Examining a developmental pathway from early behavioral inhibition to emotion regulation and social anxiety: The moderating role of parenting

Interactions among stress, behavioral inhibition, and delta-beta coupling predict adolescent anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented changes and uncertainty to the daily lives of youth. The range of adjustment in light of a near-universal experience of COVID restrictions highlights the importance of identifying factors that may render some individuals more susceptible to heightened levels of anxiety during stressful life events than others. Two risk factors to consider are temperamental behavioral inhibition (BI) and difficulties in emotion regulation (ER). As such, the current paper focused on BI examined prior to COVID, because of its developmental link to anxiety and ER, as difficulties may be associated with differences in anxiety. We examined a neurocognitive marker of ER processes, delta-beta coupling (DBC). The current paper had two goals: (1) to examine BI in relation to COVID-related worry and social anxiety experienced during the pandemic, and (2) to explore the role of individual differences in early DBC in the relationship between BI and anxiety outcomes 6 months apart during COVID-19 (n = 86; T1 Mage  = 15.95, SD = 1.73; T6 Mage  = 16.43, SD = 1.73). We found support for the moderating role of DBC in the relationship between BI levels and social anxiety disorder (SAD) symptom severity during the pandemic. Here, high BI was predictive of increased SAD symptom levels in adolescents with stronger DBC.

Child inhibited temperament and caregiver distraction encouragement jointly predict children's delay of gratification competencies

A cool attentional focus during the classic delay of gratification (DG) task involves shifting attention away from the emotion-arousing features and is a key mechanism that underlies children's ability to resist temptation and wait. Yet, we know relatively little about what gives rise to individual differences in cool focus in the first place. The current study (N = 162, Mage = 6.86 years) addressed this question by focusing on key aspects of child temperament (i.e., behavioral inhibition, BI) and caregiver emotion socialization (i.e., distraction encouragement) as joint predictors of cool focus. We theorized that because children are left alone in an unfamiliar environment for an undefined duration, the DG task would be especially taxing for children higher in BI, hindering their ability to deploy a cool focus and wait. We also reasoned that caregiver encouragement of distraction would serve as a protective factor by allowing children higher in BI to more easily activate a cool focus even when experiencing a taxing task. Results were partially consistent with these hypotheses, shedding new light on precursors to a central ingredient of DG ability.

Social versus non-social behavioral inhibition: Differential prediction from early childhood of long-term psychosocial outcomes

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a temperamental style characterized by cautious and fearful behaviors in novel situations. The present multi-method, longitudinal study examined whether young children's observed and parent-reported BI in social versus non-social contexts predicts different long-term psychosocial outcomes. Participants (N = 279) were drawn from a longitudinal study of socioemotional development. BI in social contexts ("social BI") was measured via children's observed wariness toward unfamiliar adults and peers at 24 and 36 months and parents' reports of children's social fear/shyness at 24, 36, and 48 months. BI in non-social contexts ("non-social BI") was measured via children's observed fearful responses to masks and novel toys, and parents' reports of children's distress to non-social novelty at 9 months and non-social fear at 48 months. At 15 years, anxiety was assessed via adolescent- and parent-reports, and global internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed via parent-reports. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that a two-factor model fit the BI data significantly better than a single-factor model, providing evidence for the dissociation of BI in social versus non-social contexts. Social BI was uniquely associated with adolescent social anxiety, whereas non-social BI was specifically associated with adolescent separation anxiety. Neither social BI nor non-social BI predicted global internalizing and externalizing problems, providing evidence for the specific relations between BI and anxiety problems. Together, these results suggest that young children's inhibited responses in social versus non-social situations predict different subtypes of anxiety problems in adolescence, highlighting the multifaceted nature of BI and the divergent trajectories of different anxiety problems.

An Integrative Model of Youth Anxiety: Cognitive-Affective Processes and Parenting in Developmental Context

Multiple theoretical frameworks have been proposed to provide a more comprehensive picture of the risk factors that influence anxiety-related developmental trajectories. Nonetheless, there remains a need for an integrative model that outlines: (1) which risk factors may be most pertinent at different points in development, and (2) how parenting may maintain, exacerbate, or attenuate an affective style that is characterized by high negative emotional reactivity to unfamiliar, uncertain, and threatening situations. A developmentally informed, integrative model has the potential to guide treatment development and delivery, which is critical to reducing the public health burden associated with these disorders. This paper outlines a model integrating research on many well-established risk mechanisms for anxiety disorders, focusing on (1) the developmental progression from emotional reactivity constructs early in life to those involving higher-level cognitive processes later in youth, and (2) potential pathways by which parenting may impact the stability of youth's cognitive-affective responses to threat-relevant information across development.

