scholarly journals Understanding mechanisms that may underlie the development and maintenance of anxiety in children and adolescents: Cognitive biases and parenting behaviours

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lauren Bryce
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Interpretation Bias ◽  
Memory Bias ◽  
Ambiguous Information ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Parental Autonomy ◽  
Negative Memories ◽  
Parenting Behaviours

<p>Anxiety is one of the most common forms of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of this disorder is therefore critical. A variety of factors that interact with one another are likely to contribute to the risk and perpetuation of anxiety in young people. Moreover, risk and maintaining factors can occur at both an individual and environmental level. Cognitive biases are one such factor occurring at an individual level that are investigated in Study 1 and Study 2 of this thesis. Cognitive biases are also predicted to have associations with particular kinds of parenting behaviours, and Study 3 investigated these parenting behaviours. Study 3, therefore, provides a bridge between individual level cognitive mechanisms and possible environmental contexts that may contribute to the risk and maintenance of anxiety in young people.  In Study 1, the relationships amongst anxiety, interpretation bias, and memory bias were investigated in children (M = 10.1 years, SD = 0.8). Children with higher levels of anxiety exhibit interpretation biases; a tendency to interpret ambiguous information in a negative manner. Moreover, interpretation biases are predicted to create negative memories for ambiguous information. In Study 1, 62 children heard ambiguous information about a novel animal and their interpretation and recall for this information was assessed. Interpretation bias was significantly associated with memory bias; children who interpreted the ambiguous information in a negative way also reported a greater number of negative memories for this information. Children with higher levels of anxiety also reported a greater number of negative memories.  In Study 2 the relationship between interpretation bias and memory bias was investigated within an experimental paradigm, to understand whether there was evidence for a causal relationship between these cognitive biases. Children (M = 9.7 years, SD = 1.1) heard a series of ambiguous vignettes, and each vignette was followed by either a negative or a benign interpretation. Children were subsequently asked to recall the vignettes and children who had heard negative interpretations reported a greater number of negative memories. Children with higher levels of anxiety also reported a greater number of negative memories in their recall of the ambiguous vignettes.  In Study 3, I investigated parental autonomy restriction and support in the context of parent-adolescent (M = 15.3 years, SD = 0.8) conversations, and their associations with anxiety, interpretation biases, and parental attributions. Higher levels of parental autonomy restriction may contribute to the risk and maintenance of anxiety in young people by signalling that the world is dangerous. Sixty-four mother-adolescent dyads were asked to discuss a recent conflict, and from this interaction maternal autonomy restriction and autonomy support were assessed. Adolescents with higher levels of anxiety and adolescents who exhibited interpretation biases to a greater extent, had mothers who demonstrated a greater amount of autonomy restriction within the conversations. Yet maternal variables were not significantly associated with either autonomy restriction or support. The results support predictions that these characteristics of young people may determine the extent of autonomy restriction parents engage in. In turn, autonomy restrictive parenting behaviours potentially play a role in the risk and maintenance of cognitive biases and anxiety.  Overall this thesis contributes to an understanding of the complex and multiple relationships amongst factors that may be involved in the aetiology and perpetuation of anxiety in young people.</p>

scholarly journals Understanding mechanisms that may underlie the development and maintenance of anxiety in children and adolescents: Cognitive biases and parenting behaviours

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lauren Bryce
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Interpretation Bias ◽  
Memory Bias ◽  
Ambiguous Information ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Parental Autonomy ◽  
Negative Memories ◽  
Parenting Behaviours

