Verbal information transmission has been proposed as one of the most influential fear learning pathways in the acquisition of social fears among children. Empirical studies have demonstrated that...Show moreVerbal information transmission has been proposed as one of the most influential fear learning pathways in the acquisition of social fears among children. Empirical studies have demonstrated that the content of parental verbal information regarding social situations plays a crucial role in shaping children’s development of social fear. Specifically, verbal threat (versus safety) information by the parent regarding novel stimuli significantly influenced children’s reported fear of the social scenario. The current study aims to further investigate whether such verbal threat and safety messages affect children's reported fear in social situations. Additionally, the study explores the potential moderating influence of parental social anxiety on this relationship, as evidence suggests that socially anxious parents convey more negative information regarding novel stimuli, thereby amplifying children's fear beliefs. A total of 69 children (mean age = 11.92 years; 38 girls) received standardized threat and safety information regarding a stranger from their primary caregivers. Subsequently, children engaged in three social tasks with each stranger and reported their fear beliefs about the stranger at the end of the social tasks. Results indicate significantly higher fear beliefs among children who received threat information compared to safety information regarding the stranger. However, parental social anxiety did not moderate the effects of negative verbal information on children’s reported fear beliefs. These findings underscore the role of negative verbal information transmission in children's acquisition of social fears while highlighting the complexity of factors within social anxiety that could contribute to the intergenerational transmission of these fears.Show less
It is well-documented that children can develop fears about novel stimuli through verbal information from others, especially parents, a process referred to as social fear learning or transmission....Show moreIt is well-documented that children can develop fears about novel stimuli through verbal information from others, especially parents, a process referred to as social fear learning or transmission. This transmission of fear is believed to occur via Rachman´s verbal information pathway. Our study explored whether parental verbal threat versus safety information about strangers in a social setting influences children´s subjective fear beliefs. In addition, our study investigated the potential moderating role of parental social anxiety, within the context of intergenerational transmission of social fears. A community sample of 69 children aged 10 to 14 (M = 11.62 years) received verbal threat or safety information from the primary caregiver (55 mothers, 14 fathers) about two strangers. Children´s subjective fear beliefs were reported after engaging with each stranger during socials tasks. Parents reported their social anxiety scores on the SPAI-18. The results indicated that strangers paired with verbal threat information elicited significantly greater fear beliefs in children compared to those paired with safety information. Additionally, parental social anxiety did not significantly moderate the effects of children’s fear beliefs in response to verbal threat information. Our findings underscore the causal influence of parental verbal information on their children´s subjective fear beliefs, irrespective of parental social anxiety, providing evidence for the verbal information pathway.Show less
Achtergrond: Het geven van beangstigende informatie kan bij kinderen leiden tot een toegenomen angstreactie. Deze angstreactie bestaat uit cognitie (angstovertuigingen), fysiologie (hartslag) en...Show moreAchtergrond: Het geven van beangstigende informatie kan bij kinderen leiden tot een toegenomen angstreactie. Deze angstreactie bestaat uit cognitie (angstovertuigingen), fysiologie (hartslag) en gedrag. Er is tot nu toe weinig onderzoek dat kijkt naar de invloed van ouders bij het geven van de beangstigende informatie. Huidig onderzoek: In dit onderzoek is gekeken welk effect de blootstelling aan verbale uitingen van angst versus veiligheid door ouders heeft op het angstgedrag en de hartslag van kinderen tussen de 10 en 13 jaar (N = 77, M = 11.62, SD = 1.18). Ouders gaven angstopwekkende of veilige informatie over twee vreemden. Deze vreemden deden zich voor als juryleden die het kind kwamen beoordelen op sociale taken en waren blind voor hun conditie. Tijdens deze sociale taken werd de hartslag van het kind gemeten. Ook werd het angstgedrag van het kind tijdens het uitvoeren van de sociale taken gemeten. Resultaten: Er werd geen significant verschil gevonden tussen de angstconditie en de veilige conditie in de hartslag en het angstgedrag van kinderen. Ook werd er geen correlatie gevonden tussen angstgedrag en hartslag. Conclusie: Dit onderzoek toont geen effect aan van blootstelling aan verbale uitingen van angst versus veiligheid van de ouders op het angstgedrag en de hartslag van kinderen. De verbale uitingen van angst door ouders over vreemden zorgen niet voor meer angstgedrag en geen fysiologische angstreactie bij kinderen. Ook lijkt er in dit onderzoek geen verband te zijn tussen het angstgedrag en de hartslag.Show less
