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Shared Cognition in Childhood Anxiety: Interpretation Bias in Preschool Children and Their Parents

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An Erratum to this article was published on 14 March 2015

Abstract

Although interpretation bias has been associated with the development and/or maintenance of childhood anxiety, its origins remain unclear. The present study is the first to examine intergenerational transmission of this bias from parents to their preschool-aged children via the verbal information pathway. A community sample of fifty parent–child pairs was recruited. Parents completed measures of their own trait anxiety and interpretation bias, their child’s anxiety symptoms, and a written story-stem measure, to capture the way parents tell their children stories. Interpretation bias was assessed in preschool-aged children (aged between 2 years 7 months and 5 years 8 months) using an extended story-stem paradigm. Young children’s interpretation bias was not significantly associated with their own anxiety symptoms. Neither was there evidence for a significant association between parent and child interpretation bias. However, parents who reported they would tell their child one or more threatening story endings in the written story-stem task had significantly higher anxiety than those who did not include any threatening story endings. In turn, children whose parents did not include any threatening endings in their written stories had significantly lower threat interpretations on the child story-stem paradigm, compared to those with parents who included at least one threatening story ending. The results suggest that parental verbal information could play a role in the development of interpretation bias in young children.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to the parents and children who volunteered, and to the relevant gatekeepers at preschools and parent-toddler groups that supported this research and allowed access to the participants. Thanks also to Benjamin Marshall for his assistance in reliability coding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, Harry Pitt Building, Earley Gate, Whiteknights, Reading, RG6 6AL, UK

    Helen F. Dodd

  2. School of Psychology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Jinnie Ooi & Judi Walsh

Authors
  1. Jinnie Ooi
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  2. Helen F. Dodd
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  3. Judi Walsh
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen F. Dodd.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Children’s Interpretation Bias Measure (Ambiguous Story-Stems)

  1. 1.

    This is the park. Here is the family walking in the park. Look, there is this high high rock. Jane wants to climb the rock.

  2. 2.

    Look. These children are playing a fun game. Jane wants to join in. She is getting close. It looks like the children are laughing.

  3. 3.

    This is the park. Jane is playing alone. A group of kids walk towards Jane.

  4. 4.

    Jane and mum are standing by the pavement. They want to cross a busy street to go to the park. There are many cars passing by.

  5. 5.

    Susan is having a fun party at her house. Jane wants to go to the party. Mum is busy so she drops Jane at the party. Mum is about to drive away.

  6. 6.

    Mum and Dad are going out for the night. Susan, the babysitter will stay home with Jane. Mum and Dad are about to leave the house.

  7. 7.

    Mum and Jane are swimming in the pool. They are holding hands. Jane lets go of mum’s hands.

  8. 8.

    Jane is at the park. Suddenly, a dog runs towards her.

Appendix 2: Parent Interpretation Bias Measure (Ambiguous Scenarios)

  1. 1.

    It’s your second week on the job. Your boss stops by your desk in the early afternoon and asks you to come to his office later that day. Why does your boss want to see you?

  2. 2.

    Your child’s teacher calls during the day when your child is at school. Why are they calling?

  3. 3.

    You’re lying in bed at night when you hear a noise, what might it be?

  4. 4.

    You’re on a plane and the pilot tells the passengers to return to their seats and fasten their seatbelts, why?

  5. 5.

    Your stomach starts to feel a bit funny on your way into work, why?

  6. 6.

    You reach into your bag to get your mobile phone out and you can’t find it, why?

  7. 7.

    A friend calls and leaves you a voicemail saying, “Give me a call. I need to speak to you. It’s important.” What does he/she want to talk to you about?

  8. 8.

    You are having a party for your birthday and half an hour after it started, there’s still only a few people there, why?

  9. 9.

    You walk into a party and people turn to look at you, why?

  10. 10.

    You see two of your closest friends at the shopping centre together. They didn’t tell you they were going. Why?

  11. 11.

    You’re walking down the street, and you see one of your friends coming the other way with a group of people. You wave, but your friend doesn’t respond. Why?

  12. 12.

    You’re giving a speech. People in the audience start laughing. Why?

Appendix 3: Coding Scheme Examples

  1. 1.

    Threat

    • Responses with mild or strong presence of danger

    • Child examples: Falls down from rock, gets hit by car, dog bites child

    • Parent examples: Child is ill/hurt at school, audience laughing because he/she said something wrong

  2. 2.

    Non-Threat

    • Responses without the presence of danger

    • Child examples: Jumps down from rock, crosses to the other side of the road, strokes and rides on dog

    • Parent examples: Child forgot lunch box at school, audience laughing because he/she told a joke

  3. 3.

    Missing

    • Responses that are unclear, irrelevant or non-compliance/non-response to task or don’t know

    • Child examples: Child blasts off in a space ship from rock, child doesn’t know what happens in the situation

    • Parent examples: Friend called because she is pregnant, Don’t know why the boss wants to see him/her

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Ooi, J., Dodd, H.F. & Walsh, J. Shared Cognition in Childhood Anxiety: Interpretation Bias in Preschool Children and Their Parents. J Child Fam Stud 24, 3413–3422 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-015-0143-5

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