Examination of the FEAR Effect with Child Social and General Anxiety

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Lisa M. Brodie (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Wesley D. Allan

Abstract: The current study extends the work of Barrett, Rapee, Dadds, and Ryan (1996) by attempting to further parse apart the FEAR effect with a continuous approach that examines degree differences within a response category, as well as examining both social and general anxiety. A community sample was obtained that consisted of 86 youngsters grades four through eight. There were 45 girls and 41 boys and the age range was from nine years old to fourteen years old. Youngsters were administered measures of social anxiety and general anxiety and a vignette measure developed by Barrett, Rapee, Dadds, and Fox (1996) that assesses children's responses to potentially anxiety provoking situations. Children's responses were solicited before and after discussion with one of their parents to examine potential parental influences. A new coding procedure was developed to be more sensitive to changes that may occur following the family discussion. In addition, it was hypothesized that children's social and general anxiety scores would predict response changes for social and general situations, respectively. Although there were no significant findings for these hypotheses, the current study was able to extend the current literature on the FEAR effect by examining social anxiety, using a community sample, and attempting to develop a more sensitive approach to examining the FEAR effect.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2008
Keywords
Social anxiety, children, FEAR Effect, parental influence, general anxiety, coding
Subjects
Anxiety in children -- Social aspects.
Parental influences.
Parent and child -- Psychological aspects.

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