Self-reported Trait Anxiety Research Articles

Brain Response to Unexpected Novel Noises in Children with Low and High Trait Anxiety

The behavioral inhibition system [Gray, J. A. The neuropsychology of anxiety: An enquiry into the functions of the septo-hippocampal system. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982] proposes that anxiety is associated with the processing of novel stimuli. We aimed to explore this relationship by recording auditory event-related potentials associated with unexpected novel noises in typically developing children. Children aged 10-14 years with low (n = 12) and high (n = 11) self-report trait anxiety were assessed using a novelty oddball task. The N1 associated with novel stimuli, specifically the "N1c" component maximal at temporal lobe sites, was of significantly longer latency (p = .014) and greater amplitude (p = .004) in the high compared with the low anxious group. This group difference was supported by linear correlations between N1c amplitude and trait anxiety scores. There was no effect of anxiety on the later novelty P3. These data suggest a subtle moderating role of trait anxiety on brain response to novelty, and further research with clinically anxious children is indicated.

Anxiety and judgements about emotional events in children and adolescents

Research with clinically anxious adults has revealed that they estimate future negative events as far more likely to occur, relative to healthy controls. In addition, anxious adults estimate that such events are more likely to happen to themselves than to others. Previous research with anxious children and adolescents, in contrast, has revealed no increased probability estimates for negative events, relative to controls, and the events were rated as more likely to happen to others than to the self. The present study followed up these discrepant findings by investigating probability estimates for future negative events in children and adolescents with high and low levels of self-reported trait anxiety but who had no reported history of emotional disorder. The results revealed a significant difference between the two groups with respect to their overall probability estimates for negative events, the high anxious group estimating that negative events were more likely to happen than the low anxious group. These findings are consistent with the results using adult clinical subjects and support the suggestion that previous differences between the adult and developmental literature are a function of non-normative performance specifically in clinically anxious younger participants.

Editorial

Editorial

A Twin Study of State and Trait Anxiety in Childhood and Adolescence

Little research has addressed the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on subclinical levels of anxiety in children. Of the two twin studies to date, one concluded that measures of adolescents' self-reported trait anxiety were best explained by shared environmental factors (Thapar & McGuffin, 1995), while the second determined that approximately half the variance was attributable to genetic effects (Topolski et al., 1997). The present study, using a sample of 547 twin pairs, reached conclusions similar to those of Topolski et al. Heritability was estimated at 45%. Measures of state anxiety conformed more closely to Thapar and McGuffin's findings, with environmental factors accounting for the variance.

A Twin Study of State and Trait Anxiety in Childhood and Adolescence

Little research has addressed the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on subclinical levels of anxiety in children. Of the two twin studies to date, one concluded that measures of adolescents' self-reported trait anxiety were best explained by shared environmental factors (Thapar & McGffin, 1995), while the second determined that approximately half the variance was attributable to genetic effects (Topolski et al., 1997).The present study, using a sample of 547 twin pairs, reached conclusions similar to those of Topolski et al. Heritability was estimated at 45%. Measures of state anxiety conformed more closely to Thapar and McGuffin's findings, with environmental factors accounting for the variance.

Self-Reported and other-rated trait anxiety and defensiveness in repressor, low-anxious, high-anxious, and defensive high-anxious groups

Self-reported measures of trait anxiety and defensiveness were obtained from 158 participants, and other-ratings on the same dimensions were obtained from raters who knew them well. Repressers (individuals low in trait anxiety and high in defensiveness) had significantly higher other-rated than self-reported trait anxiety, whereas high-anxious individuals (high in trait anxiety and low in defensiveness) and defensive high-anxious individuals (high in trait anxiety and defensivenesss) had significantly lower other-rated than self-reported trait anxiety. Repressors had significantly lower self-reported than other-rated trait anxiety, whereas high-anxious and defensive high-anxious individuals had higher self-reported than other-rated trait anxiety. The findings were related to a theory of trait anxiety proposed by Eysenck (Anxiety and Cognition: A Unified Theory 1997, Hove, UK: Psychology Press) and Eysenck and Derakshan (Cognitive approaches to trait anxiety, submitted).

Anxiety and Depression: Evidence for the Differentiation of Commonly Cooccurring Constructs

Anxiety and depression frequently cooccur diagnostically. This observation has led researchers to investigate whether anxiety and depression can be meaningfully distinguished as unique theoretical constructs or whether they are better conceptualized as features of a general psychological distress. In the present study, we attempted to differentiate self-reported state and trait anxiety from depression in a university sample (N = 593) using the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Endler Multidimensional Anxiety Scales (EMAS). In addition, we examined the relationship among self-reported anxiety, depression, and neuroticism to determine the extent to which the Anxiety and Depression facet scales of the NEO Personality Inventory—Revised represent distinct and mutually exclusive measures of anxiety and depression. Principal-components analyses and a series of multiple regression models were used to conduct this investigation. Results indicate that both state and trait anxiety and depression can be reliably differentiated with the BDI and the EMAS. Results also suggest that invoking a single “general distress” factor to explain the strong interrelationships between anxiety and depression in nonclinical samples is premature.

