were interviewed and filled out self-report questionnaires. Results indicated that, in particular, threat/control-override symptoms were significantly related to aggressive behavior in psychotic patients. Further analysis revealed that the threat symptoms especially, but not the control-override symptoms, carried this effect. Anger disposition also accounted for a significant and unique proportion of the variance in the aggressive behavior of psychotic patients, whereas state anger and anxiety in reaction to positive symptoms did not. These results seem to suggest that feeling threatened by positive psychotic symptoms and anger disposition play a role in the origins of aggressive behavior of psychotic patients.

Individual differences in sensitivity to reward: Association with electrophysiological responses to monetary gains and losses (Article)

2011-04-29T00:00:00Z

Reward, such as monetary gain, and punishment, such as monetary loss, are capable of modifying the electrophysiological signals of the brain. Further, it is known that there are individual differences in the sensitivity for reward and punishment. This study set out to test the relationship between self-reported sensitivity to reward and sensitivity to punishment and electrophysiological brain responses to monetary gains and losses. Subjects filled out the modified Behavioral Inhibition System/Behavioral Activation System scales for measuring responsiveness to reward (RR) and responsiveness to punishment (RP), and performed a gambling task. The results showed that there was a significant positive correlation between scores on the RR scale and P3 amplitudes on the Fz electrode location to win, loss, and break even outcomes. There was no significant correlation, however, between scores on the RP scale and the P3 amplitudes to all outcomes. For the feedback-related negativity, no significant correlations with both the RR and RP scales were present. Thus individuals scoring high on RR seem to be generally more sensitive to outcomes (either positive or negative) during a task where they might receive a reward.

The Role of Repetitive Negative Thoughts in the Vulnerability for Emotional Problems in Non-Clinical Children (Article)

2011-04-01T00:00:00Z

The current study examined the role of repetitive negative thoughts in the vulnerability for emotional problems in non-clinical children aged 8-13 years (N=158). Children completed self-report questionnaires for assessing (1) neuroticism and behavioral inhibition as indicators of general vulnerability (2) worry and rumination which are two important manifestations of repetitive negative thoughts, and (3) emotional problems (i. e., anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties). Results demonstrated that there were positive correlations between measures of general vulnerability, repetitive negative thoughts, and emotional problems. Further, support was found for a model in which worry and rumination acted as partial mediators in the relation between neuroticism and symptoms of anxiety and depression. In the case of sleep difficulties, no evidence was obtained for such a mediation model. In fact, data suggested that sleeping difficulties are better conceived as an epiphenomenon of high symptom levels of anxiety and depression or as a risk factor for the development of other types of psychopathology. Finally, besides neuroticism, the temperamental trait of behavioral inhibition appeared to play a unique direct role in the model predicting anxiety symptoms but not in the models predicting depressive symptoms or sleep difficulties. To conclude, the current findings seem to indicate that worry and rumination contribute to children's vulnerability for anxiety and depression.

Further Insights in the Etiology of Fear, Anxiety and Their Disorders in Children and Adolescents: The Partial Fulfillment of a Prophecy (Article)

2011-04-01T00:00:00Z

Behavioral Inhibition as a Risk Factor for the Development of Childhood Anxiety Disorders: A Longitudinal Study (Article)

2011-04-01T00:00:00Z

This longitudinal study examined the additive and interactive effects of behavioral inhibition and a wide range of other vulnerability factors in the development of anxiety problems in youths. A sample of 261 children, aged 5 to 8 years, 124 behaviorally inhibited and 137 control children, were followed during a 3-year period. Assessments took place on three occasions to measure children's level of behavioral inhibition, anxiety disorder symptoms, other psychopathological symptoms, and a number of other vulnerability factors such as insecure attachment, negative parenting styles, adverse life events, and parental anxiety. Results obtained with Structural Equation Modeling indicated that behavioral inhibition primarily acted as a specific risk factor for the development of social anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, the longitudinal model showed additive as well as interactive effects for various vulnerability factors on the development of anxiety symptoms. That is, main effects of anxious rearing and parental trait anxiety were found, whereas behavioral inhibition and attachment had an interactive effect on anxiety symptomatology. Moreover, behavioral inhibition itself was also influenced by some of the vulnerability factors. These results provide support for dynamic, multifactorial models for the etiology of child anxiety problems.

Disrupting the rhythm of depression: Design and protocol of a randomized controlled trial on preventing relapse using brief cognitive therapy with or without antidepressants (Article)

2011-01-12T00:00:00Z

Background: Maintenance treatment with antidepressants is the leading strategy to prevent relapse and recurrence in patients with recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD) who have responded to acute treatment with antidepressants (AD). However, in clinical practice most patients (up to 70-80%) are not willing to take this medication after remission or take too low dosages. Moreover, as patients need to take medication for several years, it may not be the most cost-effective strategy. The best established effective and available alternative is brief cognitive therapy (CT). However, it is unclear whether brief CT while tapering antidepressants (AD) is an effective alternative for long term use of AD in recurrent depression. In addition, it is unclear whether the combination of AD to brief CT is beneficial.Methods/design: Therefore, we will compare the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of brief CT while tapering AD to maintenance AD and the combination of CT with maintenance AD. In addition, we examine whether the prophylactic effect of CT was due to CT tackling illness related risk factors for recurrence such as residual symptoms or to its efficacy to modify presumed vulnerability factors of recurrence (e.g. rigid explicit and/or implicit dysfunctional attitudes). This is a multicenter RCT comparing the above treatment scenarios. Remitted patients on AD with at least two previous depressive episodes in the past five years (n = 276) will be recruited. The primary outcome is time related proportion of depression relapse/recurrence during minimal 15 months using DSM-IV-R criteria as assessed by the Structural Clinical Interview for Depression. Secondary outcome: economic evaluation (using a societal perspective) and number, duration and severity of relapses/recurrences.Discussion: This will be the first trial to investigate whether CT is effective in preventing relapse to depression in recurrent depression while tapering antidepressant treatment compared to antidepressant treatment alone and the combination of both. In addition, we explore explicit and implicit mediators of CT.Trial registration: Netherlands Trial Register (NTR): NTR1907.

Psychometric properties of the brief Questionnaire on Smoking Urges (QSU-Brief) in a Dutch smoker population (Article)

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Abstract We investigated the reliability, validity, and factor structure of the 10-item Questionnaire on Smoking Urges (QSU-Brief) in a Dutch smokers sample (N = 208). The questionnaire displayed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alphas > 0.83), and scores were strongly correlated with three other rating scales for measuring craving, urge, and desire for cigarettes, and moderately linked to questionnaires that tap related constructs, such as cigarette dependence. As in previous research, a two factor structure was revealed. The first factor was best described by ‘the relief from nicotine withdrawal or negative affect with an urgent and overwhelming desire to smoke’, and appeared to be associated with negative affect, but not with positive affect. The second factor reflected ‘the desire and intention to smoke’, and was neither associated with positive nor negative affect. The factor structure, however, slightly deviates from the original, English version of the QSU-Brief, which might be explained by language differences. Overall, the Dutch translation of the QSU-Brief offers a reliable, valid, and multidimensional assessment of cigarette craving and appears suitable for use in a general population of young, Dutch adults.