<p>Anxiety is one of the most common forms of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie the development and maintenance of this disorder is therefore critical. A variety of factors that interact with one another are likely to contribute to the risk and perpetuation of anxiety in young people. Moreover, risk and maintaining factors can occur at both an individual and environmental level. Cognitive biases are one such factor occurring at an individual level that are investigated in Study 1 and Study 2 of this thesis. Cognitive biases are also predicted to have associations with particular kinds of parenting behaviours, and Study 3 investigated these parenting behaviours. Study 3, therefore, provides a bridge between individual level cognitive mechanisms and possible environmental contexts that may contribute to the risk and maintenance of anxiety in young people.  In Study 1, the relationships amongst anxiety, interpretation bias, and memory bias were investigated in children (M = 10.1 years, SD = 0.8). Children with higher levels of anxiety exhibit interpretation biases; a tendency to interpret ambiguous information in a negative manner. Moreover, interpretation biases are predicted to create negative memories for ambiguous information. In Study 1, 62 children heard ambiguous information about a novel animal and their interpretation and recall for this information was assessed. Interpretation bias was significantly associated with memory bias; children who interpreted the ambiguous information in a negative way also reported a greater number of negative memories for this information. Children with higher levels of anxiety also reported a greater number of negative memories.  In Study 2 the relationship between interpretation bias and memory bias was investigated within an experimental paradigm, to understand whether there was evidence for a causal relationship between these cognitive biases. Children (M = 9.7 years, SD = 1.1) heard a series of ambiguous vignettes, and each vignette was followed by either a negative or a benign interpretation. Children were subsequently asked to recall the vignettes and children who had heard negative interpretations reported a greater number of negative memories. Children with higher levels of anxiety also reported a greater number of negative memories in their recall of the ambiguous vignettes.  In Study 3, I investigated parental autonomy restriction and support in the context of parent-adolescent (M = 15.3 years, SD = 0.8) conversations, and their associations with anxiety, interpretation biases, and parental attributions. Higher levels of parental autonomy restriction may contribute to the risk and maintenance of anxiety in young people by signalling that the world is dangerous. Sixty-four mother-adolescent dyads were asked to discuss a recent conflict, and from this interaction maternal autonomy restriction and autonomy support were assessed. Adolescents with higher levels of anxiety and adolescents who exhibited interpretation biases to a greater extent, had mothers who demonstrated a greater amount of autonomy restriction within the conversations. Yet maternal variables were not significantly associated with either autonomy restriction or support. The results support predictions that these characteristics of young people may determine the extent of autonomy restriction parents engage in. In turn, autonomy restrictive parenting behaviours potentially play a role in the risk and maintenance of cognitive biases and anxiety.  Overall this thesis contributes to an understanding of the complex and multiple relationships amongst factors that may be involved in the aetiology and perpetuation of anxiety in young people.</p>

scholarly journals Rumination as a mechanism of the association between interpretation bias and depression symptoms: A longitudinal investigation

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 204380872110152
Author(s):  
Blair E. Wisco ◽  
David R. Harp
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Interpretation Bias ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Important Direction ◽  
Mediational Models ◽  
Sectional Analysis

Depression is a common problem with debilitating effects. Both negative interpretation biases and rumination are related to depression, but how these factors interact to produce depression is unclear. Prior cross-sectional research indicates that negative interpretation biases have an indirect effect on depression symptoms through rumination, but to date, no longitudinal studies have examined this indirect effect, and prior studies have not differentiated between rumination subtypes. To examine these questions, data were collected online at three time points from undergraduates. Simple mediational models examined whether negative interpretation bias had an indirect effect on depression symptoms through rumination and rumination subtypes (brooding and reflection), and reverse models examined direction of effects. Cross-sectional analysis supported prior findings that interpretation bias had an indirect effect on depression symptoms through rumination, β = −.19, 95%CI [−.23, −.14], through both brooding, β = −.14, 95%CI [−.18, −.10], and reflection subtypes, β = −.09, 95%CI [−.12, −.05]. However, longitudinal analyses found no indirect effects of interpretation bias on depression symptoms through rumination, β = −.02, 95%CI [−.07, .02]; brooding: β = −.02, 95%CI [−.06, .01], reflection: β = .01, 95%CI [−.02, .04]. These longitudinal results contradict findings that cognitive biases lead to depression symptoms through rumination. The complex interplay between cognitive biases, rumination, and depression remains an important direction for future research.

scholarly journals Rodgers, Lau, & Zebrowski (preprint) - "Examining the effects of stuttering and social anxiety on interpretations of ambiguous social scenarios among adolescents"

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Hertsberg Rodgers
Keyword(s):  
Social Anxiety ◽  
Young People ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Social Cues ◽  
Interpretation Bias ◽  
Verbal Interaction ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Speech Sample ◽  
Ambiguous Information ◽  
General Anxiety

