title: The tell-tale heart: physiological reactivity during resolution of ambiguity in youth anxiety.
abstract: In the past decade, cognitive biases and physiological arousal have each been proposed as mechanisms through which paediatric anxiety develops and is maintained over time. Preliminary studies have found associations between anxious interpretations of ambiguity, physiological arousal, and avoidance, supporting theories that link cognition, psychophysiology, and behaviour. However, little is known about the relationship between youths' resolutions of ambiguity and physiological arousal during acute stress. Such information may have important clinical implications for use of verbal self-regulation strategies and cognitive restructuring during treatments for paediatric anxiety. In this brief report, we present findings suggesting that anxious, but not typically developing, youth select avoidant goals via non-threatening resolution of ambiguity during a stressor, and that this resolution of ambiguity is accompanied by physiological reactivity (heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia). We propose future empirical research on the interplay between interpretation bias, psychophysiology, and child anxiety, as well as clinical implications.
authors.affiliation: a Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rozenman
authors.affiliation: a Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vreeland
authors.affiliation: a Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Marisela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.affiliation: a Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mendez
authors.affiliation: a Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior , Los Angeles , CA , USA.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Piacentini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065809:Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Child; adolescent; anxiety; appraisal; interpretation; physiological arousal