Reduction of verbally learned fear in children: A comparison between positive information, imagery, and a control condition (Article)

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Facing the Beast Apart Together: Fear in Boys and Girls after Processing Information about Novel Animals Individually or in a Duo (Article)

2010-10-12T00:00:00Z

In this experimental study, we made an attempt to examine gender-related peer influences on childhood fear. Nine- to 12-year-old boys and girls were provided with ambiguous and positive information about novel animals and then asked to provide a subjective fear rating of the animals under two conditions: fear of one animal was assessed individually by the child on its own, whereas fear of the other animal was measured after a brief discussion on fear-related issues with a same-gender peer. Results indicated that children who completed the FBQ after a discussion with a same-gender peer displayed lower fear beliefs scores than children who completed the questionnaire fully on their own. This fear-suppression effect was mainly evident in boys after hearing ambiguous information about the novel animals. The implications of these findings are briefly discussed.

The Role of Verbal Threat Information in the Development of Childhood Fear. "Beware the Jabberwock!" (Article)

2010-06-01T00:00:00Z

Rachman's (Behaviour Research and Therapy 15:372-387, 1977; Clinical Psychology Review 11:155-173, 1991) three pathways theory proposed that childhood fears not only arise as a consequence of direct learning experiences, but can also be elicited by means of threat information transmission. This review looks at the scientific evidence for this idea, which has accumulated during the past three decades. We review research on the influences of media exposure on children's fears, retrospective parent and child reports on the role of threat information in fear acquisition, and experimental studies that explored the causal effects of threat information on childhood fears. We also discuss possible mechanisms by which threat information exerts its influence and the processes relevant to understand the role of this type of learning experience in the origins of fear. Finally, implications for the prevention and intervention of childhood fears are briefly explored, and potential leads for future research will be highlighted.

Differences in attention to food and food intake between overweight/obese and normal-weight females under conditions of hunger and satiety (Article)

2010-04-01T00:00:00Z

Starting from an addiction model of obesity, the present study examined differences in attention for food-related stimuli and food intake between overweight/obese and normal-weight women under conditions of hunger and satiety. Twenty-six overweight/obese (BMI: 30.00 ± 4.62) and 40 normal-weight (BMI: 20.63 ± 1.14) females were randomly assigned to a condition of hunger or satiety. Three indexes of attention were employed, all including pictures of food items: an eye-tracking paradigm (gaze direction and duration), a visual probe task (reaction times), and a recording of electrophysiological brain activity (amplitude of the P300 event-related potential). In addition, the acute food intake of participants was assessed using a bogus taste task. In general, an attentional bias towards food pictures was found in all participants. No differences between groups or conditions were observed in the eye-tracking data. The visual probe task revealed an enhanced automatic orientation towards food cues in hungry versus satiated, and in overweight/obese versus normal-weight individuals, but no differences between groups or conditions in maintained attention. The P300 amplitude showed that only in normal-weight participants the intentional allocation of attention to food pictures was enhanced in hunger versus satiety. In hungry overweight/obese participants, the P300 bias for food pictures was not clearly present, although an increased food intake was observed especially in this group. In conclusion, various attention-related tasks yielded various results, suggesting that they measure different underlying processes. Strikingly, overweight/obese individuals appear to automatically direct their attention to food-related stimuli, to a greater extent than normal-weight individuals, particularly when food-deprived. Speculatively, hungry overweight/obese individuals also appear to use cognitive strategies to reduce a maintained attentional bias for food stimuli, perhaps in an attempt to prevent disinhibited food intake. However, in order to draw firm conclusions, replication studies are needed.

"You might belong in Gryffindor": children's courage and its relationships to anxiety symptoms, big five personality traits, and sex roles. (Article)

2010-04-01T00:00:00Z

This study describes a first exploration of the construct of courage in youths. Children aged 8-13 years were invited to report on the most courageous action that they had ever performed during their life. In addition, the Courage Measure for Children (CM-C) was construed as an index of children's level of personal courage, and this scale was administered in two samples of school children (Ns being 168 and 159) along with a number of other questionnaires. Results indicated that children were familiar with the concept of courage as more than 70% reported to have carried out a courageous action during their life. In addition, self-reported courage as indexed by the CM-C was positively correlated with scores on a vignette measure of courage, parent ratings of children's courage, extraversion, openness/intellect, and a masculine sex role, whereas a negative correlation was observed with anxiety symptoms. The implications of these findings and potential directions for future research are briefly discussed.

A psychometric evaluation of the behavioral inhibition questionnaire in a non-clinical sample of Dutch children and adolescents. (Article)

2010-04-01T00:00:00Z

The Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ) is a parent-rating scale for measuring temperamental characteristics referring to shyness, fearfulness, and withdrawal in young, preschool children. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of the BIQ in a Dutch community sample of children with a broad age range. For this purpose,the reliability and validity of the BIQ was evaluated in three age groups: 4-7-year-olds,8-11-year-olds, and 12-15-year-olds. The results indicated that the internal consistency of most BIQ scales was satisfactory in all three age groups. Principal component analysis of the BIQ yielded a six-factor model that was largely in keeping with the hypothesized structure consisting of the social and non-social components of behavioral inhibition.Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that this model provided a reasonable fit for the data. Further, support for the validity of the measure was obtained in all age groups. That is, BIQ scores were positively correlated with a wide range of anxiety symptoms, although the most substantial links were found for symptoms of social anxiety. Finally, a self-report version of the BIQ, which was administered to children aged 9 years and above, was found to possess good internal consistency and adequate parent-child agreement. Altogether, the results of this study indicate that suggests that the BIQ might be a reliable and valid measure for assessing behavioral inhibition not only in preschoolers but also in older children and adolescents.

Fear- and disgust-related covariation bias and eating disorders symptoms in healthy young women (Article)

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Covariation bias refers to the phenomenon of overestimating the contingency between certain stimuli and negative outcomes, which is considered as a heuristic playing a role in the maintenance of certain types of psychopathology. In the present study, an attempt was made to investigate covariation bias within the context of eating pathology. In a sample of 61 female undergraduates, . a priori and . a posteriori contingencies were measured between pictures of obese and slim bodies, on the one hand, and fear- or disgust-relevant outcomes, on the other hand. Results indicated that participants in general displayed an . a priori and an . a posteriori covariation bias reflecting an overestimation of the link between obese bodies and disgust-relevant outcomes. However, this bias was not related to eating disorder symptomatology. Meanwhile, eating pathology was positively associated with . a priori covariation biases referring to the associations between obese bodies and fear-relevant outcomes, and between slim bodies and disgust-relevant outcomes. All in all, these findings suggest that covariation bias plays a role in eating pathology.