PURPOSE: The proclivity to construe ambiguous information in a negative way is known as interpretation bias, which has been implicated in the onset and/or maintenance of social anxiety. The purpose of this study was to examine group and individual differences in interpretation bias among young people who stutter and their typically fluent peers during the adolescent years when social fears and worries tend to escalate. METHODS: A total of 99 adolescents (13 to 19 years old) participated, including 48 adolescents who stutter (67% male) and 51 typically fluent controls (68% male). They completed a computerized vignette-based interpretation bias task in which they first read 14 short ambiguous social scenarios (half including a verbal interaction, half including a non-verbal interaction). They were then presented with four possible interpretations of each scenario including two negative interpretations (one target, one foil) and two positive interpretations (one target, one foil). Participants used a 4-point Likert scale to rate how similar in meaning each interpretation was to the original scenario. Participants also completed self-report measures of social and general anxiety, and provided a speech sample for stuttering analysis. RESULTS: There was no effect of stuttering on interpretations; the adolescents who stutter rated interpretations across both verbal and non-verbal scenarios comparably to the controls, and stuttering severity did not affect interpretation ratings. However, across groups, there was a significant effect of social anxiety such that higher social anxiety was associated with more negative interpretations, and lower social anxiety was associated with more positive interpretations.DISCUSSION: This study provides preliminary evidence that social anxiety may affect how adolescents interpret ambiguous social cues in verbal and non-verbal scenarios more than stuttering, although more research into how people who stutter process social information is warranted.

Multidimensional Anxiety and Content-specificity Effects in Preferential Processing of Threat

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 252-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel G. Calvo ◽  
P. Avero ◽  
M. Dolores Castillo ◽  
Juan J. Miguel-Tobal
Keyword(s):  
Selective Attention ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Color Naming ◽  
Memory Bias ◽  
Ego Threat ◽  
Phobic Anxiety ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Content Specificity ◽  
Specificity Effects

We examined the relative contribution of specific components of multidimensional anxiety to cognitive biases in the processing of threat-related information in three experiments. Attentional bias was assessed by the emotional Stroop word color-naming task, interpretative bias by an on-line inference processing task, and explicit memory bias by sensitivity (d') and response criterion (β) from word-recognition scores. Multiple regression analyses revealed, first, that phobic anxiety and evaluative anxiety predicted selective attention to physical- and ego-threat information, respectively; cognitive anxiety predicted selective attention to both types of threat. Second, phobic anxiety predicted inhibition of inferences related to physically threatening outcomes of ambiguous situations. And, third, evaluative anxiety predicted a response bias, rather than a genuine memory bias, in the reporting of presented and nonpresented ego-threat information. Other anxiety components, such as motor and physiological anxiety, or interpersonal and daily-routines anxiety made no specific contribution to any cognitive bias. Multidimensional anxiety measures are useful for detecting content-specificity effects in cognitive biases.

The Innovators

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Risman
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Macro Level ◽  
Gender Expectations ◽  
Personal Lives ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Gendered Expectations ◽  
Level Of Analysis

This chapter introduces the innovators and provides a portrait of them. The chapter analyzes these innovators at the individual, interactional, and macro level of the gender structure. The chapter begins at the individual level of analysis because these young people emphasize how they challenge gender by rejecting requirements to restrict their personal activities, goals, and personalities to femininity or masculinity. They refuse to live within gender stereotypes. These Millennials do not seem driven by their feminist ideological beliefs, although they do have them. Their worldviews are more taken for granted than central to their stories. Nor are they consistently challenging gender expectations for others, although they often ignore the gender expectations they face themselves. They innovate primarily in their personal lives, although they do reject gendered expectations at the interactional level and hold feminist ideological beliefs about gender equality.

Where the Millennials Will Take Us

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Risman
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Structure Theory ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Gender Categories ◽  
The Individual ◽  
New Research ◽  
Fourth Wave

In this book Barbara J. Risman uses her gender structure theory to tackle the question about whether today’s young people, Millennials, are pushing forward the gender revolution or backing away from it. In the first part of the book, Risman revises her theoretical argument to differentiate more clearly between culture and material aspects of each level of gender as a social structure. She then uses previous research to explain that today’s young people spend years in a new life stage where they are emerging as adults. The new research presented here offers a typology of how today’s young people wrestle with gender during the years of emerging adulthood. How do they experience gender at the individual level? What are the expectations they face because of their sex? What are their ideological beliefs and organizational constraints based on their gender category? Risman suggests there is great variety within this generation. She identifies four strategies used by young people: true believers in gender difference, innovators who want to push boundaries in feminist directions, straddlers who are simply confused, and rebels who sometimes identify as genderqueer and reject gender categories all together. The final chapter offers a utopian vision that would ease the struggles of all these groups, a fourth wave of feminism that rejects the gender structure itself. Risman envisions a world where the sex ascribed at birth matters has few consequences beyond reproduction.