Achtergrond: Sociale angststoornis is een veelvoorkomende aandoening die geassocieerd wordt met vermijding van sociale situaties en is vaak erfelijk. Eerdere studies tonen aan dat ouders sociale...Show moreAchtergrond: Sociale angststoornis is een veelvoorkomende aandoening die geassocieerd wordt met vermijding van sociale situaties en is vaak erfelijk. Eerdere studies tonen aan dat ouders sociale angst over kunnen dragen via genetische predispositie, maar ook door sociaal leren door middel van onder anderen verbale communicatie. Daarbij verhoogt negatieve verbale informatie van ouders de angstniveaus en het vermijdingsgedrag van kinderen. Huidige studie: Deze bachelor scriptie maakt deel uit van een groter onderzoek naar de verbale transmissie van angst van ouder op kind, met een specifieke focus op de invloed van ouderlijke sociale angst. Het doel was om te onderzoeken wat de effecten zijn van dreigingvs. veiligheidsinformatie over een vreemdeling op het gedrag van de kinderen tijdens een sociale prestatietaak, en hoe ouderlijke sociale angst deze relatie beïnvloedt. Methode: Het experimentele onderzoek omvatte 77 kinderen tussen de 10 en 14 jaar (M = 11.62, SD = 1.18), die samen met hun primaire verzorger deelnamen. Ouders gaven hun kinderen positieve (veilige) of negatieve (dreigende) verbale informatie over juryleden voordat de kinderen een sociale prestatietaak uitvoerden. De sociale angstniveaus van de ouders werden gemeten, en het angstig en het vermijdend gedrag van de kinderen werden tijdens de sociale prestatietaak bijgehouden. Resultaten: De resultaten toonden geen significante verschillen in angstig of vermijdend gedrag van kinderen tussen de dreigings- en veiligheidscondities. Echter, werd er een significant interactie-effect gevonden tussen ouderlijke sociale angst en het angstig gedrag van kinderen, waarbij kinderen van ouders met hogere sociale angst meer angstig gedrag vertoonden in de veilige conditie. Conclusie: Deze bevindingen suggereren dat ouderlijke sociale angst het effect van verbale informatie op het angstig gedrag van kinderen in de veilige conditie kan beïnvloeden, maar dat de manipulatie op zichzelf geen directe invloed had op het kindergedrag. De discrepanties met eerdere studies kunnen mogelijk worden verklaard door verschillen in leeftijdscategorieën en de complexiteit van de sociale interactietaken.Show less
In de overdracht van angst van ouders naar kinderen speelt de genetische component een prominente rol. Daarnaast heeft ook de omgeving veel invloed in de etiologie van angst in de kindertijd....Show moreIn de overdracht van angst van ouders naar kinderen speelt de genetische component een prominente rol. Daarnaast heeft ook de omgeving veel invloed in de etiologie van angst in de kindertijd. Ouders kunnen hun angst overdragen aan hun nakomelingen op verschillende manieren. In deze studie is als eerste onderzocht of het ontvangen van ouderlijke verbaal bedreigende informatie en veilige informatie over een vreemdeling impact had op de angstovertuigingen van kinderen. Ouders gaven verbaal bedreigende of verbaal veilige informatie over twee onbekende juryleden aan hun kinderen (N = 77, M = 11.62 , 42 meiden). Vervolgens moesten de kinderen taken uitvoeren in het bijzijn van deze juryleden. Na de manipulatie rapporteerden kinderen hun angstovertuigingen op een vragenlijst. Het tweede doel van deze studie was om te meten of het effect van ouderlijke verbale informatie op de angstovertuigingen van kinderen, anders is bij verschillende levels van sociale angst bij de ouders. Gezien de grote invloed van ouders op de ontwikkeling van angst is de impact van de angst van de ouders zelf relevant om te onderzoeken. Uit de resultaten van het eerste onderzoek bleek dat ouderlijke verbale informatie invloed had op de angstovertuigingen van het kind. De angstovertuigingen waren hoger voor de vreemdeling die gekoppeld was aan bedreigende informatie vergeleken met de vreemdeling die gekoppeld was aan de veilige informatie. Echter bleek uit de tweede analyse dat de sociale angst van de ouders geen invloed had op de relatie tussen ouderlijke verbale uitingen en de angstovertuigingen van het kind. Verder onthullen de bevindingen de impact van verbale informatie die kinderen van hun ouders ontvangen op hun angstovertuigingen. Daarnaast kan er geconcludeerd worden dat de sociale angst van de ouders geen invloed had op deze relatie. Het belang van nader onderzoek naar de invloed van ouderlijke verbale uitingen op angstovertuigingen van kinderen komt naar voren in deze studie. Toekomstig onderzoek kan de condities waarin en hoe angst opgewekt wordt bij kinderen verder uitlichtenShow less
