Poster #202 - Emotion Regulation Mediates the Longitudinal Relations Between Early Temperament and Social Anxiety in Late Childhood.

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Emotion-related problems are often evident in psychological disorders, and certain emotion regulation (ER) strategies can either be adaptive and thus, protective against psychopathology, or maladaptive and a risk factor for psychopathology (Gross & Jazaieri, 2014). Specifically, individuals with high levels of social anxiety report problems with implementing effective forms of ER strategies; often resorting to strategies characterized by avoidance or passive tolerance (Goldin et al., 2014; Werner et al., 2011). Multiple studies identify behavioral inhibition (BI) in early childhood as a risk factor for later behavioral and emotional problems, suggesting that early temperament may impact the development of ER strategies. For example, a recent study found that ER strategies during a disappointment task mediated the relation between early BI and future social competence, such that BI predicted the use of less proactive ER strategies during a disappointment task, and proactive ER strategies predicted higher levels of social competence (Penela et al., 2015). This study aimed to extend these findings, examining ER strategies as a mediator in the relation between early BI and social anxiety in middle childhood.
In a sample of 147 children, BI was measured at ages 2 and 3 using maternal-report on the Toddler Behavior Assessment Questionnaire (Goldsmith, 1996) and observational measures of children’s behavior when presented with novel social and nonsocial stimuli (Fox et al., 2001). Behavior was scored based on children’s latency to approach/touch the novel stimuli, latency to vocalize, and the duration of time spent in proximity to their mother. At age 5, children completed a disappointment task. ER strategies were coded in six 10 second epochs and measured as a composite of active and passive (reversed) strategies, such that higher scores indicated the use of more active strategies (Penela et al., 2015). Finally, as a measure of social anxiety at age 9, parents completed the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Disorders (Birmaher et al., 1997).
A mediation model was tested with BI as the predictor, ER strategy as the mediator, and parent-reported social anxiety as the outcome. As shown in Figure 1, results revealed a significant association between BI and social anxiety, such that children who exhibited high BI in early childhood had more symptoms of social anxiety at 9 years, and this relation was mediated via ER strategies used during the disappointment task. The indirect effect of BI on social anxiety through ER strategies was significant, demonstrating that children who were high in BI, engaged in less proactive ER strategies during the disappointment task, which in turn predicted more symptoms of social anxiety.
The current study extends the findings of past studies, highlighting the important role that ER strategies play in the relation between early temperament and future psychopathology. Our results suggest that ER may be one of the mechanisms by which early temperamental risk leads to social anxiety. Implementation of early intervention programs that encourage highly inhibited children to use proactive ER strategies when confronted with challenging situations may help to minimize risk for social anxiety.

Authors

• Gabriela Suarez, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Santiago Morales, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author

• Natalie Miller, University of Maryland, College Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Penela, Pediatric Psychology Associates
  Non-Presenting Author

• Heather Henderson, Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nathan Fox, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author