Children’s Internal Attributions of Anxiety-Related Physical Symptoms: Age-Related Patterns and the Role of Cognitive Development and Anxiety Sensitivity
Tóm tắt
The present study examined age-related patterns in children’s anxiety-related interpretations and internal attributions of physical symptoms. A large sample of 388 children aged between 4 and 13 years completed a vignette paradigm during which they had to explain the emotional response of the main character who experienced anxiety-related physical symptoms in a variety of daily situations. In addition, children completed measures of cognitive development and anxiety sensitivity. Results demonstrated that age, cognitive development, and anxiety sensitivity were all positively related to children’s ability to perceive physical symptoms as a signal of anxiety and making internal attributions. Further, while a substantial proportion of the younger children (i.e., <7 years) were able to make a valid anxiety-related interpretation of a physical symptom, very few were capable of making an internal attribution, which means that children of this age lack the developmental prerequisites for applying physical symptoms-based theories of childhood anxiety.
Tài liệu tham khảo
Rapee RM, Schniering CA, Hudson JL (2009) Anxiety disorders during childhood and adolescence: origins and treatment. Ann Rev Clin Psychol 5:311–341
Costello EJ, Mustillo S, Erkanli A, Keeler G, Angold A (2003) Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Arch Gen Psychiatry 60:837–844
Cartwright-Hatton S, McNicol K, Doubleday E (2006) Anxiety in a neglected population: prevalence of anxiety disorders in pre-adolescent children. Clin Psychol Rev 26:817–833
Muris P, Broeren S (2009) Twenty-five years of research on childhood anxiety disorders: publication trends between 1982 and 2006 and a selective review of the literature. J Child Family Studies 18:388–395
Lang PJ (1985) The cognitive psychopathology of emotion: fear and anxiety. In: Tuma AH, Maser JD (eds) Anxiety and the anxiety disorders. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 131–170
Clark DM (1986) A cognitive approach to panic. Behav Res Ther 24:461–470
Reiss S, Peterson RA, Gursky DM, McNally RJ (1986) Anxiety sensitivity, anxiety frequency, and the prediction of fearfulness. Behav Res Ther 24:1–8
Ollendick TH, Birmaher B, Mattis SG (2004) Panic disorder. In: Morris TL, March JS (eds) Anxiety disorders in children and adolescents. Guilford, New York, pp 189–211
Hayward C, Killen JD, Kraemer HC, Taylor CB (2000) Predictors of panic attacks in adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 39:207–214
Nelles WB, Barlow DH (1988) Do children panic? Clin Psychol Rev 8:359–372
Muris P, Hoeve I, Meesters C, Mayer B (2004) Children’s perception and interpretation of anxiety-related physical symptoms. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 35:233–244
Muris P, Mayer B, Vermeulen L, Hiemstra H (2007) Theory-of-mind, cognitive development, and children’s interpretation of anxiety-related physical symptoms. Behav Res Ther 45:2121–2132
Muris P, Vermeer E, Horselenberg R (2008) Cognitive development and the interpretation of anxiety-related physical symptoms in 4–13-year-old non-clinical children. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 39:73–86
Mattis SG, Ollendick TH (1997) Children’s cognitive responses to the somatic symptoms of panic. J Abn Child Psychol 25:47–57
Flavell JH, Miller PH, Miller SA (2002) Cognitive development, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River
Bibace R, Walsh ME (1980) Development of children’s concepts of illness. Pediatrics 66:912–917
Muris P, Steerneman P, Meesters C, Merckelbach H, Horselenberg R, Van den Hogen T, Van Dongen L (1999) The TOM-test: a new instrument for assessing theory of mind in normal children and children with pervasive developmental disorders. J Autism Dev Dis 29:67–80
Muris P, Meesters C, Mayer B, Bogie N, Luijten M, Geebelen E, Bessems J, Smit C (2003) The Koala Fear Questionnaire: a standardized self-report scale for assessing fears and fearfulness in pre-school and primary school children. Behav Res Ther 41:597–617
Silverman WK, Fleisig W, Rabian B, Peterson R (1991) Childhood anxiety sensitivity index. J Clin Child Psychol 20:162–168
Edwards SL (2007) Temperament and environmental risk factors contributing to anxiety symptoms in preschool-aged children. Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis
Spence SH, Rapee RM, McDonald C, Ingram M (2001) The structure of anxiety symptoms among preschoolers. Behav Res Ther 39:1293–1316
Broeren S, Muris P (2008) Psychometric evaluation of two new parent-rating scales for measuring anxiety symptoms in young Dutch children. J Anx Dis 22:949–958
Piaget J (1970) Piaget’s theory. In: Mussen PH (ed) Carmichael’s manual of child psychology, vol 1. Wiley, New York, pp 703–732
Siegler RS (1996) Emerging minds: the process of change in children’s thinking. Oxford University Press, New York
Muris P, Merckelbach H, Meesters C (2001) Learning experiences and anxiety sensitivity in normal adolescents. J Psychopathol Behav Assessm 23:279–283
Muris P, Field A (2008) Distorted cognition and pathological anxiety in children and adolescents. Cogn Emotion 22:395–421
Schneider S, In-Albon T, Rose U, Ehrenreich JT (2006) Measuring panic interpretation bias using the Anxiety Interpretation Questionnaire for Children. J Cogn Psychother 20:85–96
Reiss S, Silverman WK, Weems CF (2001) Anxiety sensitivity. In: Vasey MW, Dadds MR (eds) The developmental psychopathology of anxiety. Oxford University Press, London, pp 92–111
Weems CF, Taylor LK, Marks A, Varela RE (in press) Anxiety sensitivity in childhood and adolescence: parent reports and factors that influence associations with child reports. Cogn Ther Res
Rabian B, Peterson R, Richters J, Jensen PS (1993) Anxiety sensitivity among anxious children. J Clin Child Psychol 22:441–446
Weems CF, Hammond-Laurence K, Silverman WK, Ginsburg GS (1998) Testing the utility of the anxiety sensitivity construct in children and adolescents referred for anxiety disorders. J Clin Child Psychol 27:69–77