They are afraid of the animal, so therefore I am too: Influence of peer modeling on fear beliefs and approach-avoidance behaviors towards animals in typically developing children (Article)

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

This study investigated the effect of filmed peer modeling on fear beliefs and approach-avoidance behaviors towards animals in 8- to 10-year-old typically developing children. Ninety-seven children randomly received either a positive or negative modeling film in which they saw peers interact with a novel animal. Before and after this film, children's fear beliefs and avoidance tendencies towards the modeled and non-modeled control animal were measured. A behavioral approach task was also administered post-modeling. Following positive peer modeling, children's fear beliefs and avoidance tendencies towards the modeled but also towards the non-modeled animal decreased significantly. After negative modeling, children's fear beliefs towards the modeled animal increased significantly, but did not change for the non-modeled animal. Negative modeling did not change avoidance tendencies for the modeled animal, while it decreased children's avoidance of the non-modeled animal. No significant effects were observed on the behavioral approach task. These results support Rachman's indirect pathway of modeling/vicarious learning as a plausible mechanism by which children can acquire fears of novel stimuli and stresses the important fear-reducing effects of positive peer modeling. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Enhanced processing of food-related pictures in female external eaters (Article)

2009-12-01T00:00:00Z

The main purpose of the present study was to investigate differences in the processing of food-related pictures between women with high and low scores on a scale of external eating. Electro-encephalographic brain activity was recorded, while participants were actively exposed to pictures of food items and control pictures. The amplitude of the P300 component of the even-related potentials was used as an index of motivation-related information processing. An enlarged P300 wave to food-related pictures was found in high external eaters as compared to low external eaters at several parieto-occipital electrode positions. No group differences in P300 amplitudes were found to neutral control pictures or pleasant, motivationally salient control pictures. It can be concluded that external eaters display an enhanced attentional processing of food-related information. The findings are discussed within an incentive sensitization model of overeating behavior.

The relation between cognitive development and anxiety phenomena in children. (Article)

2009-12-01T00:00:00Z

We examined the relation between cognitive development and fear, anxiety, and behavioral inhibition in a non-clinical sample of 226 Dutch children aged 4–9 years. To assess cognitive development, children were tested with Piagetian conservation tasks and a Theory-of-Mind (TOM) test. Fears were measured by means of a self-report scale completed by the children, while anxiety symptoms and behavioral inhibition were indexed by rating scales that were filled out by parents. Significant age trends were observed for some anxiety phenomena. For example, younger children displayed higher fear scores, whereas older children exhibited higher levels of generalized anxiety. Most importantly, results of regression analyses (in which we controlled for age) indicated that cognitive development, and in particular TOM ability, made a unique and significant contribution to various domains of behavioral inhibition. In all cases, higher levels of TOM were associated with lower levels of behavioral inhibition. In general, percentages of explained variance were rather small (i.e., <6%), indicating that the role of cognitive development in various anxiety phenomena is limited.

One factor or two parallel processes? Comorbidity and development of adolescents' anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms. (Article)

2009-10-01T00:00:00Z

Background: This study investigates whether anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms of adolescents from the general community are best described by a model that assumes they are indicative of one general factor or by a model that assumes they are two distinct disorders with parallel growth processes. Additional analyses were conducted to explore the comorbidity of adolescent anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms and the effects that adolescent anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms have on each other's symptom severity growth. Methods: Two cohorts of early (N = 923; Age range 10–15 years; Mean age = 12.4, SD = .59; Girls = 49%) and middle adolescent (N = 390; Age range 16–20 years; Mean age = 16.7, SD = .80; Girls = 57%) boys and girls from the general community were prospectively studied annually for five years. These two adolescent cohorts were divided into five groups: one group at-risk for developing a specific anxiety disorder and four additional groups of healthy adolescents that differed in age and sex. Self-reported anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms were analyzed with latent growth modeling. Results: Comparison of the fit statistics of the two models clearly demonstrates the superiority of the distinct disorders with parallel growth processes model above the one factor model. It was also demonstrated that the initial symptom severity of either anxiety or depression is predictive of the development of the other, though in different ways for the at-risk and healthy adolescent groups. Conclusions: The results of this study established that the development of anxiety and depressive disorder symptoms of adolescents from the general community occurs as two distinct disorders with parallel growth processes, each with their own unique growth characteristics.

Mental illness stigma and disclosure: Consequences of coming out of the closet (Article)

2009-08-01T00:00:00Z

The present study investigated disclosure patterns among mental health consumers (N = 500) and examined the relationships among disclosure, perceived stigmatization, perceived social support, and self-esteem. Results suggest that selective disclosure optimizes social support and limits stigmatization. Perceived stigmatization has a detrimental impact on self-esteem, especially for those who are relatively open about their mental disorder.

Fear and courage in children: Two sides of the same coin? (Article)

2009-08-01T00:00:00Z

This study further investigated the construct of courage in children. Children aged 8–13 years (n = 51) were interviewed about the most courageous action that they had ever performed during their life, and to retrospectively rate their level of fear and courage experienced during that event. On a separate occasion, children also completed the Courage Measure for Children (CM-C) as an index of children’s general level of personal courage, as well as scales for assessing anxiety symptoms and sensation seeking. Results indicated that almost all children (i.e., 94%) indicated that they had carried out a courageous action at some point during their life, although the levels of fear and courage associated with these acts varied considerably. Further, there was no relation between fear and courage reported for the courageous action, but these variables were significantly correlated with respectively anxiety symptoms and personal courage as indexed by the CM-C. Finally, a significant positive correlation was observed between sensation seeking and personal courage, indicating that children who are more thrill and adventure seeking are generally also more courageous. It is concluded that fear and courage in children are largely unrelated and not just two sides of the same coin. The implications of these results for the etiology and treatment of childhood anxiety problems are discussed.

The effects of verbal disgust- and threat-related information about novel animals on disgust and fear beliefs and avoidance in children. (Article)

2009-07-01T00:00:00Z

Disgust is a basic emotion that is thought to play a role in the etiology of certain types of specific phobias, like animal phobias. Two experiments were conducted in which 9- to 14-year-old children were exposed to disgust-related, cleanliness-related, and threat-related information about unknown animals. It was investigated to what extent these types of information influenced children's fear beliefs, feelings of disgust, and avoidance behavior in relation to the animals. Most important, results suggested a bidirectional relationship between disgust and fear. That is, disgust-related information was found to promote fear beliefs, and conversely threat-related information enhanced feelings of disgust. Repercussions of these findings for the role of disgust in the development and maintenance of anxiety pathology are discussed.

