Parent and Child Anxiety Sensitivity: Relationship in a Nonclinical Sample

Little is known about the relationship between parent and child anxiety sensitivity (AS), particularly in nonclinical samples. The present study examined this association in 207 healthy parent-child pairs including 244 children (mean age = 12.3 years, 103 girls) and 226 parent figures (175 mothers). Sequential multiple linear regression revealed that parent AS was significantly associated with child AS in girls, but not in boys. Parent AS accounted for 9% of incremental variance in child AS, after controlling for child age, parent depression, and parent anxiety. Analyses of parent AS dimensions indicated that the social concerns dimension accounted for 14% of incremental variance in child AS in girls only. Parent anxiety and depression showed no association with child AS, once parent AS was taken into account. The findings indicate that parent AS, especially AS social concerns, demonstrates a significant relationship with child AS in this nonclinical sample of girls.     

The relationship between collective efficacy and precompetitive affect in rugby players: testing Bandura's model of collective efficacy

This study extended research examining Bandura's (1997) proposed model of collective efficacy. Specifically, it examined the relationships between groups' collective efficacy and the precompetitive anxiety and affect they experienced. Prior to a competitive match 66 male Rugby Union footballers from 6 teams (2 university teams and 4 county league teams) completed a single-item measure of confidence in their team winning the forthcoming match, a 10-item measure of confidence in their team performing well in the forthcoming match, the modified Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule. Stepwise (forward) multiple regression analyses indicated that scores for collective efficacy accounted for only 6.3% of the variance in the intensities of cognitive state anxiety and only 22% of the variance in the positive affect experienced prior to the rugby match. The results indicate that concerns with the team's ability to win a match were associated with high cognitive state anxiety and that doubts regarding the team's ability to perform well were related to low positive affect. Given the magnitude of predicted variances, the findings seem to give some support to Bandura's proposal that the beliefs in collective efficacy of individuals engaged in a team task are related to precompetitive affective reactions and the experience of state anxiety.     

Building Solutions in Youth: Evaluation of the Human–Animal Resilience Therapy Intervention

The effectiveness of the human-animal resilience therapy (HART) intervention was examined using a randomized comparison group design with youth ages 10–18 (n = 29). Paired samples t-test analyses revealed statistically significant differences between pretest and posttest scores for anxiety, depression, and disruptive behavior inventories for participants in both the treatment and comparison groups. No significant differences were found for the self-concept or anger inventories. An analysis of variance on gain scores of the treatment and comparison groups revealed no between group differences. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Constructing a self: The role of self-structure and self-certainty in social anxiety

Current cognitive models stress the importance of negative self-perceptions in maintaining social anxiety, but focus predominantly on content rather than structure. Two studies examine the role of self-structure (self-organisation, self-complexity, and self-concept clarity) in social anxiety. In study one, self-organisation and self-concept clarity were correlated with social anxiety, and a step-wise multiple regression showed that after controlling for depression and self-esteem, which explained 35% of the variance in social anxiety scores, self-concept clarity uniquely predicted social anxiety and accounted for an additional 7% of the variance in social anxiety scores in an undergraduate sample (N = 95) and the interaction between self-concept clarity and compartmentalisation (an aspect of evaluative self-organisation) at step 3 of the multiple regression accounted for a further 3% of the variance in social anxiety scores. In study two, high (n = 26) socially anxious participants demonstrated less self-concept clarity than low socially anxious participants (n = 26) on both self-report (used in study one) and on computerised measures of self-consistency and confidence in self-related judgments. The high socially anxious group had more compartmentalised self-organisation than the low anxious group, but there were no differences between the two groups on any of the other measures of self-organisation. Self-complexity did not contribute to social anxiety in either study, although this may have been due to the absence of a stressor. Overall, the results suggest that self-structure has a potentially important role in understanding social anxiety and that self-concept clarity and other aspects of self-structure such as compartmentalisation interact with each other and could be potential maintaining factors in social anxiety. Cognitive therapy for social phobia might influence self-structure, and understanding the role of structural variables in maintenance and treatment could eventually help to improve treatment outcome.     

Evaluation of the Responding in Peaceful and Positive Ways (RIPP) Seventh Grade Violence Prevention Curriculum

We evaluated the impact of RIPP-7, a seventh grade violence prevention curriculum designed to strengthen and extend the effects of the sixth grade RIPP-6 curriculum. Classes of seventh graders at two urban middle schools serving predominantly African-American youth where RIPP-6 had been implemented the preceding school year were randomized to intervention (N = 239) and control groups (N = 237). Compared to students in the control group, students who participated in RIPP-7 had fewer disciplinary code violations for violent offenses during the following school year. A limited number of main effects were found on self-report outcome measures and measures of attitudes. Although significant main effects were not found on self-report measures of physical aggression, drug use, or anxiety, analyses of interactions with pretest scores indicated that intervention effects were significantly moderated by pretest scores for several outcome measures. Students most likely to benefit from the intervention were those who reported higher pretest rates of problem behaviors including violent behavior, nonphysical aggression, and delinquent behavior.     

