An Introduction to the Study of Information Processing Biases in Childhood Anxiety: Theoretical and Methodological Issues

Hadwin, Julie A.; Field, Andy P.

doi:10.1002/9780470661468.ch1

Cited by 14 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…That is to say that similar associations between the valence of interpretations and trait anxiety scores are seen regardless of whether an individual has clinically significant internalising or emotional disorders. The current study also provides further evidence that strength of interpretive bias is associated with strength of symptoms in adolescence as well as in adulthood (Hadwin & Field, 2010). These data suggest that to the extent that CBM-I is effective, it is no less (or more) effective in symptomatic individuals.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Cognitive Bias Modification Training in Adolescents: Persistence of Training Effects

Belli

Lau

2014

Cogn Ther Res

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Negative biases in the interpretation of social information are associated with anxious symptoms in adolescents. Previous studies have attempted to modify interpretive biases to alleviate anxious mood responses but the longevity of such training effects has not been established. A Cognitive Bias Modification of Interpretations (CBM-I) paradigm was administered to sixty-nine 15-17 yearolds. Participants were either trained to interpret ambiguous social situations positively, or received control training that contained no emotional content. Participants showed significantly weaker endorsement of negative interpretations of novel ambiguous information following positive training than following control. Positive CBM-I training effects on interpretation did not differ between a group tested immediately following training and one tested 24 hours later. Results provided no evidence of differential changes in state anxiety as a direct result of CBM-I training. The persistence of training effects of suppressing negative biases for ambiguous social information is encouraging for future work that might use bias-training methods in adolescents as buffers against negative emotional responses.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 63%

Cognitive Bias Modification Training in Adolescents: Persistence of Training Effects

Belli

Lau

2014

Cogn Ther Res

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“…In fact, Kindt and colleagues' (e.g., Kindt & van den Hout, 2001) cognitive inhibition theory, one of the few strictly developmental theories of information processing in anxiety, suggests that both anxious and non-anxious children show a broad bias for selectively processing threatening information, rather than a bias specific to a particular situation (see Hadwin & Field, 2010). According to this theory, bias toward threat in younger children may simply reflect a developmental inability to inhibit the processing of threat related information, which is expected to improve between the ages of 7 and 11.…”

Section: Information Processing In Anxious Children and Adultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Age Differences in Information Processing Biases in Spider Fear

Smith-Janik

Green²,

Teachman³

2013

International Journal of Cognitive Therapy

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This study investigated biases in interpretation (e.g., evaluation of the dangerousness of spiders) and memory (preferential recall of spider stimuli) in spider fearful and non-fearful children (n = 59; ages 9-11) and young adults (n = 61; ages 18-21). Of interest were: (a) whether biases are present in high fear persons, and (b) whether biases can predict subjective distress and avoidance in response to a feared stimulus. Results showed that spider specific interpretation and memory biases are present in high fear adults, but not in high fear children. Only the spider specific interpretation bias significantly predicted anxious responding on its own, and did so in adults only. Findings are discussed in terms of cognitive models of anxiety, as well as developmental and methodological considerations that may have made it difficult to observe biased processing in the child sample.General cognitive models of anxiety predict that individuals suffering from extreme fear and anxiety will demonstrate biases in the ways they attend to, interpret, and remember information (e.g., Beck & Emery, with Greenberg, 1985). These models have improved our understanding about the onset, maintenance, and treatment of anxiety difficulties. However, cognitive models have primarily focused on describing biased processing in anxious adults. yet, the early and chronic course of many anxiety disorders (Newman et al., 1996; see review by Cartwright-Hatton, McNicol, & Doubleday, 2006) suggests that further research exploring information processing biases in childhood anxiety is needed.