Psychometric properties of the aggression questionnaire in Dutch violent forensic psychiatric patients and secondary vocational students (Article)

2009-06-01T00:00:00Z

The psychometric properties of a Dutch version of Buss and Perry's Aggression Questionnaire (AQ) were examined in a sample of violent forensic psychiatric inpatients and outpatients and a sample of secondary vocational students. The internal consistency, interitem correlations, and item-scale correlations of the subscales Physical Aggression, Anger, and Hostility were good but turned out to be unsatisfactory for the subscale Verbal Aggression. The four-factor structure of the AQ could not be confirmed, but the four-factor structure of a 12-item version (short form) of the AQ, the AQ-SF, produced an acceptable fit. The test-retest reliability of the AQ and AQ-SF total scores was good, although the test-retest reliability of the AQ-SF subscale Physical Aggression was not satisfactory. The validity of both the AQ and AQ-SF could be demonstrated by meaningful correlations with alternative measures of aggression and personality, but inpatients were not found to display higher scores on the AQ or AQ-SF than the students. © 2009 SAGE Publications.

Direct and indirect relations of risk factors with eating behavior problems in late adolescent females. (Article)

2009-06-01T00:00:00Z

This study explored correlations between risk factors and eating behavior problems in late adolescent, non-clinical females (N = 301). Participants completed questionnaires for assessing eating problems, the closely associated factors of Body Mass Index (BMI) and body dissatisfaction, and a number of other risk variables that are thought to be involved in psychopathology in general, namely insecure attachment, low self-esteem, and negative affect (i.e., social anxiety and depression). Results indicated that high levels of eating problems were associated with high levels of insecure attachment, social anxiety, and depression, and with low levels of self-esteem. Further, regression analyses suggested that depression and self-esteem had a unique, direct relationship with eating problems, whereas insecure attachment and social anxiety only seemed to have indirect relations. The links between these general risk variables and eating behavior problems were independent from the specific eating problem correlates of BMI and body dissatisfaction.

Do members of shooting associations display higher levels of aggression? (Article)

2009-05-01T00:00:00Z

According to public opinion, members of shooting organizations (i.e. shooters) are thought to be more aggressive than other groups in society. Also, guns are generally seen as stimuli that elicit aggressive behaviour. The present study examined whether shooters are really more aggressive than non-shooters. Shooters and non-shooters were compared on measures of aggressive behaviour, aggressive fantasies, impulsivity, and main personality dimensions (i.e. neuroticism, psychoticism, and extraversion). The results showed that members of shooting associations were less aggressive and impulsive than non-members, even when controlling for their tendency to present themselves in a more favourable manner. These findings suggest that there is no reason to consider hobby shooters a priori as more aggressive. A possible explanation could be that for shooters, their positively coloured experiences with guns have changed the aggression eliciting effect that normally occurs when interacting with guns (i.e. the weapons effect). These findings are discussed in light of the cognitive script theory of aggression by Huesmann.

The diagnostic utility of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-71 (SCARED-71) (Article)

2009-05-01T00:00:00Z

Objective: This study investigated the diagnostic utility of the 71-item Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-71), as a screening tool for identifying anxiety disorders in youth aged 8–18 years. Method: The SCARED-71 and the Anxiety Disorder Interview Schedule (ADIS) were administered to clinically referred anxious children (n = 138) and control children (n = 38) as well as their parents. Results: Results showed that the SCARED-71 differentiated clinically anxious from control children on the total score and on all subscales. Girls generally reported higher levels of anxiety symptoms and there were also significant age effects for various anxiety subscales. Further, reliable cut-off scores were established for the child and parent version of the SCARED-71. The parent version displayed better sensitivity and specificity, and therefore seems to be a more optimal screen for anxiety problems in children and adolescents. Finally, evidence for the predictive validity across anxiety disorders was found. Conclusion: The SCARED-71 can be used as a screening tool to detect clinically significant anxiety problems in children and adolescents and discriminates reasonably well among specific anxiety disorders.

Ground control to Major Tom: Experimental manipulation of anxiety-related interpretation bias by means of the "space odyssey" paradigm and effects on avoidance tendencies in children (Article)

2009-04-01T00:00:00Z

The "space odyssey" paradigm refers to an experimental method that can be used to manipulate interpretation bias in youths. In this study, the "space odyssey" paradigm was employed to induce either a negative or a positive interpretation bias in a sample of 120 non-clinical children aged 9-13 years. The results indicated that children's interpretation bias and avoidance tendencies scores were successfully manipulated during the experiment. That is, children in the negative training group showed an increase in negative interpretation bias and avoidance tendencies, whereas children in the positive training group exhibited a decrease in interpretation bias and avoidance tendencies, although it should be admitted that these effects in general were rather weak. Further, no support was found for the idea that high-anxious children were more affected by the experimental manipulation than low-anxious children.

Predictors of change following cognitive-behavioral treatment of children with anxiety problems: A preliminary investigation on negative automatic thoughts and anxiety control (Article)

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate negative automatic thoughts and anxiety control as predictors of change produced by cognitive-behavioral treatment of youths with anxiety disorders. Forty-five high-anxious children aged between 9 and 12 years who were selected from the primary school population, received a standardized CBT intervention that was provided in a group format. Before and after the intervention, children completed scales of negative automatic thoughts and perceived control over anxiety-related events as well as a questionnaire for measuring DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms, which was the outcome measure. Results indicated that CBT was effective in reducing children's anxiety symptoms. Most importantly, the reduction of anxiety disorders symptoms was significantly associated with a decrease in negative automatic thoughts and an increase of anxiety control, which provides support for the notion that these variables are candidate mediators of CBT in anxious youths.

Relations among behavioral inhibition, Big Five personality factors, and anxiety disorder symptoms in non-clinical children (Article)

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

This study examined relationships between behavioral inhibition, Big Five personality factors, and anxiety disorder symptoms in non-clinical children aged 9-12 years (N = 226), using children's self-report and parent-report data. Results indicated that behavioral inhibition is best characterized by low extraversion with a tinge of neuroticism. Further, behavioral inhibition was clearly associated with anxiety symptoms, even when controlling for the influence of Big Five personality factors (including neuroticism). These results indicate that although behavioral inhibition partly overlaps with basic personality factors, this temperament characteristic remains an important predictive variable of anxiety pathology in youths.