Developmental factors and performance in remedial courses

This study investigated the relations between various developmental factors and performance in remedial courses. The Iowa Developing Autonomy Inventory, Iowa Managing Emotions Inventory, and Iowa Developing Competency Inventory were administered to 231 students enrolled in a developmental studies program at a large state university (enrollment about 25,000). Regression analyses indicated that various developmental measures accounted for a small effect (amount of variance accounted for ranged from 2% to 7%) on performance in remedial courses. The percentage of variance accounted for by the three inventories was similar to what could be accounted for by more traditional measures of SAT scores and high-school grade point averages. The percentage of variance accounted for by traditional measures ranged from 2% to 10%.     

Diathesis stress model for panic-related distress: a test in a Russian epidemiological sample

To investigate a cognitive diathesis-stress model, the present study evaluated the main and interactive effects of anxiety sensitivity (AS) and exposure to aversive conditions (past month) in predicting theoretically relevant panic vulnerability variables in an epidemiologically defined sample from Russia (N = 390). Consistent with expectation, findings suggested that the combination of high levels of exposure to aversive conditions and high AS physical concerns predicted panic attacks (past week) and agoraphobic avoidance above and beyond the variance accounted for by negative affect. These findings are discussed in relation to biopsychosocial theories of panic disorder, which emphasize the importance of both a cognitive diathesis and stress component in the pathogenesis of the disorder.     

The negative self-portrayal scale: development, validation, and application to social anxiety

The Negative Self-Portrayal Scale (NSPS) is a new questionnaire designed to assess the extent to which individuals are concerned that specific self-attributes they view as being deficient will be exposed to scrutiny and evaluation by critical others in social situations. These concerns have been proposed to drive symptoms of social anxiety and account for individual differences in social fears and avoidance behaviors (Moscovitch, 2009). Here, we introduce the NSPS and examine its factor structure and psychometric properties across two large samples of North American undergraduate students with normally distributed symptoms of social anxiety. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a 3-factor solution representing concerns about (a) social competence; (b) physical appearance; and (c) signs of anxiety. The NSPS was found to have good internal consistency and test-retest reliability, strong convergent validity, and adequate discriminant validity. In addition, NSPS total scores accounted for a significant proportion of unique variance in self-concealment (i.e., safety) behaviors over and above established symptom measures of social interaction anxiety, social performance anxiety, and depression. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical models of social anxiety and the potential utility of the NSPS for both clinical research and practice.     

Competitive state anxiety and self-confidence: intensity and direction as relative predictors of performance on a golf putting task

This study considered relationships between the intensity and directional aspects of competitive state anxiety as measured by the modified Competitive Sport Anxiety Inventory-2(D) (Jones & Swain, 1992) in a sample of 12 experienced male golfers. Anxiety and performance scores from identical putting tasks performed under three different anxiety-manipulated competitive conditions were used to assess both the predictions of Multidimensional Anxiety Theory (MAT; Martens et al., 1990) and the relative value of intensity and direction in explaining performance variance. A within-subjects regression analysis of the intra-individual data showed partial support for the three MAT hypotheses. Cognitive anxiety intensity demonstrated a negative linear relationship with performance, somatic anxiety intensity showed a curvilinear relationship with performance, and self-confidence intensity revealed a positive linear relation. Cognitive directional anxiety illustrated a positive linear relationship with putting performance. Multiple regression analyses indicated that direction (42% of variance) was a better predictor of performance than intensity (22%).     

Anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration represent dissociable dimensions of trait anxiety

Trait anxiety is an individual-difference variable reflecting variation in state-anxiety elevations resulting from exposure to a stressor. It is usually measured using questionnaire instruments, such as the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T). The present research conceptually distinguishes, and independently assesses, two hypothetical dimensions of anxiety vulnerability which, it is argued, could plausibly make independent contributions to variance in trait-anxiety scores. These dimensions are anxiety reactivity, the probability of experiencing an anxiety reaction to a stressor, and anxiety perseveration, the persistence of anxiety symptoms once elicited. Participants were asked three questions about each STAI-T item. The traditional STAI-T question assessed how much of the time this symptom was experienced; the anxiety-reactivity question assessed the probability of experiencing the symptom in response to a stressor; and the anxiety-perseveration question assessed how long the symptom persisted, if elicited. Regression analysis determined that anxiety reactivity and anxiety perseveration scores both accounted for independent variance in trait-anxiety scores. It is argued that models of anxiety vulnerability should seek to differentiate both the causes and the consequences of elevated anxiety reactivity and increased anxiety perseveration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