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“…In contrast, Derryberry & Reed (2002) propose that trait anxiety interacts with attentional control to produce attentional biases. There is no clarity on this matter in the case of children since research on the relation between state-trait anxiety and attentional biases has been scarce on this population in comparison to research conducted with adults (Hadwin & Field, 2010).…”

Section: State and Trait Anxiety And Its Relation To Attentional Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As for infant population the attentional biases have mainly been studied on children with anxiety disorders and with samples that were not selected based on self anxiety reports while the impact of statetrait anxiety on the biases of selective attention have been studied at a lower scale on this population with inconsistent results (Hadwin & Field, 2010). On samples not selected based on self-reports of anxiety the state anxiety and the attentional bias towards threat have been correlated (Williams et al, 1997, en Garner, 2010.…”

Section: State and Trait Anxiety And Its Relation To Attentional Biasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of state and trait anxiety on selective attention to threatening stimuli in a non-clinical sample of school children

Marín¹,

Solanilla²,

Barreto³

2015

Int. j. psychol. res.

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Attentional biases, consisting of a preferential processing of threatening stimuli, have been found in anxious adults as predicted by several cognitive models. However, studies with non-clinical samples of children have provided mixed results. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine the effects of state and trait anxiety on the selective attention towards threatening stimuli in a non-clinical sample of school children (age: 8 to 13, n = 110) using the dot-probe task. This study did not reveal an effect of trait anxiety on selective attention towards threatening stimuli. However, a significant difference was found between participants with low state anxiety and high state anxiety. Nevertheless, the effect size was small. Specifically, participants with low state anxiety showed a bias towards threatening stimuli. Overall, the findings of this research with a non-clinical sample of school children suggest that attentional biases towards threatening information, which has been repeatedly found in anxious adults, are not necessarily inherent to non-clinical anxiety in children and on the other hand, the relationship between attentional biases and anxiety in this population might be moderated by other cognitive processes. RESUMENLos sesgos atencionales, que consisten en el procesamiento preferencial de los estímulos amenazantes, han sido encontrados en adultos con ansiedad tal como predicen varios modelos cognitivos. Sin embargo, los estudios con muestras no clínicas de niños han arrojado resultados inconsistentes. Por consiguiente el objetivo de esta investigación consistió en determinar los efectos de la ansiedad estado-rasgo sobre la atención selectiva a estímulos amenazantes en una muestra no clínica de niños escolarizados entre los 8 y 13 años (n = 110), utilizando la tarea dot-probe. Este estudio no reveló un efecto de la ansiedad rasgo sobre la atención selectiva hacia los estímulos amenazantes. Sin embargo, se observó una diferencia significativa entre los participantes con ansiedad estado baja y ansiedad estado alta aunque el tamaño del efecto fue pequeño. Específicamente, los participantes con ansiedad estado baja mostraron un sesgo hacia los estímulos amenazantes. En general, los hallazgos de esta investigación con una muestra no clínica de niños escolarizados sugieren que los sesgos atencionales hacia la amenaza, que han sido encontrados reiteradamente en los adultos ansiosos, no necesariamente son inherentes a la ansiedad no clínica en los Palabras clave: sesgos atencionales, tarea dot-probe, ansiedad rasgo, ansiedad estado, muestra no clínica, niños escolarizados. Effects of state and trait anxietyon selective attention to threatening stimuli in a nonclinical sample of school children Efectos de la ansiedad estado-rasgo sobre la atención selectiva a estímulos amenazantes en una muestra no clínica de niños escolarizados R E S E A R C H INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH Effects of state and trait anxiety in School ChildrenOrtega, Jiménez and Acosta (2015) int.j.psychol.re...

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An Introduction to the Study of Information Processing Biases in Childhood Anxiety: Theoretical and Methodological Issues

Cited by 14 publications

References 55 publications

Cognitive Bias Modification Training in Adolescents: Persistence of Training Effects

Cognitive Bias Modification Training in Adolescents: Persistence of Training Effects

Age Differences in Information Processing Biases in Spider Fear

Effects of state and trait anxiety on selective attention to threatening stimuli in a non-clinical sample of school children

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