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
