This study aimed to investigate the effect of parental verbal threat information as an environmental learning mechanism on the familial transmission of social anxiety by studying its effects on...Show moreThis study aimed to investigate the effect of parental verbal threat information as an environmental learning mechanism on the familial transmission of social anxiety by studying its effects on fear beliefs about strangers. Additionally, this study considered the moderating role of social anxiety levels of the parent who provided the information to the child on the effect of verbal threat information. The sample consisted of 68 American children ranging from age 4 to 6. These children were told they had to perform for, and interact with two different judges (strangers). The children were provided with threat or safety information about the judges by their parent. Fear beliefs regarding each judge were assessed after the manipulation using an adapted version of the Fear Beliefs Questionnaire. Results indicated that verbal threat information from parents resulted in significantly higher fear beliefs in children about these judges than when safety information was provided. Parental general social anxiety did not moderate this effect. This is the first study to show that parental verbal threat information is effective in triggering higher fear beliefs about strangers in 4 to 6-yearold children than safety information. Thereby this study provides insight into the parent to child transmission of social anxiety via verbal threat information.Show less
