The effects of verbal information on children's fear beliefs about social situations

Behaviour Research and Therapy
J LawsonAndy P Field

Abstract

Two experiments explored the role of verbal information in changing children's fear-related beliefs about social situations. In Experiment 1, 118 6- to 8- and 12- to 13-year-olds heard positive, negative, or no information about individuals' experiences of three social situations. Fear beliefs regarding each situation were assessed before and after this manipulation. Verbal information had no significant influence on children's fear beliefs. In Experiment 2, the same paradigm was used with 80 12- to 13-year-olds, but the information took the form of multiple attitude statements about the situations expressed by groups of peers, older children, or adults. An affective priming task of implicit attitudes was used to complement the explicit questions about fear beliefs. Negative information influenced both explicit and implicit fear beliefs. The source of information and the child's own social anxiety did not moderate these effects. Implications for our understanding of the socialisation of childhood fears are discussed.

References

Jan 1, 1977·Behaviour Research and Therapy·S Rachman
Feb 1, 1986·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology·R H FazioF R Kardes
Jan 1, 1983·Behaviour Research and Therapy·T H Ollendick
Jan 1, 1981·Behaviour Research and Therapy·L G Ost, K Hugdahl
Aug 1, 1995·Journal of Abnormal Psychology·R T StembergerK S Calhoun
Sep 3, 1999·Behaviour Research and Therapy·J E TaylorJ V Podd
Dec 22, 1999·Behaviour Research and Therapy·S Mulkens, S M Bögels
Jun 10, 2000·Behaviour Research and Therapy·A HackmannF McManus
Jan 10, 2001·Annual Review of Psychology·R Rosenthal, M R DiMatteo
Jun 19, 2003·Brain and Cognition·Richard J Davidson
Oct 8, 2003·Clinical Psychology Review·Jo Anne Neal, Robert J Edelmann
Apr 2, 2004·Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines·P Michiel WestenbergPhilip D A Treffers
Oct 27, 2004·Clinical Psychology Review·Ronald M Rapee, Susan H Spence
Jul 14, 2006·Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology : the Official Journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53·Andy P Field

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

May 10, 2007·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review·Brian Fisak, Amie E Grills-Taquechel
Mar 4, 2010·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review·Peter Muris, Andy P Field
Feb 14, 2009·Psychological Medicine·L MurrayP J Cooper
Aug 30, 2008·Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment·Christina A Brook, Louis A Schmidt
Nov 29, 2015·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review·Ray PercyLynne Murray
Sep 10, 2011·Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry·Stephanos P VassilopoulosEleni Karahaliou
Oct 12, 2010·Behaviour Research and Therapy·Sina-Simone Schreier, Nina Heinrichs
Apr 3, 2012·Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry·Anke M KleinMike Rinck
Jan 15, 2018·Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review·Erin A BrownJustin Kenardy
Aug 8, 2019·The British Journal of Clinical Psychology·Donna EwingSam Cartwright-Hatton
Jun 30, 2021·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·Carlos M CoelhoMathias Clasen

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Anxiety Disorders

Discover the latest research on anxiety disorders including agoraphobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder here.