Cognitive processing and trait anxiety in typically developing children: Evidence for an interpretation bias.

In this study the authors examined whether increases in children's levels of self-reported trait anxiety would be related to their interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. By using the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 1985), the authors obtained measurements of anxiety for 40 children ages 7 and 9 years. Interpretation of ambiguous stimuli was measured by using a pictorial homophone task, where homophones could be interpreted as either threatening or neutral. Results showed that children's interpretations of homophones was significantly predicted by level of anxiety. Increases in levels of trait anxiety were positively associated with threatening interpretations of homophones.

Cognitive processing and trait anxiety in typically developing children: evidence for an interpretation bias.

In this study the authors examined whether increases in children's levels of self-reported trait anxiety would be related to their interpretation of ambiguous stimuli. By using the Revised Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale (C. R. Reynolds & B. O. Richmond, 1985), the authors obtained measurements of anxiety for 40 children ages 7 and 9 years. Interpretation of ambiguous stimuli was measured by using a pictorial homophone task, where homophones could be interpreted as either threatening or neutral. Results showed that children's interpretations of homophones was significantly predicted by level of anxiety. Increases in levels of trait anxiety were positively associated with threatening interpretations of homophones.

The relationship among guilt, dysphoria, anxiety and obsessions in a normal population

Seventy-six college students reported intrusive thoughts and impulses on a checklist. These students also completed questionnaires assessing depression, trait anxiety and perceived guilt. Results indicated for this normal population that intrusive thoughts were more distressful, more difficult to dismiss and occur with a greater variety of content compared to intrusive impulses. Multiple regression analysis showed that guilt was the best predictor of intrusive thoughts and impulses. Self-reported depression and anxiety were not strong predictors with respect to nonclinical obsessions and impulses. Discussion focuses on the utility of assessing guilt with obsessional disorders, the lack of a relationship between self-report trait anxiety and nonclinical obsessions, and the need to examine the relationship between guilt and anxiety with clinically obsessional subjects.

Psychophysiological adaptation: An investigation of multiple parameters

Heart rate (EKG), digital skin resistance level (SRL), and frontalis electromyography (EMG) of 20 undergraduate volunteers were monitored in three 30-min sessions to chart the course and magnitude of adaptation. As a group, 7, 13, and 13 min of adaptation were required for SRL, EMG, and EKG, respectively. High arousal levels in any of these measures at the session's outset resulted in longer adaptation times compared to low initial arousal. EMG showed the strongest variance across sessions. Females required longer adaptation periods than males in SRL and EKG. Self-reported trait anxiety levels bore little relationship to adaptation course. Methods were outlined for setting individualized adaptation periods by either the min 1 EMG level or regression equations for the initial values of each of the measures. Overall, psychophysiological adaptation proved to be an influential variable requiring experimental management to avoid confoundment with treatment effects.

On the evidence furnished by photography as to the nature of the markings on the Pleurosigma angulatum

To convert a painful stimulus into a briefly maintainable construct when the painful stimulus is no longer accessible is essential to guide human behavior and avoid dangerous situations. Due to the aversive nature of pain, this encoding process might be influenced by emotional aspects and could thus vary across individuals, but we have yet to understand both the basic underlying neural mechanisms as well as potential inter-individual differences. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in combination with a delayed-discrimination task in healthy volunteers of both sexes, we discovered that brain regions involved in this working memory encoding process were dissociable according to whether the to-be-remembered stimulus was painful or not, with the medial thalamus and the rostral anterior cingulate cortex encoding painful and the primary somatosensory cortex encoding non-painful stimuli. Encoding of painful stimuli furthermore significantly enhanced functional connectivity between the thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). With regards to emotional aspects influencing encoding processes, we observed that more anxious participants showed significant performance advantages when encoding painful stimuli. Importantly, only during the encoding of pain, the inter-individual differences in anxiety were associated with the strength of coupling between medial thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex, which was furthermore related to activity in the amygdala. These results indicate not only that there is a distinct signature for the encoding of a painful experience in humans, but also that this encoding process involves a strong affective component. <b>SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT</b> To convert the sensation of pain into a briefly maintainable construct is essential to guide human behavior and avoid dangerous situations. Although this working memory encoding process is implicitly contained in the majority of studies, the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Using fMRI in a delayed-discrimination task, we found that the encoding of pain engaged the activation of the medial thalamus and the functional connectivity between the thalamus and medial prefrontal cortex. These fMRI data were directly and indirectly related to participants9 self-reported trait and state anxiety. Our findings indicate that the mechanisms responsible for the encoding of noxious stimuli differ from those for the encoding of innocuous stimuli, and that these mechanisms are shaped by an individual9s anxiety levels.