Reactive and Regulative Temperament in Youths: Psychometric Evaluation of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (Article)

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

The present study examined the psychometric properties of the self-report version of the Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire-Revised (EATQ-R), which is a scale for measuring reactive and regulative temperament traits, in a large sample of children and adolescents (N = 1,055). The results indicated that the internal consistency was acceptable for most EATQ-R temperament scales. Further, principal components analysis of the instrument yielded a structure with nine components, which generally reflected the temperament scales of the EATQ-R. The test–retest stability of the scale was moderate to good, whereas the parent–child agreement was rather low. Finally, the scale correlated in a theoretically meaningful way with children’s self-reports of personality and psychopathology. It can be concluded that the EATQ-R is a useful scale for measuring aspects of reactive and regulative temperament in children and adolescents, although there is certainly room for improving the instrument.

Effects of verbal information on fear-related reasoning biases in children (Article)

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

The present study made an attempt to induce fear-related reasoning biases by providing children with negative information about a novel stimulus. For this purpose, non-clinical children aged 9-12 years (N = 318) were shown a picture of an unknown animal for which they received either negative, ambiguous, positive, or no information. Then children completed a series of tests for measuring various types of reasoning biases (i.e., confirmation bias and covariation bias) in relation to this animal. Results indicated that children in the negative and, to a lesser extent, the ambiguous information groups displayed higher scores on tests of fear-related reasoning biases than children in the positive and no information groups. Altogether, these results support the idea that learning via negatively tinted information plays a role in the development of fear-related cognitive distortions in youths.

The ruminative response style in adolescents: An examination of its specific link to symptoms of depression (Article)

2009-02-01T00:00:00Z

This study further examined the relation between a ruminative response style and symptoms of depression in nonclinical adolescents aged 12-18 years (N = 231). Participants completed questionnaires that measure rumination, neuroticism, and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Results indicated that rumination was significantly linked to symptoms of depression, and that this link remained significant when controlling for neuroticism. However, when concurrent anxiety symptoms were also taken into account, rumination was no longer significantly related to symptoms of depression. Interestingly, rumination appeared to be a significant correlate of anxiety symptoms, even after controlling for neuroticism and concurrent symptoms of depression. Support was found for a mediation model in which the link between neuroticism and depression and anxiety symptoms was partially mediated by rumination.

Ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen: Een vijfjarig prospectief onderzoek onder adolescenten in de algemene populatie (Article)

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Achtergrond: Het relatief recente gebruik van moderne statistische analysemethoden zoals een latent groeimodel (lgm) maakt het mogelijk om verschillen in individuele ontwikkelingstrajecten over tijd te bestuderen. doel Prospectief en longitudinaal onderzoeken van de ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen over een periode van vijf jaar in een grote steekproef (n = 1318) uit de algemene adolescentenpopulatie. Methode: Er werd onderscheid gemaakt tussen een cohort jongeren in de vroege adolescentie (gemiddeld 12 jaar oud tijdens de eerste meting) en in de midden adolescentie (gemiddeld 16 jaar oud tijdens de eerste meting). Leeftijds- en sekseverschillen in de ontwikkelingstrajecten van angstsymptomen werden onderzocht met lgm. resultaten Uit de analyses bleek dat de symptomen van de paniekstoornis, schoolangst en separatieangst voor alle adolescenten afnamen en dat de symptomen van een sociale fobie relatief stabiel waren. Meisjes vertoonden een toename van symptomen van de gegeneraliseerde angststoornis, terwijl deze symptomen juist afnamen bij jongens. Conclusie: Door gebruik te maken van lgm-analyses waarbij individuele ontwikkelingstrajecten zijn onderzocht, is er een bijdrage geleverd aan de kennis over leeftijds- en sekseverschillen in de ontwikkeling van angstsymptomen bij adolescenten. ------------------------------ Background The relatively recent adoption of modern statistical analysis methods, such as latent growth modelling (lgm), makes it possible to study differences in the individual trajectories of development over time. aim To examine prospectively the developmental trajectories of anxiety disorder symptoms in a large sample of adolescents (N = 1,318) from the general population over a period of five years. method The adolescents were divided into two cohorts: early adolescents (average age 12 at the first measurement) and middle adolescents (average age 16 at the first measurement). Age and gender differences in the developmental trajectories of adolescent anxiety disorder symptoms over time were examined by means of lgm. results Over the course of five years there was a slight decrease in panic disorder, school anxiety and separation anxiety disorder symptoms for all adolescents, with the exception of social phobia symptoms, which remained fairly stable over time. Adolescent girls showed a slight increase in generalised anxiety disorder symptoms over time, whereas these symptoms decreased among adolescent boys. conclusion The use of individual trajectory-based analyses, enabled us to study advance our understanding of age and gender differences in the development of adolescent anxiety symptoms.

Normative data for the Dutch version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire. (Article)

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Worry is a common symptom in various psychiatric problems and the key symptom of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). The Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) is the most widely used self-report scale for measuring worry. The present study provides normative data for the Dutch version of the PSWQ for a large community sample and a clinically referred sample of patients with GAD. Norms are not only provided for the original 16-item version, but also for an abbreviated 11-item version, which only consists of the positively worded items and has been shown to be a promising alternative to the full-length version. The percentile scores obtained for the community sample and the clinical GAD sample did not show much overlap, and this appeared true for the full-length as well as the abbreviated version of the PSWQ. These normative data seem suitable for differentiating between normal and abnormal manifestations of worrying and for evaluating the efficacy of treatments for GAD. (Netherlands Journal of Psychology, 65, 69-75.)

Person-Related Protective and Vulnerability Factors of Psychopathology Symptoms in Non-Clinical Adolescents (Article)

2009-01-01T00:00:00Z

Psychopathology in youths is thought to originate from a dynamic interplay of a variety of protective and vulnerability factors. In this study, a large multi-ethnic sample of non-clinical adolescents (N = 376) completed questionnaires for measuring a wide range of person-related protective and vulnerability factors as well as psychopathology symptoms, in order to explore (a) the relations among various protective and vulnerability factors, and (b) the unique contributions of these protective and vulnerability factors to different types of psychological problems. Results indicated that the overlap among protective and vulnerability factors was quite modest. Further, it was found that factors clustered in theoretically meaningful components reflecting protection, vulnerability, and more specific aspects of coping and social support. Finally, data indicated that each type of psychopathology symptoms was associated with a typical set of protective and vulnerability factors. Although these results should be interpreted with caution because of the cross-sectional nature of the study, they may nevertheless guide future research exploring multifactorial models of psychopathology in youths.