Social fear is prevalent in both clinical and non-clinical samples, and avoidance of social situations is an essential component of this condition. Parental verbal messages about social situations...Show moreSocial fear is prevalent in both clinical and non-clinical samples, and avoidance of social situations is an essential component of this condition. Parental verbal messages about social situations may influence the development of social anxiety in children. Investigation into the factors contributing to the acquisition of social anxiety from parents is crucial for the development of more effective strategies aimed at preventing social fears in children. In this study, children received verbal threat and safety information about strangers from their primary caregiver, after which they were required to give a speech in front of these strangers. The effect of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) information about strangers on child avoidance of that stranger was studied during a social speech task in an experimental design with a community sample of children (N = 73, M = 11.62 years; 37 girls) who participated with their primary caregiver. Furthermore, the possible moderating role of the social anxiety level of the primary caregiver was explored. The findings did not reveal a significant effect of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) information on observed child stranger avoidance. Thus, the children did not show more avoidance towards the stranger paired with the parental threat (vs. safety) information. Additionally, the effects of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) messages did not differ as a function of the social anxiety level of the primary caregiver. We conclude that a single exposure to parental threat messages does not induce visible avoidance in social situations, irrespective of parental social anxiety levels.Show less
Onveilige en veilige informatie van de ouders speelt waarschijnlijk een rol in het ontwikkelen van sociale angst en vermijdend gedrag van een kind. Door meer verbale onveilige informatie van de...Show moreOnveilige en veilige informatie van de ouders speelt waarschijnlijk een rol in het ontwikkelen van sociale angst en vermijdend gedrag van een kind. Door meer verbale onveilige informatie van de ouders kan het kind onbekende situaties gaan vermijden. Dit thesisonderzoek heeft als doel om meer duidelijkheid te brengen over de invloed van verbale onveilige informatie van de ouder op het vermijdend gedrag van het kind in reactie op onbekende mensen. Sociale angst van de ouder speelt mogelijk ook een rol in dit effect. Een ouder met sociale angst brengt meer bedreigende informatie over, wat kan leiden tot meer vermijdend gedrag van het kind. In deze studie hebben ouders onveilige en veilige informatie over twee vreemden aan hun kind verteld (N = 71 en M = 11.62 jaar). Het effect van de verbale onveilige informatie van de ouder op het vermijdend gedrag van het kind werd tijdens een sociale interactie taak met twee vreemden geobserveerd. Ouders hebben hun eigen sociale angst ook gerapporteerd door middel van een vragenlijst. De resultaten van dit onderzoek hebben aangetoond dat verbale onveilige informatie van de ouders geen significante invloed heeft op het vermijdend gedrag van de kinderen. Daarnaast is er ook geen significante correlatie gevonden tussen het vermijdend gedrag van het kind en de sociale angst van de ouders. Het is dus belangrijk dat er meer onderzoek gedaan wordt in een oudere leeftijdsgroep om vast te stellen of deze invloed daar mogelijk wel te vinden zijn.Show less
Social fears are common in teenagers. Most are transient in nature, but some remain and convey a risk for the development of social anxiety disorder (SAD). A potential underlying mechanism is the...Show moreSocial fears are common in teenagers. Most are transient in nature, but some remain and convey a risk for the development of social anxiety disorder (SAD). A potential underlying mechanism is the parent-to-child transmission of social fears through social learning via the verbal information pathway. Previous research also suggests a role for behavioral inhibition (BI) in acquiring social fears. The current study investigated the effect of parental verbal threat vs. safety information on children’s social fear beliefs towards strangers and whether this effect is moderated by BI and gender. In this experimental study, a non-clinical sample of 64 children aged 9.5-14 years (M = 11.64, SD = 1.15; 35 girls) participated in a social performance task with a stranger about whom their parents communicated threatening or safety information. Children filled in self-reports regarding social fear beliefs about two strangers and BI. The results revealed stronger fear beliefs towards strangers about whom parents communicated threatening information. BI or gender did not moderate this effect. The current study provides additional support for the assumed importance of parental behavior in acquiring social fears through social learning, and in particular with regard to the pathway of verbal information transmission. To interpret the effect as a result of verbal threat information, future research might consider a baseline measure of social fear beliefs to compare changes in social fear beliefs as a result of parental verbal information. This study contributed to a better understanding of underlying mechanisms that place children at risk of developing social fears.Show less
