The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors of presentation anxiety in adolescents with Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disabilities (MBID). This was done by addressing two key...Show moreThe aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors of presentation anxiety in adolescents with Mild to Borderline Intellectual Disabilities (MBID). This was done by addressing two key questions. Firstly, as people with MBID are at risk for developing an insecure attachment and an insecure attachment is related to low social trust, we investigated whether social trust is related to presentation anxiety in adolescents with MBID. Secondly, we studied whether interpretation bias is a mediator in the relation between social trust and presentation anxiety in these adolescents. Adolescents with MBID completed a series of questionnaires, namely the Children’s Generalized Trust Believes (CGTB), the Adolescents’ Interpretation and Belief Questionnaire (AIBQ) and the Personal Report for Public Speaking Anxiety (PRPSA). These questionnaires were administered to measure the adolescents’ levels of social trust, interpretation bias and presentation anxiety. Their teachers also rated the adolescents’ levels of presentation anxiety on the PRPSA teacher report. We found no evidence for a relation between social trust and presentation anxiety, both for self-reports and teacher reports. Furthermore, interpretation bias was no mediator in this relation. However, after specifying for interpretation bias in social situations, a positive correlation was found between negative interpretation bias in social situations and self-reports of presentation anxiety. In addition, we found a positive relation between social trust and teacher reported presentation anxiety. These results are taken to suggest that adolescents with MBID with a negative interpretation bias in social situations, experience more presentation anxiety. Furthermore, we can conclude that higher social trust in adolescents with MBID is related to higher reports of presentation anxiety by their teachers.Show less
The present study investigated possible underlying mechanisms of presentation anxiety in adolescents with a mild to borderline intellectual disability. Presentation anxiety was measured through...Show moreThe present study investigated possible underlying mechanisms of presentation anxiety in adolescents with a mild to borderline intellectual disability. Presentation anxiety was measured through self-reports and teacher-reports. Due to disagreements on whether presentation anxiety exists independently from, or as a subtype of, social anxiety, the present study investigated both anxiety-types separately. Participants were 14 adolescents with MBID in the age of 12-23 who completed abbreviated intelligence measures and questionnaires on the underlying mechanisms. Results showed neither a correlation nor a difference between self- and teacher-reported presentation anxiety. Moreover, self-reported presentation anxiety was positively correlated with social anxiety and negative interpretation bias, whereas teacher-reported presentation anxiety was not correlated with any of the variables. Hierarchical regression analyses controlling for IQ showed that peer attachment was a significant predictor for self-reported presentation anxiety and social anxiety. It is concluded that peers play an important role in the development of presentation anxiety in MBID adolescents and should therefore be a point of attention for schools, caregivers and treatments. Future studies should focus on including a larger sample and should consider including peer-reports.Show less