Food cue-elicited brain potentials in obese and healthy-weight individuals (Article)

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

The main objective of this study was to investigate, by means of event-related potentials (ERPs), whether obese individuals process food-related information differently as compared to normal-weight individuals. Because amplitudes of late positive ERP components (P3, LPP) reflect motivational tendencies, obese participants were expected to display enlarged P3 and LPP amplitudes towards food pictures. Obese and normal-weight adults were exposed to pictures of food and control items, while EEG was recorded. Subjective levels of food craving and hunger were also assessed. While there were no differences in ERP amplitudes between obese and normal-weight individuals, significantly larger P3 and LPP amplitudes were elicited by pictures of food items as compared to control pictures. Positive correlations were found between P3 and LPP amplitudes and self-reported increases of hunger. It was concluded that food-related information is processed differently in the brain as compared to non-food-related information, in a manner that reflects the natural motivational value of food. In the present study, there was no indication of an electrophysiological or subjective hyper-reactivity to food cues in obese adults.

Disgust sensitivity and eating disorder symptoms in a non-clinical population (Article)

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

In order to further explore the relationship between disgust sensitivity and eating disorder symptoms, 2 studies were carried out. In the first study, 352 higher education students (166 women, 186 men) completed a set of questionnaires measuring various aspects of disgust sensitivity and eating disorder symptoms. A correlational analysis revealed that there were few significant correlations between disgust scales and eating pathology scores. One exception was the relation between disgust sensitivity and external eating behavior, although this link only emerged in women. To investigate this relationship in more detail, Study 2 confronted women high (n = 29) and low (n = 30) on external eating behavior with a series of disgusting and neutral pictures. It was hypothesized that women who scored high on external eating would display shorter viewing times of disgusting pictures (i.e., show more avoidance behavior) than women scoring low on external eating. However, this hypothesis was not confirmed by the data. Altogether, the results of these studies suggest that there seems to be no convincing relationship between disgust sensitivity and eating disorder symptomatology, thereby casting doubts on the role of this individual difference factor in the development of eating pathology.

Origins of common fears in South African children (Article)

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

The present study examined the origins of common childhood fears within a South African context. Six-hundred-and-fifty-five 10- to 14-year-old children were given a brief fear list that helped them to identify their most intense fear and then completed a brief questionnaire for assessing the origins of fears that was based on Rachman's [Rachman, S. (1977). The conditioning theory of fear acquisition: A critical examination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 15, 375-387; Rachman, S. (1991). Neoconditioning and the classical theory of fear acquisition. Clinical Psychology Review, 17, 47-67] three-pathways theory. More precisely, children were asked to report whether they had experienced conditioning, modeling, and negative information experiences in relation to their most feared stimulus or situation, and also had to indicate to what extent such experiences had actually played a role in the onset and/or intensification of their fears. Results showed that children most frequently reported indirect learning experiences (i.e., modeling and negative information) in relation to their fears, whereas conditioning was clearly less often mentioned. The majority of the children had no precise idea of how their fear had actually begun, but a substantial proportion of them reported various learning experiences in relation to the onset and intensification of fears. Significant cultural differences were not only observed in the prevalence of common fears, but also in the pathways reported for the origins of fears. The results are briefly discussed in terms of the living conditions of South African children from various cultural backgrounds.

Symptoms of anxiety, depression, and aggression in non-clinical children: Relationships with self-report and performance-based measures of attention and effortful control (Article)

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

This study investigated the relation between the regulative trait of effortful control, and in particular attention control, and psychopathological symptoms in a sample of 207 non-clinical children aged 8-12 years. For this purpose, children completed self-report scales for measuring regulative traits and various types of psychopathological symptoms (i.e., anxiety, depression, and aggression) and were tested with a neuropsychological battery for measuring attention/effortful control capacity. Results indicated that self-report and performance-based measures of attention/effortful control were at best moderately correlated. Further, it was found that self-report indexes of attention/effortful control were clearly negatively related to psychopathological symptoms, which provides support for the notion that low regulation is associated with higher levels of psychopathology. Finally, the performance-based measure of attention/effortful control was not convincingly related to psychopathological symptoms.

Emotional reasoning and parent-based reasoning in non-clinical children, and their prospective relationships with anxiety symptoms (Article)

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

Emotional and parent-based reasoning refer to the tendency to rely on personal or parental anxiety response information rather than on objective danger information when estimating the dangerousness of a situation. This study investigated the prospective relationships of emotional and parent-based reasoning with anxiety symptoms in a sample of non-clinical children aged 8-14 years (n = 122). Children completed the anxiety subscales of the Revised Children's Anxiety and Depression Scale (Muris et al. Clin Psychol Psychother 9:430-442, 2002) and provided danger ratings of scenarios that systematically combined objective danger and objective safety information with anxiety-response and positive-response information. These measurements were repeated 10 months later (range 8-11 months). Emotional and parent-based reasoning effects emerged on both occasions. In addition, both effects were modestly stable, but only in case of objective safety. Evidence was found that initial anxiety levels were positively related to emotional reasoning 10 months later. In addition, initial levels of emotional reasoning were positively related to anxiety at a later time, but only when age was taken into account. That is, this relationship changed with increasing age from positive to negative. No significant prospective relationships emerged between anxiety and parent-based reasoning. As yet the clinical implications of these findings are limited, although preliminary evidence indicates that interpretation bias can be modified to decrease anxiety.

A space odyssey: Experimental manipulation of threat perception and anxiety-related interpretation bias in children (Article)

2008-12-01T00:00:00Z

This study provides a first test of an experimental method, the "space odyssey" paradigm, that was designed to manipulate interpretation bias in children. Seventy non-clinical children aged 8-12 years first completed a standardized anxiety questionnaire. Following this, they completed the space odyssey paradigm to induce either a negative or a positive interpretation bias. After this stage of interpretation training, children were presented with a series of ambiguous vignettes for which they had to rate perceived levels of threat as an index of interpretation bias. Results indicated that the space odyssey paradigm was successful in training interpretations: children in the negative training condition quickly learned to choose negative outcomes, while children in the positive training condition rapidly learned to select positive outcomes. Most importantly, children's subsequent threat perception scores for the ambiguous vignettes were affected by the manipulation. That is, children in the negative training condition perceived more threat than children in the positive training condition. Interestingly, the effects of training were most pronounced in high anxious children. Directions for future research with this paradigm are briefly discussed.

"i'm not really afraid of Osama Bin Laden!" fear of terrorism in dutch children (Article)

2008-10-01T00:00:00Z

We examined to what extent children in The Netherlands are affected by the threat of terrorism. For this purpose, a sample of school children living in Rotterdam or adjacent satellites (N = 216) completed a fear survey that included a number of terrorism-related items, and were confronted with ambiguous vignettes to measure threat-related interpretation bias. The results demonstrated that although a number of terrorism-related items (i.e., bombing attacks, explosions in a bus or subway) listed high in a ranking of most intense childhood fears, very few children made terrorist-related interpretations of ambiguous situations.

