Introduction. Because public speaking anxiety is among the most common social fears, yet still has a knowledge gap, the aim of our study was to 1) investigate in how far adolescents’ behavior when...Show moreIntroduction. Because public speaking anxiety is among the most common social fears, yet still has a knowledge gap, the aim of our study was to 1) investigate in how far adolescents’ behavior when presenting is related to their reported level of public speaking anxiety [PSA], and 2) explore if self-perception plays a role in this relationship. It was expected that adolescents with PSA show less expressiveness, appear less confident, and show more agitated behavior. Furthermore, we expected that self-perception plays a mediating role between PSA and behavior. Method. The sample consisted of 41 adolescents (11-17 years old) who met the criteria for a social anxiety disorder, and were asked to give a presentation while their behavior was coded for analysis. However, only 14 participants had all the necessary data for both analyses. Data was collected using the Personal Report of Public Speaking Anxiety [PRPSA], Speech Performance Observation Scale for Youth [SPOSY], and the Competence Perception Scale for Adolescents [CBSA]. Data was analyzed using a MANOVA and through mediation analysis. Results. No significant correlations were found between PSA and expressiveness (p = .532), PSA and lack of confidence (p = .118), or PSA and agitation (p = .833). Furthermore, results showed that PSA and self-perception were correlated (p = .011), but self-perception and lack of confidence (p = .275), or self-perception and agitation (p = .100) were not. For self-perception and expressiveness, we did find a significant result, but the proportion mediated effect indicated no partial mediation. Discussion. Based on our results, we cannot accept our hypotheses. In our study, there is no relation between PSA and behavior while presenting, nor does self-perception play a mediating role. We expect that we did not find significant results due to our low sample size and not having a control group. Another possibility is that adolescents have learned more presenting skills by being exposed to presenting in school. Because knowledge on this topic is scarce, our study is a valuable contribution to an underrepresented topic. However, more research is needed to understand how public speaking anxiety, self-perception and behavior interact with each other.Show less
Research master thesis | Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies (research) (MSc)
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Background: Empathy deficits are evident in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Conduct Disorder (CD), and are linked to distinct brain structural abnormalities. Criticisms over the years highlight...Show moreBackground: Empathy deficits are evident in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Conduct Disorder (CD), and are linked to distinct brain structural abnormalities. Criticisms over the years highlight that the DSM classifications of psychiatric disorders are primarily based on observable signs and symptoms, insufficiently based on causes and (neuro)biology, and rather ignorant of heterogeneity and overlap in symptoms. The current study therefore aimed for classification of ASD and CD in adolescents, based on brain morphology (BM) and social-emotional functioning (SEF). Methods: The sample included boys with ASD (n = 23) or CD (n = 51), and typically developing boys (TD; n = 36), aged 15-19 years. Participants’ empathy, aggression, psychopathy, problem behaviours, social function/cognition, and brain morphology (using an MRI scanning) were assessed. For the prediction of ASD and CD, a predictive regression with cross-validation comparing three models was performed, followed by several LASSO regressions. For clustering participants, K-means clustering was used with three clusters and K determined by the CH-index and ARI, followed by ANOVAs, T-tests and checking nestedness with crosstabs. Results: ASD and CD DSM-5 diagnoses can most accurately be predicted with a model based on SEF data, and least accurately with a model based on BM data. When using only SEF data, similar to the DSM, classification is erroneous in approximately one fifth of the participants. For an optimal prediction of ASD and CD, a combination of background, SEF, and BM variables is necessary. None of the cluster-solutions, theory-driven (three clusters) or data-driven (SEF data: four clusters; BM data: five clusters), were congruent with the original DSM clustering (ASD, CD, and TD). Conclusion: The current study shows that data-driven classification, based on BM and/or SEF, is not sufficiently accurate or congruent with the DSM classifications. This suggests that the DSM classifications, which are mainly based on SEF data, do not capture ASD and CD well enough. In order to better capture these disorders, combining factors across multiple domains (including background and BM data), is necessary. On top of that, this study shows less explored ways of analysing data in the field of social sciences. As such, this study may represent a stepping stone for the development of more accurate classifications with less negative implications.Show less
