Cognitive processing in children: Relation to anxiety and family influences

Abstract

Abstract Used an information-processing task to investigate cognitive biases associated with trait anxiety in children. Participants were presented with ambiguous situations requiring them to generate interpretations and behavioral plans. The influence of parents on children's interpretations was also assessed by administering the ambiguous-situations questionnaire (ASQ) before and after a family discussion of those same situations. Results demonstrated a high correlation between trait anxiety scores and anxious responses during the ASQ (p < .01). In addition, parents' intervening discussion appeared to be related to changes in children's anxious responding. Although preliminary, the findings imply that cognitive biases related to anxiety in children are similar to those found in adults, and that parents might play a role in influencing the degree of these biases.