A Multifactorial Model for the Etiology of Anxiety in Non-Clinical Adolescents: Main and Interactive Effects of Behavioral Inhibition, Attachment and Parental Rearing

There has been limited research examining the additive and interactive effects of multiple factors on the development of anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders in youths. This study was an attempt to examine the reciprocal connections among temperament, attachment, and rearing style, and their unique and interactive relations to anxiety symptoms. Six hundred forty-four non-clinical children aged 11–15 years (mean age = 12.7 years) completed questionnaires measuring behavioral inhibition, attachment, parental rearing behavior, and anxiety symptoms. Results indicated that there were small to moderate positive correlations among various risk factors. Furthermore, modest but significant positive correlations were found between behavioral inhibition, attachment quality, and anxious and controlling rearing behaviors on the one hand, and anxiety scores on the other hand. That is, higher levels of behavioral inhibition, insecure attachment, and parental control and anxious rearing were associated with higher levels of anxiety symptoms. Finally, behavioral inhibition, attachment quality, parental control and anxious rearing each accounted for a small but unique proportion of the variance of anxiety disorders symptomatology. Little support was found for interactive effects of these vulnerability factors on childhood anxiety.     

Neuroticism versus demographic variables as correlates of self-reported life satisfaction in a sample of older adults

The Life Satisfaction Index A, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Profile of Mood States were administered to 120 retired Californians whose mean age was 73 yr. Demographic data were also collected. Life satisfaction scores were greater among those respondents with low self-rated anxiety, high religious commitment, higher socio-economic status, and in good health. Trait anxiety alone accounted for approximately 39% of the total variance in self-reported life satisfaction, although further significant contributions were made by state anxiety and religious commitment. It is argued that self-ratings of life satisfaction among older adults are primarily expressions of stable personality attributes, and that further studies of this type should employ standard measures used in describing adjustment in the general population.     

The Broader Autism Phenotype,Social Interaction Anxiety,and Loneliness: Implications for Social Functioning

Recent research has begun to focus on the subclinical presentation of autistic-like traits in individuals, a construct termed the broader autism phenotype (BAP). The presence of the BAP has been established in both first-degree relatives of individuals with autism as well as in the general population. The current study aimed to examine how self-reported BAP characteristics, social interaction anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation relate to social functioning (specifically, loneliness) in a sample of college students. Results showed that for all subjects, BAP, social interaction anxiety, and fear of negative evaluation did not predict loneliness in a regression model. However, for males these predictors accounted for approximately 48 % of the variance in loneliness scores. Among males, individuals rating themselves as having lower social skills, lower imagination, and higher social interaction anxiety were more likely to also report feeling lonely. These results indicate that the predictors used may function differently among males and females. Although BAP characteristics and social interaction anxiety may not be important correlates of social functioning for females in this sample, they appear to be very important for males’ subjective feelings of loneliness.     

Does anxiety sensitivity predict symptoms of panic, depression, and social anxiety?

This study examined whether the lower-order factors of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) exhibited specificity in predicting symptoms of panic, depression, and social anxiety prospectively. This question was addressed using a sample of undergraduates stratified to represent low, medium, and high levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS). It was hypothesized that the physical concerns, mental concerns, and social concerns subscales of the ASI would predict increases in panic, depression, and social anxiety symptoms, respectively, one year later. Results found that the physical concerns subscale predicted increases in both panic and depressive symptoms. Neither the mental concerns nor the social concerns subscales predicted significant variance in any of the Time 2 symptoms. Theoretical implications of these data for AS are discussed.     

Mental health of circus artists: Psychological resilience,circus factors,and demographics predict depression,anxiety, stress,and flourishing

Circus artists perform physically demanding skills in a high-stress environment, yet little is known about their mental health. We explored emotional states of depression, anxiety, stress and flourishing in a sample of 500 circus artists. The predominantly female sample (n = 415) encompassed a range of performance levels (amateur 50%, part/full-time professional 41%, student 6%, retired 3%), with aerial acrobatics (71%) being the most frequently represented main circus discipline in the sample. Compared to previously established normative scores of a non-clinical population, circus artists scored higher on scales of emotions reflecting depression, anxiety, and stress, and lower on flourishing. They also scored higher on both state and trait resilience compared to previously established normative scores. Using a Bayesian estimation procedure, linear regression analyses showed that resilience, circus factors, and demographics (i.e., age and gender) explained between 24% and 51% of the variance in emotional states of depression, anxiety, stress, and flourishing. Consistently, circus artists with higher levels of state/trait resilience reported higher levels of psychological wellbeing, indicated by lower levels of emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress, and higher levels of flourishing. Therefore, the development of interventions for circus artists who experience lower levels of psychological wellbeing appears warranted.     