Theories on parent-to-child transmission of social fears highlight the role of verbal information. Specifically, children displaying behavioral inhibition (BI) appear to be particularly responsive...Show moreTheories on parent-to-child transmission of social fears highlight the role of verbal information. Specifically, children displaying behavioral inhibition (BI) appear to be particularly responsive to verbally expressed fear by parents. This study tested the effect of parental expressions of verbal threat (versus safety) on the children’s physiological fear responses to a social stressor, while exploring the moderation effect of BI. Primary caregivers provided standardized verbal threat or safety information to their child (N = 65) regarding two strangers in the lab. Following this manipulation, children performed three social tasks in front of each stranger while their heart rate was measured. Parents reported on their child’s BI. Findings revealed no significant difference in the children's physiological responses to the stranger paired with the threat versus safety information. Moreover, the level of BI in children did not significantly influence the impact of verbal information on heart rate. The findings suggest that exposure to threat information does not per se elicit higher heart rates in children, and question the idea that higher levels of BI necessarily exacerbate the effect of parental verbal threat on physiological fear. The results are interpreted in light of the study’s limitations and emphasize valuable directions for future research on the development of social fears, particularly those fears manifesting in physiological markers.Show less
Social anxiety disorder runs in families. Next to genetically inherited dispositions, there are two main environmental pathways of parent-to-child transmission of anxiety: the verbal transmission...Show moreSocial anxiety disorder runs in families. Next to genetically inherited dispositions, there are two main environmental pathways of parent-to-child transmission of anxiety: the verbal transmission of information and the indirect modelling of information. In this study the parental verbal threat vs safety expressions about strangers on children’s reported fear and the possible moderating role of child’s temperament in a community sample of 10-to-13-year-old children (N = 75) is investigated. In the experiment, primary caregivers gave standardized verbal threat vs safety information about two strangers to their child. Then children separately interacted with the two strangers in a series of social tasks where they gave a social speech, watched back their social performance, and interacted with the strangers about their performance. After that, each participating child was asked to report their fear beliefs about each stranger. Child temperament was measured using the Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire (EATQ), filled in by both parents. Results showed that the effect of parental verbal communication on the fear beliefs of the child was significant: children reported more fear beliefs to the stranger paired with parental threat (versus safety) information. The effect was, however, not qualified by a higher order interaction between condition and child’s temperament, suggesting that the impact of parental verbal information does not differ as a function of temperament. The findings reveal that a brief exposure to parental verbal threat induces fear beliefs in children, irrespective to the temperament scores.Show less
While fear of social situations is common, excessive social fears, as observed in social anxiety disorder (SAD), can have debilitating consequences on one’s life. Social fears increase from early...Show moreWhile fear of social situations is common, excessive social fears, as observed in social anxiety disorder (SAD), can have debilitating consequences on one’s life. Social fears increase from early to mid-adolescence, heightening vulnerability to developing SAD. Parents’ threatening verbal comments in a social context could influence children’s fear response, including attention, and lead to social fear acquisition. Additionally, children with higher behavioral inhibition (BI), who are more cautious and withdrawn in novel situations, can be more open to the effects of parental remarks than children with lower BI. Therefore, the current thesis aimed to investigate the effect of parental verbal threat versus safety about strangers on children’s attention to strangers, while looking at