Infant fearful distress, parent intrusiveness, and adversity in families experiencing homelessness

Infants experiencing homelessness face risk for developing mental health problems in the future. Parents residing in shelters experience adverse events at elevated rates compared to non-homeless individuals, which can impact their infants during a time of rapid development depending on how the parent copes. For some, trauma linked to these events may manifest in an intrusive parenting style that interferes with the child's developing capacity for self-regulation. We utilized a sample of 60 parent-infant dyads recruited while residing in emergency homeless shelters to evaluate associations among parents' history of adversity, intrusive parenting behaviors, and infants' fearful distress. Observed parent intrusiveness during a free play interaction was significantly associated with infant fearfulness observed in a separate behavioral task during which infants viewed a series of masks. Furthermore, there was a moderating effect for parent history of adversity such that the association between parent intrusiveness and infant fearful distress was stronger among parents with more past experiences of adversity.

Annual Research Review: Developmental pathways linking early behavioral inhibition to later anxiety

Behavioral Inhibition is a temperament identified in the first years of life that enhances the risk for development of anxiety during late childhood and adolescence. Amongst children characterized with this temperament, only around 40 percent go on to develop anxiety disorders, meaning that more than half of these children do not. Over the past 20 years, research has documented within-child and socio-contextual factors that support differing developmental pathways. This review provides a historical perspective on the research documenting the origins of this temperament, its biological correlates, and the factors that enhance or mitigate risk for development of anxiety. We review as well, research findings from two longitudinal cohorts that have identified moderators of behavioral inhibition in understanding pathways to anxiety. Research on these moderators has led us to develop the Detection and Dual Control (DDC) framework to understand differing developmental trajectories among behaviorally inhibited children. In this review, we use this framework to explain why and how specific cognitive and socio-contextual factors influence differential pathways to anxiety versus resilience.

Behavioral inhibition, negative parenting, and social withdrawal: Longitudinal associations with loneliness during early, middle, and late adolescence

Adolescent loneliness can have detrimental effects on physical and mental health, but there is limited understanding of its antecedents in infancy and childhood. A 20-year longitudinal, multi-informant, and multi-methods study (first data collection in 1998) was conducted to examine mechanisms underlying adolescent loneliness (N = 128, 52% boys, M_{age_baseline}  = 1.23, SD = 0.02, 99% White, recruitment in Dutch urban, healthcare centers). Structural equation modeling showed that high infant behavioral inhibition (BI) was indirectly associated with high loneliness during adolescence via high childhood social withdrawal. This indirect effect was equally strong during early, middle, and late adolescence. Contrary to expectations, infant parenting did not moderate the relation between BI and social withdrawal. The results suggest a developmental cascade with infant BI showing long-lasting indirect effects on adolescent loneliness up to 20 years later via childhood social withdrawal.

Preventing anxiety in the children of anxious parents - feasibility of a brief, online, group intervention for parents of one- to three-year-olds

BACKGROUND

The evidence suggests an increased risk of developing anxiety problems in children of anxious parents. The current study explored the feasibility and acceptability of an intervention with anxious parents of young children, to inform the possibility of further trials.

METHODS

Participants were recruited through primary and secondary care psychological services and social media. Participants who had a current or recent anxiety disorder and a child aged 12-47 months were included. Assessments of parental and child outcomes occurred at baseline, after the intervention (week-2) and follow-up (week-8). The intervention was delivered in a small group format, in two sessions, one week apart, using videoconferencing.

RESULTS

Out of 32 participants, 30 (94%) attended the full intervention. All found the intervention acceptable and reported it as useful and relevant. There was a reduction in parental depression (MD = 2.63, 95%CI 1.01-4.26), anxiety (MD = 3.93, 95%CI 2.49-5.37) and stress (MD = 4.60, 95% CI 3.02-6.18) and increases in parenting confidence.

CONCLUSIONS

The online group intervention was feasible and acceptable. There were moderate to large effects on parental mental health and no adverse effects on children (decline on outcome measures). This indicates that intervening early in parenting with anxious parents is possible and warrants further investigation to establish prevention efficacy with a larger, controlled trial.

"Early Negative Memories, Humiliation and Defectiveness/Shame Schema: An Emotion-Focused Therapeutic Approach to Social Anxiety"

"Introduction: Recently emotion-focused therapy has developed as an additional approach and considers the role of primary emotions such as shame in the formation and persistence of SAD. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the theoretical model of emotion-focused therapy for SAD by considering the role of early negative memories, humiliation and the mediating role of self-defectiveness/shame schema in the etiology of SAD. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study recruited a sample of 105 students, 44 males (41.9%) 61 females (58.1%), diagnosed with SAD by psychologists from Shahid Beheshti University Counseling Center. Participants ranging in age from 18 to 34 with a mean age of 23.1 years (SD=3.5) completed the Social Phobia Inventory, Humiliation Inventory, Early Life Experiences Scale, Defectiveness /Shame Schema subscale of the Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form. Results: Data were analyzed using SmartPLS-SEM. The results showed that early childhood experiences and humiliation significantly predict SAD. Also, the indirect effects of the independent variables through defectiveness/shame schema on SAD were significant. Conclusions: Consistent with the assumptions of the emotion-focused approach to SAD, these results confirm that early life experiences and humiliation with the development of shame schemes play an important role in the etiology of SAD and must be considered for therapy to be effective. The results of this study suggest that the components of the emotion-focused model can have therapeutic value as targets of intervention in randomized clinical trials."