Gender Role Orientation and Anxiety Symptoms Among African American Adolescents

The present study evaluated gender role theory as an explanation for the observed gender differences in anxiety symptoms among adolescents. Specifically, the relation between gender, gender role orientation (i.e., masculinity and femininity), self-esteem, and anxiety symptoms was examined in a community sample of 114 African Americans aged 14 to 19 (mean age 15.77; 57 girls). Results revealed that masculinity was negatively associated with anxiety symptoms whereas femininity was positively associated with anxiety symptoms. Gender role orientation accounted for unique variance in anxiety scores above biological gender and self-esteem, and self-esteem moderated the relation between femininity (but not masculinity) and overall anxiety symptoms. Consistent with research on children and Caucasians, findings supported gender role theory as a partial explanation for the observed gender disparity in anxiety symptoms among African American adolescents.     

Full statistical mediation of the relationship between trauma and depressive symptoms

Owing to the potentially devastating effects of trauma‐induced depression, explaining the relationship between trauma and depressive symptoms is important. In this study, we measured lifelong exposure to potentially traumatic events and depressive symptoms in 370‐female undergraduates. We also measured anxiety, past negative time perspective and dissociation as potential mediators. Trauma exposure and depressive symptoms were related with a small but significant effect size (r = .16). Trauma was not associated with dissociation. We found that past negative time perspective and anxiety were full statistical mediators of this trauma‐depressive symptoms relationship. These two mediators combined accounted for all of the variance in that association. Anxiety accounted for more of the variance than past negative time perspective. A proposed explanation is that trauma both affectively elevates anxiety and cognitively creates an enduring focus on the events. Chronic anxiety and a past negative time perspective may lead to depression over time. The clinical implications are possible explanations as to why some treatments work.     

Aggression, alcohol dependency, and self-consciousness among high school students of divorced and nondivorced parents.

134 high school students from a small high school in north central Kansas completed the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale, Fenigstein, et al.'s Self-consciousness Scale, and Zaks' Aggression Scale. Analyses of variance showed significant differences between boys and girls but not among grades. On the aggression and alcohol measures boys scored higher than girls, but lower on public self-consciousness. Youth of divorced parents scored significantly higher than those of nondivorced parents on aggression, private self-consciousness, and general self-consciousness. Aggression scores were significantly and positively correlated with those on the alcohol and private self-consciousness scales. When students' alcoholism scores indicate problems with alcohol, their scores on aggression indicate greater aggression and their private self-consciousness scores indicate sensitivity toward events in their environment, then having concerns about inner self can inhibit the action required for change. MacAndrew scores correlated significantly and negatively with scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness. When MacAndrew scores indicated problems with alcohol, the students' scores on social anxiety about self-consciousness suggested confidence in social settings, being at ease interacting with people. The present study involved students from a single rural district so increased understanding will require more extensive research if strategies for prevention and intervention are to be developed and utilized.     

Cognitive risk factors explain the relations between neuroticism and social anxiety for males and females

The hierarchical model of vulnerabilities to emotional distress contextualizes the relation between neuroticism and social anxiety as occurring indirectly through cognitive risk factors. In particular, inhibitory intolerance of uncertainty (IU; difficulty in uncertain circumstances), fear of negative evaluation (FNE; fear of being judged negatively), and anxiety sensitivity (AS) social concerns (fear of outwardly observable anxiety) are related to social anxiety. It is unclear whether these risk factors uniquely relate to social anxiety, and whether they account for the relations between neuroticism and social anxiety. The indirect relations between neuroticism and social anxiety through these and other risk factors were examined using structural equation modeling in a sample of 462 individuals (M age = 36.56, SD = 12.93; 64.3% female). Results indicated that the relations between neuroticism and social anxiety could be explained through inhibitory IU, FNE, and AS social concerns. No gender differences were found. These findings provide support for the hierarchical model of vulnerabilities to emotional distress disorders, although the cognitive risk factors accounted for variance beyond their contribution to the relation between neuroticism and social anxiety, suggesting a more complex model than that expressed in the hierarchical model of vulnerabilities.     

Development and examination of an expectancy-based measure of test-taking motivation

A 10-item multidimensional measure of test-taking motivation based on expectancy theory, the Valence, Instrumentality, Expectancy Motivation Scale (VIEMS), was developed using a student sample (N = 90) and tested using 2 samples of job applicants in a field setting (N = 296; N = 246). In Field Study 1, the VIEMS was related to test performance. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that the VIEMS explained variance in test score beyond a general measure of test motivation. In a second longitudinal field study, pretest and posttest perceptions of motivation were compared. Results indicated that expectancy was related to actual test performance, and perceived test performance accounted for variance in posttest reports of motivation after controlling for pretest levels of motivation. Test-taking motivation did not account for variance in test performance differences between African Americans and Whites in either field study.