1 / 30 Abstract 2 / 30 This study aimed to investigate how feedback influences affective updating and self-perception in healthy adolescents. Adolescence is characterized by significant...Show more1 / 30 Abstract 2 / 30 This study aimed to investigate how feedback influences affective updating and self-perception in healthy adolescents. Adolescence is characterized by significant developmental changes and an important developmental stage for the formation of identity. This identifies formation plays a crucial role in shaping self-esteem and self-confidence. Adolescents compare their self-perception with that of others to explore their identity, relying on their self-confidence as a guiding factor. The way adolescents respond to feedback can significantly influence their self-perception. Affective updating of feelings is the process through which adolescents adapt their emotions in response to feedback, and it plays a vital role in maintaining beliefs about their shortcomings and negative feelings towards self-perception, particularly among anxious adolescents. To explore these dynamics, a social-evaluative speech performance task will be conducted. Eighty adolescents aged 12 to 17 years engaged in a simulated social-evaluating setting, self-evaluated their performance, and received feedback from expert judges. Participants then indicated their emotional state after receiving the feedback. Using computational modeling we examined the affective updating of self-feelings response to positive and negative performance feedback. Additionally, regression analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between self-confidence and affective updating of feelings. This study contributes to our understanding of the psychological processes involved in self-perception and affective updating in healthy adolescents. The findings may have implications for interventions and support strategies aimed at fostering positive self-perception and emotional adjustment during adolescence. By understanding the impact of feedback on adolescents' affective responses and self-perception, we can provide valuable insights into their emotional well-being and development. Keywords: Social feedback 3 / 30 Affective updating Self-image Self-esteem Adolescents Speech task Layman’s summary During adolescence (12-17 years), there are numerous changes, including the development of one's own identity. Self-perception and self-confidence play a crucial role during this stage. Adolescents compare their self-perception with that of others to discover who they are, relying on their self-confidence. Self-confidence evaluates the value they place on their self-perception. The way adolescents respond to feedback influences their self-perception. The process through which adolescents adjust their emotions after receiving feedback is known as affective updating of feelings. This phenomenon plays a significant role in maintaining beliefs about their shortcomings and negative feelings related to self-perception, particularly among anxious adolescents. Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common disorders among adolescents. Adolescents with social anxiety disorder often have low self-confidence and are more sensitive to negative feedback, struggling with rejecting such feedback. However, we were specifically interested in understanding how this process works in healthy adolescents. We aimed to determine whether positive or negative feedback has a greater impact on affective updating of feelings. Additionally, we wanted to investigate whether the level of self-confidence had any relationship with how adolescents affectively update their feelings in response to positive and negative feedback. We aimed to achieve this by replicating a social-evaluative speech task with 80 healthy adolescents.Show less
The way children are raised, and particularly a negative parenting environment, is suggested to be a key factor in the development of alcohol abuse in adolescence. With alcohol abuse being a danger...Show moreThe way children are raised, and particularly a negative parenting environment, is suggested to be a key factor in the development of alcohol abuse in adolescence. With alcohol abuse being a danger to adolescents’ health, social, and professional life, it is of the highest importance to find ways to prevent adolescent alcohol abuse before it’s onset. The current study focusses on adolescents with a past of negative family environments. The study measures parenting environment and alcohol use with a combination of the Measure of Parenting Style (MOPS) questionnaire, the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) and the Drugs, Alcohol and Self-Injury Inventory (DASI), and researches with regression if having experienced more overall negative parenting is a predictor for more alcohol use in adolescence. Secondly, gender was taken into account as a dummy variable, which made it possible to research possible differences in relationships between parenting and alcohol use in female and male adolescents. For both research questions, no significant results were found. In the current study, experienced negative family environments had no influence on the drinking habits of adolescents with a past of child abuse or other youth trauma. While this seems to contradict earlier research, it may also provide us with the new idea that not overall parenting but only specific guidelines concerning alcohol use in parenting help regulate the alcohol use of children later in life.Show less