scholarly journals On the bright side: Young people’s most positive memories of family foster care

2020 ◽  
pp. 135910452097869
Author(s):  
Anne Steenbakkers ◽  
Steffie van der Steen ◽  
Hans Grietens
Keyword(s):  
Foster Care ◽  
Young People ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Normal Family ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
Family Foster Care ◽  
Continuous Support ◽  
Positive Memories ◽  
Negative Memories

This study explored what contributes to successful family foster care from the perspective of young people by asking them about their most positive memory of family foster care. Forty-four Dutch adolescents and young adults (aged 16–28) participated in this study and shared their most positive memory in a short interview. Their answers were qualitatively analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, supplemented with an analysis of the structure of their memories. The thematic analysis resulted in the themes Belongingness, Receiving support, Normal family life, It is better than before, and Seeing yourself grow. The structural analysis showed that young people both shared memories related to specific events, as well as memories that portrayed how they felt for a prolonged period of time. In addition, young people were inclined to share negative memories alongside the positive memories. These results highlight that, in order to build a sense of belonging, it is important that of foster parents create a normal family environment for foster children and provide continuous support. Moreover, the negative memories shared by participants are discussed in light of a bias resulting from earlier traumatic experiences.

scholarly journals How culture and biology interact to shape language and the language faculty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenny Smith
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Evolutionary Models ◽  
Language Faculty ◽  
Repeated Cycle ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Precise Relationship

Recent work suggests that linguistic structure develops through cultural evolution, as a consequence of the repeated cycle of learning and use by which languages persist. This work has important implications for our understanding of the evolution of the cognitive basis for language: in particular, human language and the cognitive capacities underpinning it are likely to have been shaped by co-evolutionary processes, where the cultural evolution of linguistic systems is shaped by and in turn shapes the biological evolution of the capacities underpinning language learning. I review several models of this co-evolutionary process, which suggest that the precise relationship between evolved biases in individuals and the structure of linguistic systems depends on the extent to which cultural evolution masks or unmasks individual-level cognitive biases from selection. I finish by discussing how these co-evolutionary models might be extended to cases where the biases involved in learning are themselves shaped by experience, as is the case for language.

scholarly journals Emotional information-processing correlates of mental health in adolescence: A network analysis approach

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Parsons ◽  
Charlotte Booth ◽  
Annabel Songco ◽  
Elaine Fox
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Cognitive Bias ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Positive Mental Health ◽  
Emotional Information ◽  
Interpretation Biases ◽  
Model Complex ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Emotional Information Processing

The Combined Cognitive Bias Hypothesis proposes that emotional information processing biases associate with each other and may interact to conjointly influence mental health. Yet, little is known about the interrelationships amongst cognitive biases, particularly in adolescence. We used data from the CogBIAS longitudinal study (Booth et al. 2017), including 451 adolescents who completed measures of interpretation bias, memory bias, and a validated measure of general mental health in a typical population. We used a moderated network modelling approach to examine positive mental health related moderation of the cognitive bias network. Mental health was directly connected to positive and negative memory biases, and positive interpretation biases, but not negative interpretation biases. Further, we observed some mental health related moderation of the network structure. Network connectivity decreased with higher positive mental health scores. Network approaches allow us to model complex relationships amongst cognitive biases and develop novel hypotheses for future research.

Responding at the personal (P) level

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Seal ◽  
Pete Harris
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Young People ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Face ◽  
Generative Phase

This chapter outlines how workers can respond on a personal, individual level to youth violence. The authors illustrate how the unpredictable nature of the physical and social space in which youth workers operate requires them to capitalise on and privilege spontaneous encounters and not be afraid to use them to begin to challenge or constructively confront violent behaviour. The authors show how these behaviours are meeting deep needs and that youth workers need to find ways to get young people to understand and acknowledge that, and identify how they may be able to meet these needs in other, less destructive, ways. Part of this process may involve presenting oneself as a blueprint for change, in the context of a relationship that needs to be characterised by warmth, trust and respect, but which should not collude with neutralisation of violence or abandon the young person in the face of structural forces. The authors argue that supporting young people to move into voluntary and paid roles where they can help and support others creates the opportunity for them to move into a generative phase of their own life cycle.

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