BI as a moderator. The children (age M = 11.62, SD = 1.18, range: 9.5-14) gave a presentation for two strangers after receiving either threatening or safe verbal descriptions of these strangers from their parents. Results showed that the child’s attention (i.e., looking duration) toward the stranger did not significantly differ between the threat and safe conditions. Furthermore, there was no significant moderation by BI. Thus, child attention was not influenced by parental verbal information irrespective of individual differences in child BI. Future studies could investigate children’s development of SAD further by focusing on the role of parental SAD, as well as the effects of repetitive exposure to parental verbal threat, other variables related to attention, and the developmental trajectories regarding BI.Show less
This study investigated the transmission of social anxiety from parent to child via verbal information about strangers. Based on previous research findings demonstrating verbal fear learning from...Show moreThis study investigated the transmission of social anxiety from parent to child via verbal information about strangers. Based on previous research findings demonstrating verbal fear learning from parent to child, which often resulted in avoidance behavior in the children, this study tested verbal fear learning in a social performance task with a stranger. Further, it was investigated whether parental social anxiety would moderate child´s avoidance towards the stranger. The current study included a community sample of 71 adolescents aged eleven- to fourteen. The children were accompanied by their primary caregiver to the lab, where the caregiver gave the manipulation by providing either safety or threat messages about two strangers. Multiple questionnaires were filled in by the parents and child, along with several measurements taken during the study, of which this thesis focused on the child´s avoidance behavior during the social performance task. Results indicate no significant differences in avoidance behavior between the safety or threat messages and no moderation effect of parental SAD. It was demonstrated that children of socially anxious parents were overall significantly more avoidant towards the strangers. Even though no support for a parent-to-child transmission of stranger anxiety in this sample was found, the findings contribute to the growing evidence that parental SAD does translate into behavioral avoidance in their children. Future research should try to find reliable measures of avoidance behavior, research a clinical sample and investigate this intergenerational transmission in a longitudinal or observational design.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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This study investigated the impact of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) information regarding a stranger on a child’s subjective and behavioral fear responses towards that stranger. As a...Show moreThis study investigated the impact of parental verbal threat (vs. safety) information regarding a stranger on a child’s subjective and behavioral fear responses towards that stranger. As a manipulation, parents were instructed to provide their children (N=79), aged 10-14 years, with standardized verbal threat or safety information about two strangers in the lab. Then, children engaged in a social interaction task with the two strangers (blind to their condition) separately, while child behavioral avoidance was recorded. Following the task, children reported fear beliefs for each stranger. Also, parents completed a self-report questionnaire on social anxiety symptoms. Children reported more fear beliefs for the stranger paired with the threat information, but no significant difference was found in observed avoidance. In addition, verbal threat information did not have a stronger influence on children’s observed avoidance in case of higher reported fear beliefs. Similarly, high parental social anxiety symptoms did not moderate the impact of verbal threat information on the child’s cognitive or behavioural fear indices. However, they did have a significant influence on behavioural avoidance, regardless of verbal information. Overall, this study shows a causal effect of verbal threat messages provided by parents only on child subjective fear and highlightsthe need for further research on the verbal transmission of childhood social fears in the context of family, by examining these processes in various social situations, age groups, and fear indices.Show less