In adolescence, the quality of a parent-child relationship is especially important as it can affect the adolescent’s development in various ways. One of the areas of development it can influence is...Show moreIn adolescence, the quality of a parent-child relationship is especially important as it can affect the adolescent’s development in various ways. One of the areas of development it can influence is the development of the immune system. Parent-child relationships achieve this through causing the adolescent stress, as stress has been shown to negatively influence immune regulation and development. With this study we aimed to discover how the quality of parent-child relationships affect an adolescent’s immune response to acute stress and whether this relationship is different between males and females. The sample consisted of 79 participants, all Dutch adolescents, ages 14 to 16, with even numbers of boys and girls. Inflammatory cytokine levels (IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α) served to measure the size of the participant’s immune response to stress. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used to induce stress in participants and inflammatory cytokine levels were measured through a blood prick procedure at both pre- and post- TSST. The Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI) measured the quality of the parent-child relationship, where a majority of participants reported on their relationship with their mother. A Repeated Measures Analysis of Covariance (RMANCOVA) was performed, with the quality of the parent-child relationship and the adolescent’s BMI as covariates, and sex of the adolescent as the between-group variable. Quality of parent-child relationship did not affect the change in inflammatory cytokine levels between pre- and post- TSST, nor was this relationship different between boys and girls. However, IL-6 and TNF-α levels were generally higher in boys than in girls. To conclude, we did not find adolescent’s immune responses to stress to be affected by the quality of their parent-child relationship. We, furthermore, did not find the sex of the adolescent to play a role in the aforementioned relationship. Instead, we found that boys, ages 14 to 16, generally have higher levels of cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α than girls, ages 14 to 16. These findings further our understanding of sex-based differences in inflammatory responses, and sets precedent for further exploration of the mechanisms through which parent-child relationships affect an adolescent’s immune responses to stress.Show less
Low self-esteem is a risk factor for several mental health issues, and it can be formed because of negative social feedback. Adolescents are particularly at risk, since they may be more influenced...Show moreLow self-esteem is a risk factor for several mental health issues, and it can be formed because of negative social feedback. Adolescents are particularly at risk, since they may be more influenced by such feedback than adults and have been shown to adjust their self-feelings more in reaction to negative compared to positive feedback. However, both the age bias and the negative learning bias have not been fully supported by previous research as evidence is contradictory. This study aimed to fill this gap by measuring the degree of change in feelings about the self in response to social performance feedback. In this research, a sample of 75 adolescents (12 to 17 years old) and 145 young adults (18 to 25 years old) underwent a task in which they spoke in front of judges. They then had to evaluate statements regarding their performance and subsequently saw the evaluations of judges on the same statements. A reinforcement learning model was adapted to create affective learning rates (ALRs), which were compared between adolescents and adults and between positive and negative feedback. Additionally, EEG data was gathered and frontal-midline theta (FMT) activity following feedback was compared between groups. This allowed us to assess to what extent such feedback is processed and integrated as a cue for future behavioral performance. This study found no differences in ALR between age groups, but a significantly higher ALR in response to positive feedback for both age groups. This is inconsistent with previous results, and we suggest that might depend on task structure. No significant difference was found in FMT, and we suggest that may be because FMT is more related to expectancy of feedback rather than to its valence. Together, this study indicates that adjustments in self-esteem following social performance feedback may depend more on environmental demands than developmental differences, and that the way such feedback is processed may rely on top-down expectations.Show less
The COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, like lockdowns, have resulted in changes in the lives of adolescents. Not much was known about the effect of lockdowns on social anxiety in...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, like lockdowns, have resulted in changes in the lives of adolescents. Not much was known about the effect of lockdowns on social anxiety in adolescents. Aim. This study aimed to gain insight into changes in social anxiety before and after a school closure associated with COVID-19 lockdown and its relation to the experience of the lockdown in Dutch adolescents aged 12-15 years. Methods. A total of 188 adolescents (M = 13.48, SD = 0.81) completed self-report measures of social anxiety on March 2020 (T1). In September 2020 (T2) they completed the same self-report measures of social anxiety, enjoyment of the lockdown, and Worries about COVID-19. Results. Adolescents with average or high symptoms of social anxiety before the first school closure showed a significant reduction in social anxiety symptoms after the first school closure. The expected positive association between social anxiety before and after school closure was moderated by Enjoying the lockdown but not gender. Furthermore, higher symptoms of social anxiety before the first school closure were associated with higher levels of enjoying the lockdown. Conclusion. Results indicated that adolescents with moderate to high social anxiety symptoms and who enjoyed the lockdown and associated consequences such as less face-to-face interaction were most at-risk of reporting higher symptoms of social anxiety once the schools had reopened.Show less
Despite the increased scholarly attention towards swearing, there is no consensus on the matter of gendered swearing (Dewaele, 2016, 2017; Hughes, 2006; Jay, 2000; Jay & Jay, 2013; McEnery,...Show moreDespite the increased scholarly attention towards swearing, there is no consensus on the matter of gendered swearing (Dewaele, 2016, 2017; Hughes, 2006; Jay, 2000; Jay & Jay, 2013; McEnery, 2004). Moreover, perceptions of profanity related to adolescence and other than English languages, like Dutch, have received relatively little scholarly attention. Hence, the present research aimed to advance the understanding of gendered perceptions of use and offensiveness of profane language of Dutch adolescents. A mixed-method was employed utilizing questionnaires (n = 352) and interviews (n = 12) amongst Dutch youth to gauge perceptions of swearing in different domains, the offensiveness of swear words and differences in attitudes towards native Dutch or borrowed English swear words. While adolescents are believed to be most prone to swearing, this was not reflected in the findings of the current study, since adolescents did not rate their utterances as frequent. “Kanker” was perceived as most offensive and “kut” as most frequently uttered. Participants also shared opinions on perceived appropriateness of swearing in different domains. Moreover, Dutch profanities were perceived as more offensive than borrowed English swear words. This was mirrored in the perceptions of religious-related words: Dutch religion-related profanities were considered possibly blasphemous depending on the religious beliefs of the hearer, while English religion-related profanities were never perceived offensive. Note that “O my God” was perceived as feminine. Differences in perceptions on profanities between young men and women were found as well. Young men were perceived to swear more frequently, employing stronger swear words and perceived profanities referring to sexual orientation less offensive. Young women perceived swear words as more offensive and felt restrained by society in their swearing behaviour. These results are in line with McEnery (2004), who concluded that men are still on the lead in terms of frequency and offensiveness of swearing.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
This thesis examines the influence that the English language has on Dutch advertising. In this communicative process, lexical choices are fundamental. Code switching is a commonly-used resource...Show moreThis thesis examines the influence that the English language has on Dutch advertising. In this communicative process, lexical choices are fundamental. Code switching is a commonly-used resource when it comes to the objective of consumer persuasion. In the Netherlands, businesses often choose to use English loanwords in Dutch context to communicate a more dynamic sales pitch to the consumer. Nonetheless, the effects that the use of a non-native language has on brand evaluation are still quite indefinite. For this research, a group of 126 Dutch-speaking adolescents were brought together to fill out a questionnaire, to explore the involvement of educational levels in brand evaluation by consumers. For this purpose, the respondents evaluated different language versions of commercial advertisements. The results indicate that Dutch adolescents prefer the English language in advertising to their native tongue, as it yields more positive connotations. In conclusion, this study offers empirical support for the strategic choice of English language in advertisements that are targeted to an adolescent Dutch audience.Show less
