The authors examined temperamental and socio-cognitive predictors of socially anxious behavior from preschool to early adolescence. Children (N=227; 59% male; 69% White) completed a speech task at ...ages 5, 7, 10, and 13 and socially anxious behaviors were coded. Behavioral inhibition (BI) was assessed at ages 2/3 and Theory of Mind (ToM) was assessed at age 4. Data collection occurred between 2003 and 2016. Three trajectories of socially anxious behavior were identified: high stable, average increasing, and low stable. Higher BI was related to the high stable trajectory, whereas lower ToM was related to the increasing trajectory of socially anxious behavior. There are heterogenous pathways of socially anxious behavior, which may be uniquely influenced by early temperamental and socio-cognitive factors.
Cross-frequency coupling (CFC) between frontal delta (1–4 Hz) and beta (14–30 Hz) oscillations has been suggested as a candidate neural correlate of social anxiety disorder, a disorder characterized ...by fear and avoidance of social and performance situations. Prior studies have used amplitude-amplitude correlation (AAC) as a CFC measure and hypothesized it as a candidate neural mechanism of affective control. However, using this metric has yielded inconsistent results regarding the direction of CFC, and the functional significance of coupling strength is uncertain. To offer a better understanding of CFC in social anxiety, we compared frontal delta-beta AAC with phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) – a mechanism for information transfer through neural circuits. Twenty high socially anxious (HSA) and 32 low socially anxious (LSA) female undergraduates participated in a social performance task (SPT). Delta-beta PAC and AAC were estimated during the resting state, as well as the anticipation and recovery conditions. Results showed significantly more AAC in LSA than HSA participants during early anticipation, as well as significant values during all conditions in LSA participants only. PAC did not distinguish between LSA and HSA participants, and instead was found to correlate with state nervousness during early anticipation, but in LSA participants only. Together, these findings are interpreted to suggest that delta-beta AAC is a plausible neurobiological index of adaptive stress regulation and can distinguish between trait high and low social anxiety during stress, while delta-beta PAC might be sensitive enough to reflect mild state anxiety in LSA participants.
The authors examined temperamental and sociocognitive predictors of socially anxious behavior from preschool to early adolescence. Children (N = 227; 59% male; 69% White) completed a speech task at ...ages 5, 7, 10, and 13 and socially anxious behaviors were coded. Behavioral inhibition (BI) was assessed at ages 2/3 and Theory of Mind (ToM) was assessed at age 4. Data collection occurred between 2003 and 2016. Three trajectories of socially anxious behavior were identified: high stable, average increasing, and low stable. Higher BI was related to the high stable trajectory, whereas lower ToM was related to the increasing trajectory of socially anxious behavior. There are heterogenous pathways of socially anxious behavior, which may be uniquely influenced by early temperamental and sociocognitive factors.
•Social anxiety disorder is related to information processing biases.•EEG studies are reviewed to find measures of these information processing biases.•Delta-beta correlation reflects anticipatory ...anxiety and post-event rumination.•Increased P1 amplitude in social anxiety indexes hypervigilance.•Increased ERN in social anxiety reflects self-focused attention or perfectionism.
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by information processing biases, however, their underlying neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. The goal of this review was to give a comprehensive overview of the most frequently studied EEG spectral and event-related potential (ERP) measures in social anxiety during rest, anticipation, stimulus processing, and recovery. A Web of Science search yielded 35 studies reporting on electrocortical measures in individuals with social anxiety or related constructs. Social anxiety was related to increased delta-beta cross-frequency correlation during anticipation and recovery, and information processing biases during early processing of faces (P1) and errors (error-related negativity). These electrocortical measures are discussed in relation to the persistent cycle of information processing biases maintaining SAD. Future research should further investigate the mechanisms of this persistent cycle and study the utility of electrocortical measures in early detection, prevention, treatment and endophenotype research.
•Cross-species research suggests that conditioned inhibition reduces fear responding.•This is the first study of conditioned inhibition in pediatric anxiety.•Children with anxiety disorders showed ...differential activity in vmPFC.•Future research should further examine conditioned inhibition in pediatric anxiety.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), a first-line treatment for pediatric anxiety disorders, is based on principles of threat learning and extinction. However, CBT does not work sufficiently for up to 40% of clinically anxious youth. The neural and behavioral correlates of conditioned inhibition might provide promising targets for attempts to improve CBT response. During conditioned inhibition, threat and safety cues appear together, forming a safety compound. Here, we test whether this safety compound elicits a reduced fear response compared to pairing the threat cue with a novel cue (novel compound). The current pilot study compares behavioral, physiological, and neural correlates of conditioned inhibition between children with (n = 17, Mage = 13.09, SDage = 3.05) and without (n = 18, Mage = 14.49, SDage = 2.38) anxiety disorders. Behavioral and physiological measures did not differ between children with and without anxiety disorders during fear acquisition. During testing, children with anxiety disorders showed overall higher skin conductance response and expected to hear the aversive sound following the novel compound more often than children without anxiety disorders. Children with anxiety disorders showed more activity in the right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) to the safety versus novel compound. Children without anxiety disorders showed the opposite pattern – more right vmPFC activity to the novel versus safety compound (F(1,31) = 5.40, p = 0.03). No group differences manifested within the amygdala, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, or hippocampus. These pilot findings suggest a feasible approach for examining conditioned inhibition in pediatric anxiety disorders. If replicated in larger samples, findings may implicate perturbed conditioned inhibition in pediatric anxiety disorders and provide targets for CBT.
Abstract Background Pediatric anxiety disorders are common and have severe long‐term consequences. Early‐life fearful temperament is a predictor of later anxiety, but not all children with highly ...fearful temperament will eventually develop an anxiety disorder. Therefore, it is important to identify factors that moderate the fearful temperament‐anxiety association. The goal of this study it to replicate the fearful temperament‐anxiety association in a large cohort study, explore sex as a moderator of this association, and to investigate four distinct peer interaction variables as moderators of this association. Methods 2730 children (51.0% girls) with parent‐reported fearful temperament at 6 months and parent‐reported anxiety symptoms at 13 years were included from a prospective cohort study (Generation R Study). Fearful temperament was also observed in a subset ( n = 643, 49.3% girls) of these children. Peer interactions were measured in four different ways: mother‐reported victimization (at age 7), self‐reported friendship quality (at age 9), and self‐reported feelings and facial expressions during social exclusion in a lab‐based task (at age 9). Results Children with higher parent‐reported, but not observed, fearful temperament showed more anxiety symptoms as adolescents, β = 0.07, p < 0.001. This association was not moderated by sex, β = −0.07, p = 0.07, but was stronger in adolescents who reported more negative feelings after social exclusion, β = 0.05, p = 0.04. Victimization, friendship quality, and sad facial expressions were related to increased anxiety symptoms but did not moderate the fearful temperament‐anxiety association. Conclusions We showed that parent‐reported fearful temperament and anxiety were associated in this large community sample and that this association was not moderated by sex. Additionally, we showed that negative feelings after social exclusion moderated this association. Potentially, children with a highly fearful temperament might benefit from learning how to cope with social exclusion. Future studies are needed to confirm our findings and could focus on the potential role of coping with social rejection in interventions.
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