The development and maintenance of anxiety symptoms from infancy through adolescence in a longitudinal sample.
This study examined the etiology and course of anxiety symptoms from infancy through adolescence in a longitudinal high-risk community sample. One hundred fifty-five subjects were assessed using a variety of observational, projective, and objective measures. Results of path analyses revealed the following: (a) anxiety symptoms showed moderate stability during childhood and adolescence; (b) heightened neonatal biobehavioral reactivity and poor regulation predicted emotion regulation difficulties in preschool, which predicted anxiety symptoms in childhood; (c) developmental incompetence in childhood predicted anxiety symptoms in preadolescence, and anxiety symptoms in preadolescence predicted incompetence in adolescence; (d) insecure attachment relationships in infancy predicted negative peer relationship representations in preadolescence, and these representations predicted anxiety symptoms in adolescence; (e) compared to males, females showed similar rates of anxiety symptoms in childhood but greater and more stable rates in adolescence; however, males and females showed similar patterns of association between risk factors and anxiety symptoms across childhood and adolescence; and (f) the model tested was specific in predicting anxiety symptoms and not psychopathology in general. The results support a developmental model of the etiology and maintenance of anxiety symptoms in childhood and highlight factors to consider in efforts to prevent and treat childhood anxiety.
Bosquet
Michelle
M
Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, USA.
Egeland
Byron
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors