The verbal transmission of social anxiety from parents to adolescents

The development of social anxiety, which is highly prevalent and persistent in adolescents, heavily depends on predisposing factors, such as behavioral inhibition, and environmental influences, such as parenting, particularly via verbal learning. This study investigated whether social fears can be verbally transmitted from parents to their adolescent children (N = 72, M = 11.67 years; 54.5% girls) by exploring whether standardized threat information about a stranger leads to higher fear beliefs in contrast to safety information about another stranger, and whether behavioral inhibition has a moderating role by exacerbating this verbal transmission of fear. The adolescents were provided with this information before performing a social interaction task with each of two strangers acting as judges, who were unaware whether they were paired with threat or safety information. Behavioral inhibition scores were assessed via parent and child reports prior to the verbal threat or safety...Show moreThe development of social anxiety, which is highly prevalent and persistent in adolescents, heavily depends on predisposing factors, such as behavioral inhibition, and environmental influences, such as parenting, particularly via verbal learning. This study investigated whether social fears can be verbally transmitted from parents to their adolescent children (N = 72, M = 11.67 years; 54.5% girls) by exploring whether standardized threat information about a stranger leads to higher fear beliefs in contrast to safety information about another stranger, and whether behavioral inhibition has a moderating role by exacerbating this verbal transmission of fear. The adolescents were provided with this information before performing a social interaction task with each of two strangers acting as judges, who were unaware whether they were paired with threat or safety information. Behavioral inhibition scores were assessed via parent and child reports prior to the verbal threat or safety information transfer, while fear beliefs were reported by the adolescents after the social task. In line with previous literature, adolescents reported higher fear beliefs for the strangers associated with threat information than for those associated with safety information. No significant moderation by behavioral inhibition was found, though parentally reported child behavioral inhibition positively predicted overall fear beliefs. Conclusively, social fears may be verbally transmitted from parents to adolescents via threat or safety information affecting fear beliefs. Limitations are discussed and further research to ascertain the full scope of this effect and implications is encouraged.Show less

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The verbal transmission of social anxiety from parents to adolescents