The development of child anxiety and depressive symptoms from mean ages 5.3 to 9.3 years was examined in a community sample of 133 girls and 134 boys, using parent and teacher ratings. Reliable individual differences in anxiety and depressive symptoms at mean age 5.3 and in their change to mean age 9.3 were observed, with significant correlations between depressive and anxiety symptoms at mean age 5.3 years and between their changes with age. Positive cross-lagged correlations from anxiety to depressive symptoms and negative cross-lagged correlations from depressive to anxiety symptoms were apparent in teachers' ratings at 6- to 12-month intervals. Developmental changes in teacher-rated child anxiety symptoms were robust predictors of child self-reported depressive symptoms at mean age 9.3 years. These results suggest assessment and interventions for emotional problems may be usefully implemented during childhood in school and peer social environments.

The relative impact of control-, acceptance-, and information-based approaches in targeting a midlevel fear of spiders among college students was evaluated. Participants listened to a brief protocol presenting one of the three approaches before completing the Perceived-Threat Behavioral Approach Test (PT-BAT; Cochrane, Barnes-Holmes, & BarnesHolmes, 2008). During the PT-BAT, participants placed their hands in a series of opaque jars that they were led to believe were increasingly likely to contain a spider. Participants in the acceptance-based condition progressed the farthest and were more willing to repeat the procedure a week later, despite not differing from their counterparts in levels of subjective distress. Implications for the relative efficacy of acceptance-versus control-based approaches in treatment of specific phobia, their possible differential mechanisms of action, and the use of the PT-BAT as a dependent measure in further research are discussed.Key words: arachnophobia, acceptance and commitment therapy, avoidance Arguably one of the more noteworthy developments within cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) during the past two decades has been the emergence of what have come to be regarded as "third wave" or "new wave" interventions (Hayes, 2004). What primarily distinguishes these approaches-such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (Segal, Williams, & Teasdale, 2002), dialectical behavior therapy (Linehan, 1993), and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999)-from earlier generations of cognitive behavior therapies is their shared strategic focus on second-order change. In particular, instead of relying on control-based therapeutic techniques such as relaxation training, cognitive restructuring, and exposure procedures to directly minimize unwanted anxiety-related sensations and thoughts (Choy, Fyer, & Lipsitz, 2007), emphasis is shifted to the ways in which clients relate to unwanted psychological experiences. One common means of doing so among interventions within the third wave of cognitive behavior therapy is by helping clients become more mindful and accepting 78WAgEnER AnD ZETTLE of unwanted thoughts and feelings they would otherwise seek to control (Hayes, Follette, & Linehan, 2004).The development of ACT, in particular, is fairly unique as it has been both preceded and accompanied by related analogue studies comparing the effects of fairly brief control-versus acceptance-based approaches in how nonclinical samples cope with and respond to various psychological as well as biological challenges and stressors (Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, & Lillis, 2006). The primary purpose of the current investigation was to extend this line of research by comparing the differential impact of these two approaches, as well as an information-based intervention, in how participants respond to a feared stimulus. More specifically, college students were presented with brief control-, acceptance-, or information-based protocols for coping with their midlevel fear of spiders before unde...

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