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common types of psychopathology. Parent-child interactions play a prominent role in the development of SAD. Verbal information from parent to child...Show moreSocial anxiety disorder (SAD) is one of the most common types of psychopathology. Parent-child interactions play a prominent role in the development of SAD. Verbal information from parent to child has been shown to be a potential mechanism for the transfer of fear. The current study aimed to investigate this transfer from parent to child by exploring the effect of parental verbal communication of threat and safety information on children’s attentional bias. Additionally, it was investigated whether the overall anxiety levels of parents would moderate this effect. The sample included 68 children aged 10 to 14 (38 girls and 29 boys, Mage = 11.23, SD = 1.17, range 9.57 - 14.28) and their parents (68 mothers and 55 fathers). The attentional bias was operationalized by using recorded videos of the social tasks performed by the children to calculate the total duration and frequency of the child's gaze at a safety-paired stranger and a threat-paired stranger. The results revealed no significant effect of parental verbal communication of threat versus safety on children’s attentional bias. Moreover, parental anxiety scores did not moderate this effect. The findings suggest that threat and safety information received verbally from parents does not influence the child's fear response. Our findings are not in line with previous studies, highlighting the importance of future research that will further clarify the mechanisms playing a role in the verbal transmission of threat and anxiety from parent to child.Show less
Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
closed access
Observing emotions in others’ facial expressions is an important factor guiding social interaction. Observing others’ emotions elicits physiological arousal in the observer, which is reflected in...Show moreObserving emotions in others’ facial expressions is an important factor guiding social interaction. Observing others’ emotions elicits physiological arousal in the observer, which is reflected in increased pupil diameter (i.e., pupil dilation). The current study used pupil dilation as an index of physiological arousal to explore children’s responses to emotional facial expressions. More specifically, we investigated whether maternal symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were related to offspring’s pupil responses to negative (versus positive) facial displays irrespective of the child’s symptomology. A community sample of 87 mother- (M = 42.30, SD = 5.60, range = 27-57) child (M = 10.11, SD = 1.32, range = 7.2-12.9) dyads participated in the current study. Mothers and offspring reported on their depressive and anxiety symptoms via self-report questionnaires. Children’s pupil responses to angry, fearful, sad, and happy dynamic facial displays were measured during the dynamic emotions task using eye-tracking. Results revealed that maternal depressive symptoms were not related to child pupil responses to negative (versus positive) faces. Higher levels of maternal anxiety, however, were linked to stronger child pupil responses to fearful and sad faces than to happy faces. In turn, child pupil responses to angry (versus happy) faces did not statistically differ as a function of maternal anxiety. These findings persisted after accounting for the link between child anxiety symptoms and child pupil responses. Therefore, the way typically developing children react to negative versus positive emotional faces in later childhood appears to be related to maternal levels of anxiety, but not to maternal levels of depression. This points to the importance of exploring maternal anxiety symptoms as a potential risk factor for the development of negativity biases in offspring across the general population.Show less
To look at how a parent’s verbal communication can influence a child’s development of fear beliefs, a study called STARs Leiden was conducted using different social interaction tasks. During this...Show moreTo look at how a parent’s verbal communication can influence a child’s development of fear beliefs, a study called STARs Leiden was conducted using different social interaction tasks. During this research 72 participants between the ages 10 and 14 years were examined to see how parental verbal transmission of threat vs safety about strangers influenced fear beliefs. This was examined by offering the children the following three tasks: a speech about shyness and confidence, that was being recorded, watching the recording of their speech with a stranger and lastly a speech about their overall performance. Before any engagement took place the parent of each child pointed to an image of two strangers and declared that one is “nice”, and one is “tough”. After this the child had to fill in a questionnaire about fear beliefs about both judges. The child also had to fill in the child anxiety SCARED questionnaire before completing any of the tasks. An ANOVA was used to see if parental expression of threat vs safety had an influence on a child’s reported fear beliefs, these results were significant. Secondly, an ANOVA was also used to see if a child that scored high on social anxiety (when looking at the results on the child anxiety SCARED) also had more fear beliefs, however, these results did not yield a significant effect.Show less