Twenty-five Years of Research on Childhood Anxiety Disorders: Publication Trends Between 1982 and 2006 and a Selective Review of the Literature (Article)

2008-01-01T00:00:00Z

We examined trends in publications on childhood anxiety disorders over the past 25 years. A PsycINFO search was carried out to find relevant research articles published between 1982 and 2006. Results indicated a gradual and significant rise in the frequency of publications on childhood anxiety disorders during the past 25 years, and this increase was particularly strong for post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, and multiple anxiety disorders. Most studies concerned the phenomenology of childhood anxiety disorders (i.e., >50%). Considerable less research has been conducted on the etiology, intervention, and assessment of these disorders in youths. Nevertheless, the conclusion seems warranted that the research on childhood anxiety disorders has made significant advancements during the past decades. This notion is supported by a selective review of the literature, which highlights important developments in this field of study.

Changing self-esteem in children and adolescents: A roadmap for future interventions (Article)

2006-09-01T00:00:00Z

This is a postprint of the article published in Netherlands Journal of Psychology

DSM-IV defined anxiety disorder symptoms in South-African children (Article)

2002-11-01T00:00:00Z

Objective: To examine DSM-IV-defined anxiety disorder symptoms in a large sample of normal South African school-children. Method: Children completed two self-report questionnaires: the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the 41-item version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED). Results: Psychometric properties of the SCAS and the SCARED were moderate (convergent validity) to sufficient (reliability). Factor analyses yielded evidence for the presence of a number of hypothesized anxiety categories (i.e., social phobia, panic disorder, fears, and generalized anxiety disorder). Furthermore, anxiety levels of South African children were higher than those of Western (i.e., Dutch) children. Differences were found with regard to the content of prevalent anxiety symptoms among South African and Western children. Conclusion: Although psychometric properties of the SCAS and the SCARED in South African children somewhat deviated from those obtained in Western countries, both scales seem to be useful for assessing childhood anxiety symptoms in this country.

Anxiety and depression as correlates of self-reported behavioural inhibition in normal adolescents (Article)

2001-07-18T00:00:00Z

In a previous study, Muris, Merckelbach, Wessel, and Van de Ven [Psychopathological correlates of self-reported behavioural inhibition in normal children. Behav. Res. Ther. 37 (1999) 575–584] found that children who defined themselves as high on behavioural inhibition displayed elevated levels of psychopathological symptoms compared to children who defined themselves as low or middle on behavioural inhibition. The present study further examined the relationship between self-reported behavioural inhibition and anxiety disorders and depression symptoms in a large sample of adolescents aged 12–18 years (N=968). Adolescents completed a measure of behavioural inhibition and questionnaires of anxiety and depression. Results indicated that adolescents who classified themselves as high on behavioural inhibition had higher scores of anxiety and depression than adolescents who classified themselves as low or middle on behavioural inhibition. Structural equations modelling was employed to test hypothetical models on the role of behavioural inhibition in childhood anxiety and depression. It was found that a pathway in which behavioural inhibition results in anxiety, which in turn leads to depression, provided the best fit for the data.

Protective and vulnerability factors of depression in normal adolescents (Article)

2001-04-05T00:00:00Z

The present study investigated the role of various protective and vulnerability factors in the development of depressive symptoms. A sample of normal adolescents (N=373) completed the Children’s Depression Inventory and measures of a negative attributional style, parental rearing behaviour, coping styles, and perceived self-efficacy. In addition to computing the correlations between depression and these protective and vulnerability factors, the present data were also subjected to structural equations modelling to examine the correlational structure of the data. Depression was accompanied by high levels of parental rejection, negative attributions, and passive coping, and by low levels of active coping and self-efficacy. Furthermore, a model in which negative parental rearing behaviour and a negative attributional style featured as the primary sources of depression, while coping styles and self-efficacy played a mediating role in the formation of depressive symptoms, provided a reasonable fit for the data.

The thought-action fusion scale: further evidence for its reliability and validity (Article)

2001-04-05T00:00:00Z

Thought-action fusion (TAF) refers to a set of cognitive biases that are thought to play a role in the development of obsessional phenomena. To measure these biases, R. Shafran, D. S. Thordarson, and S. Rachman (1996; Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 10, 379–391) developed the TAF-scale. They concluded that the TAF-scale possesses adequate psychometric qualities. The current study sought to further explore the reliability and validity of the TAF-scale. Results indicate that the TAF-scale has good internal consistency. TAF-scores correlated with self-reports of obsessional problems. Furthermore, mean scores in a mixed sample of anxiety disordered patients were higher than those in a normal sample. However, temporal consistency was somewhat disappointing. Also, the question remains whether TAF is specific to obsessive–compulsive disorder or taps more pervasive biases that play a role in a variety of disorders.

Anxiety sensitivity in adolescents: Factor structure and relationships to trait and symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression (Article)

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

The current study examined the anxiety sensitivity construct in a large sample of normal Dutch adolescents aged 13–16 years (n=819). Children completed the Childhood Anxiety Sensitivity Index (CASI; Silverman, W. K., Fleisig, W., Rabian, B. and Peterson, R. A. (1991). Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 20, 162–168) and measures of trait anxiety, anxiety disorder symptoms and depression. Results showed that (1) anxiety sensitivity as indexed by the CASI seems to be a hierarchically organized construct with one higher-order factor (i.e., anxiety sensitivity) and three or four lower-order factors, (2) anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety were strongly correlated, (3) anxiety sensitivity was substantially connected to symptoms of anxiety disorders (in particular of panic disorder and agoraphobia) and depression, and (4) anxiety sensitivity and trait anxiety both accounted for unique proportions of the variance in anxiety disorder symptoms. Altogether these findings are in agreement with those of previous research in adult and child populations, and further support the notion that anxiety sensitivity should be viewed as an unique factor of anxiety vulnerability.

The structure of negative emotions in adolescents (Article)

2001-01-01T00:00:00Z

This study examined the structure of negative emotions in a sample of nonclinical adolescents, using an approach that exclusively relied on child self-report. A large sample of adolescents (N = 968) completed self-report questionnaires measuring symptoms of fear, anxiety, and depression. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the notion that fear, anxiety, and depression are distinct yet correlated components of negative emotions. This result is in agreement with recent empirical findings and current theoretical notions on the structure of negative emotions in children and should be taken as an encouragement for researchers to develop more specific measures for assessing fear, anxiety, and depression in children.

Reliability, factor structure, and validity of the Dutch Eysenck Personality Profiler (Article)

2000-11-01T00:00:00Z

The Eysenck Personality Profiler (EPP) is a questionnaire measuring 21 primary personality traits that are thought to constitute the three supertraits of Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism. The present study examined the reliability, factor structure and convergent validity of the Dutch translation of the EPP in a sample of introductory psychology students (N=215). Results indicate that the internal consistency of most EPP scales was satisfactory. Furthermore, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that the to-be-expected three-factor structure provided a reasonable fit for EPP data. Finally, Extraversion, Neuroticism and Psychoticism were found to correlate in a meaningful way with the "big 5" supertraits as indexed by the Five-Factor Personality Inventory.

