Parent-to-Child Transmission of Stranger Anxiety via Verbal Information: The Role of Infant Temperament

• In Event: Learning to Fear in Childhood: Evidence from Experimental Studies

Abstract

Introduction: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is among the most prevalent and debilitating psychopathology in children and adults (Ruscio et al., 2008; Burstein et al., 2011). SAD runs in families and parents may pass on social anxiety to the offspring in two ways: First, parents with SAD may genetically transmit anxiety dispositions, which may at first manifest as a fearful temperament. Temperamentally fearful children are at increased risk for SAD (Clauss, & Blackford, 2012). Second, parents can pass on anxious behaviors to the offspring environmentally: Children may acquire social anxiety through observing and modelling parents’ non-verbal anxiety signals in social situations (so called vicarious learning), and through parents’ verbal communication of social anxiety (Askew & Field, 2008; Fisak & Grills-Taquechel, 2007). Fearful temperament not only increases SAD risk, but may also render the offspring more susceptible to environmental anxiety transmission (Degnan et al., 2010). This project investigates, for the first time, the effect of parental verbal anxiety expressions regarding strangers on child fear acquisition of strangers in a multi-method experimental design incorporating child-reported fear beliefs, observed fear and avoidance, physiology, and attention to strangers. The moderating role of child temperament was explored.

Method: A sample of 68 4-to-6-year-old children participated with their primary caregiver. If available, both parents of the participating children completed online questionnaires reporting child temperament and parental anxiety, before the experiment. The primary caregiver was instructed to provide standardized verbal threat or safety information to their child regarding two strangers in the lab. Following this manipulation, child fear beliefs for each stranger were measured. Children then participated in two social tasks: In a social performance task, children sang in front of the two laboratory strangers. In a social interaction task, children were engaged in a conversation by each of the strangers in turn. Children’s heart-rate and behavioral reactions to each of the strangers were measured during social tasks. Children completed a visual search task in which the strangers’ pictures appeared as stimuli.

Results: As shown in Figure 3, preliminary analyses on the effect of parental verbal information on child reactions revealed that children reported more fear beliefs for the stranger paired with threat (m = 3.88, sd = .84) as compared to safety information (m = 2.23, sd = 1.00), F (1,65) = 111.95, p < .01, whereas no significant differences were found in child observed fear (p =.683) or avoidance (p =.093). Child attention (p =.090), and HR responses (p =.177) did not significantly differ between the strangers paired with threat (versus safety). No significant moderating role of temperament was found (p’s > .093).

Discussion: The findings show a causal influence of parents’ verbal threat information on child fear beliefs of strangers, whereas no significant effect of parental information was observed in child behavior or physiology during the actual encounters with the strangers paired with threat (vs. safety) information. The findings highlight that acquired fear beliefs need not persist and may be overruled by a non-aversive experience of strangers during direct confrontations.

Authors

• Evin Aktar, Leiden University
  Presenting Author

• Cosima Nimphy, Universiteit Leiden
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bram Van Bockstaele, University of Western Australia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Koraly Elisa Perez-Edgar, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author