Fearful temperament represents one of the robust predictors of the development of child and adolescent anxiety. Not all children with fearful temperament unvaryingly develop anxiety, however. Diverse processes resulting from the interplay among attention, cognitive control, and motivational system drive the trajectories toward more adaptive or maladaptive directions. In this study, I examined various factors that underlie the association between fearful temperament at age 9 and adolescent anxiety symptoms including attention biases, different components of effortful control, and frontal EEG asymmetry. 78 children participated in this study. Results indicate that fearful temperament at age 9 significantly predicted adolescent anxiety symptoms. This association, however, was moderated by children's effortful control and frontal EEG asymmetry at age 9. Specifically, fear at 9 years predicted adolescent anxiety only when children had low attentional control, low inhibitory control, low activation control, and exhibited greater right activation from baseline to task. The associations between AB and fearful temperament as well as anxiety were not significant. The association between fear at 9 years and sustained AB during adolescence, however, was moderated by children's attentional control, inhibitory control, and frontal EEG asymmetry at age 9. Specifically, fear predicted attention biases away from threat when children had high attentional control, high inhibitory control, and showed greater left activation. The findings will be discussed in terms of the roles of attention biases in the development of anxiety and how different components of effortful control and frontal EEG asymmetry contribute to the resilience process. / Doctor of Philosophy / Anxiety disorders represent one of the most commonly occurring mental health problems in childhood and adolescence. Children who tend to show wariness and distress to negative stimuli are more likely to have anxiety. Not all children with fearful temperament develop anxiety, however. Certain individual characteristics can protect fearful children from having anxiety symptoms. In this study, I examined the roles of attentional biases toward threat (AB), different components of self-regulation (EC), and the asymmetrical frontal brain activation (FA) in changing the relation between fearful temperament and anxiety. 78 children participated in this study. Results indicated that adolescents were at higher risk for anxiety if they showed high fearful temperament at age 9. However, the risk could be attenuated if children were better able to control their attention and behaviors, and exhibited greater left activation from resting to a mildly stressful situation at age 9. In addition, fearful children were better able to direct attention away from threat during adolescence if they were better able to control their attention and behaviors, and exhibited greater left activation from resting to a mildly stressful situation at age 9. The findings provide suggestions for early identification and intervention of children who are more vulnerable to anxiety during adolescence.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/110331 |
| Date | 01 December 2020 |
| Creators | Liu, Ran |
| Contributors | Psychology, Bell, Martha Ann, Kim-Spoon, Jungmeen, Smith, Cynthia Lea, Ollendick, Thomas H. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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