Relationships between thought-action fusion, thought suppression, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms: A structural equation modeling approach (Article)

2000-09-01T00:00:00Z

Research has shown that there are strong similarities in content between the obsessions and compulsions that characterize obsessive–compulsive disorder and nonclinical obsessions and compulsions. However, clinical and nonclinical obsessions and compulsions do differ with respect to characteristics like frequency, intensity, discomfort and elicited resistance. Two separate concepts have been invoked to explain how normal obsessions and compulsions may develop into clinical phenomena. First, it is suggested that thought–action fusion (TAF) contributes to obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Second, thought suppression may intensify obsessive–compulsive symptoms due to its paradoxical effect on intrusive thoughts. Although both phenomena have been found to contribute to obsessive–compulsive symptoms, possible interactions between these two have never been investigated. The current study explored how TAF and thought suppression interact in the development of obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Undergraduate psychology students (N=173) completed questionnaires pertaining to TAF, thought suppression and obsessive–compulsive symptoms. Covariances between the scores on these questionnaires were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Results suggest that TAF triggers thought suppression, while thought suppression, in turn, promotes obsessive–compulsive symptoms.

Correlations among two self-report questionnaires for measuring DSM-defined anxiety disorder symptoms in children: The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (Article)

2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

The Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) and the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) are recently developed self-report questionnaires for measuring DSM-IV defined anxiety disorder symptoms in children. The present study examined correlations among these measures in a large sample of Dutch school children (N=1011). Results showed that there was a strong correlation between the total anxiety scores of these instruments (r=0.89). Furthermore, most of the SCARED subscales were found to be convincingly connected to their SCAS counterparts. Finally, a confirmatory factor analysis revealed that SCARED and SCAS anxiety disorder subscales loaded uniquely on separate but intercorrelated factors (i.e., the DSM-IV anxiety disorder categories). These findings can be taken as evidence for the concurrent validity of the SCARED and the SCAS. Although these measures were developed independently, they seem to measure highly similar constructs, viz anxiety symptoms which can be clustered into the anxiety disorder categories as described in the DSM-IV.

"Thought-action fusion" en suppressie: Een model voor obsessieve-compulsieve symptomen (Article)

2000-01-01T00:00:00Z

In onderzoek is gebleken dat klinische obsessies en compulsies inhoudelijk niet verschillen van alledaagse intrusies en rituelen. De verschillen tussen beide betreffen veeleer kenmerken als frequentie, ervaren weerzin en opgeroepen weerstand. De verklaring van dergelijke verschillen in afwezigheid van een inhoudelijk onderscheid lijkt vooral te zijn gelegen in twee psychologische fenomenen. Ten eerste wordt verondersteld dat overdreven interpretaties van intrusies (samen te vatten in het concept thought-action fusion [taf]) leiden tot intensivering van obsessieve-compulsieve symptomen. Op de tweede plaats lijkt gedachtenonderdrukking (suppressie) te resulteren in meer, in plaats van minder, obsessieve-compulsieve symptomen. De potentiële interacties tussen taf en suppressie zijn nog niet in kaart gebracht. In het huidige onderzoek werd een poging ondernomen om te achterhalen of en op welke manier taf en suppressie samengaan in de ontwikkeling van obsessieve-compulsieve symptomen. Daartoe vulde een groep studenten (N = 173) verschillende vragenlijsten in. De data werden geanalyseerd met behulp van structural equation modelling. Uit de analyse volgde grosso modo dat taf aanleiding geeft tot suppressie, terwijl suppressie vervolgens leidt tot obsessieve-compulsieve symptomen.

Disgust sensitivity, trait anxiety, and anxiety disorders symptoms in normal children (Article)

1999-10-01T00:00:00Z

There is evidence to suggest that disgust sensitivity plays a role in the development of small animal fears and phobias. Recently, Phillips, Senior, Fahy, and David (1998) [Phillips, M. L., Senior, C., Fahy, T., and David, A. S. (1998). Disgust: the forgotten emotion of psychiatry. British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 373–375.] suggested that disgust sensitivity is also involved in various other anxiety-based symptoms (e.g. obsessive–compulsive complaints, social phobia). The present study sought to test this suggestion in a large sample of normal school children (N=189). Children completed a measure of disgust sensitivity, the trait anxiety version of the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders, an instrument that measures DSM-defined anxiety disorders symptoms. Disgust sensitivity was indeed found to be correlated with a broad range of anxiety disorders symptoms. However, results also indicated that these correlations were predominantly carried by trait anxiety. That is, when controlling for levels of trait anxiety, only specific phobia symptoms (including animal phobia, blood–injection–injury phobia and situational–environmental phobia) and separation anxiety disorder symptoms were significantly related to disgust sensitivity, although correlations were rather modest. Taken together, these findings cast doubts on the claim that disgust sensitivity is an unique and independent factor that contributes to a broad range of anxiety disorders.

The structure of specific phobia symptoms among children and adolescents (Article)

1999-09-01T00:00:00Z

Previous research [Frederikson, M., Annas, P., Fisher, H. and Wik, G. (1996). Gender and age differences in the prevalence of specific fears and phobias. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 34, 33–39.] has shown that specific phobia symptoms of adults cluster into three subtypes: animal phobia, blood-injection-injury phobia and environmental–situational phobia. The present study examined whether these specific phobia subtypes can also be found in children. 996 children aged between 7 and 19 years completed a brief questionnaire regarding the frequency with which they experienced specific phobia symptoms. Confirmatory factor analysis was employed to examine the structure of these data. Results showed that childhood specific phobia symptoms indeed cluster into the three subtypes as described by Frederikson et al. and that these subtypes are either intercorrelated or the product of a single higher order factor. This structure appeared to be largely invariant across genders and age groups.

The revised version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-R): Factor structure in normal children (Article)

1999-01-01T00:00:00Z

The revised version of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED-R) is a self-report questionnaire that measures symptoms of DSM-IV linked anxiety disorders in children. The present study examined the factor structure of the SCARED-R in a sample of 674 normal Dutch school children aged 8 to 13 years. Exploratory factor analysis (principal components with oblimin rotation) clearly pointed in the direction of a 1-factor solution, suggesting that when applied to samples of normal children, the SCARED-R is a unidimensional measure. Additional exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses carried out on parts of the SCARED-R provided some support for the presence of the following factors: panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety disorder, school phobia, social phobia and three types of specific phobias. Implications of these findings for the use of the SCARED-R are briefly discussed.