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Bilodeau-Houle A, Bouchard V, Morand-Beaulieu S, Herringa RJ, Milad MR, Marin MF. Anxiety Sensitivity Moderates the Association Between Father-Child Relationship Security and Fear Transmission. Front Psychol 2020; 11:579514. [PMID: 33162918 PMCID: PMC7591469 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579514] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 09/17/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Observational fear learning can contribute to the development of fear-related psychopathologies, such as anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Observational fear learning is especially relevant during childhood. Parent-child attachment and anxiety sensitivity modulate fear reactions and fear learning but their impact on observational fear learning has not been investigated. This study investigated how these factors contribute to observational fear learning in children. We examined this question among 55 healthy parent-child dyads. Children (8–12 years old) watched a video of their parent undergoing a direct fear conditioning protocol, where one stimulus (CS+Parent) was paired with a shock and one was not (CS−), and a video of a stranger for whom a different stimulus was reinforced (CS+Stranger). Subsequently, all stimuli were presented to children (without shocks) while skin conductance responses were recorded to evaluate fear levels. Our results showed that children more sensitive to anxiety and who had lower father-child relationship security levels exhibited higher skin conductance responses to the CS+Parent. Our data suggest that the father-child relationship security influences vicarious fear transmission in children who are more sensitive to anxiety. This highlights the importance of the father-child relationship security as a potential modulator of children’s vulnerability to fear-related psychopathologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexe Bilodeau-Houle
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Valérie Bouchard
- Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Simon Morand-Beaulieu
- Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Neurosciences, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Ryan J Herringa
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Mohammed R Milad
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Marie-France Marin
- Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Research Center of the Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
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