Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is under-treated yet prevalent among young adults. Identifying early risk factors for GAD would contribute to its etiological model and identify potential targets for intervention. Insecure attachment patterns, specifically ambivalent and disorganized, have long be...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933213/full |
| _version_ | 1811260028189933568 |
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| author | Magdalena A. Zdebik Katherine Pascuzzo Jean-François Bureau Ellen Moss |
| author_facet | Magdalena A. Zdebik Katherine Pascuzzo Jean-François Bureau Ellen Moss |
| author_sort | Magdalena A. Zdebik |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is under-treated yet prevalent among young adults. Identifying early risk factors for GAD would contribute to its etiological model and identify potential targets for intervention. Insecure attachment patterns, specifically ambivalent and disorganized, have long been proposed as childhood risk factors for GAD. Similarly, childhood behavioral inhibition has been consistently associated with anxiety disorders in adulthood, including GAD. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the tendency to react negatively to uncertain situations, has also been shown to be a crucial component of GAD. Furthermore, maternal anxiety is an important feature of developmental models of anxiety including GAD. Yet, to date, no study has examined, within a comprehensive model, how attachment and behavioral inhibition in childhood, maternal anxiety in adolescence, and IU in emerging adulthood contribute to GAD in adulthood. The present study thus examines these links using a longitudinal design with 62 Canadian participants and their mothers. At age 6, participants' attachment and behavioral inhibition were assessed observationally. Maternal anxiety was measured when participants were 14 years of age. IU and GAD were assessed when participants were 21 and 23 years of age, respectively. Structural equation modeling showed that IU mediates the relationships between behavioral inhibition and GAD, while controlling for maternal anxiety. Ambivalent and disorganized-controlling attachment patterns are also indirectly associated with increased GAD symptoms via greater IU scores. Furthermore, a direct and positive effect of behaviorally disorganized attachment was found on GAD symptoms. This longitudinal study supports integrating attachment, behavioral inhibition, and IU in a model of GAD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:40:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3417eb6217044d05863a13db4d7c5aaf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:40:28Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-3417eb6217044d05863a13db4d7c5aaf2022-12-22T03:20:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782022-09-011310.3389/fpsyg.2022.933213933213Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthoodMagdalena A. Zdebik0Katherine Pascuzzo1Jean-François Bureau2Ellen Moss3Département de psychoéducation et de psychologie, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Gatineau, QC, CanadaDépartement de psychoéducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, CanadaDepartment of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, CanadaDépartement de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, QC, CanadaGeneralized anxiety disorder (GAD) is under-treated yet prevalent among young adults. Identifying early risk factors for GAD would contribute to its etiological model and identify potential targets for intervention. Insecure attachment patterns, specifically ambivalent and disorganized, have long been proposed as childhood risk factors for GAD. Similarly, childhood behavioral inhibition has been consistently associated with anxiety disorders in adulthood, including GAD. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), the tendency to react negatively to uncertain situations, has also been shown to be a crucial component of GAD. Furthermore, maternal anxiety is an important feature of developmental models of anxiety including GAD. Yet, to date, no study has examined, within a comprehensive model, how attachment and behavioral inhibition in childhood, maternal anxiety in adolescence, and IU in emerging adulthood contribute to GAD in adulthood. The present study thus examines these links using a longitudinal design with 62 Canadian participants and their mothers. At age 6, participants' attachment and behavioral inhibition were assessed observationally. Maternal anxiety was measured when participants were 14 years of age. IU and GAD were assessed when participants were 21 and 23 years of age, respectively. Structural equation modeling showed that IU mediates the relationships between behavioral inhibition and GAD, while controlling for maternal anxiety. Ambivalent and disorganized-controlling attachment patterns are also indirectly associated with increased GAD symptoms via greater IU scores. Furthermore, a direct and positive effect of behaviorally disorganized attachment was found on GAD symptoms. This longitudinal study supports integrating attachment, behavioral inhibition, and IU in a model of GAD.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933213/fullattachmentbehavioral inhibitiongeneralized anxiety disorderintolerance of uncertaintylongitudinal designtemperament |
| spellingShingle | Magdalena A. Zdebik Katherine Pascuzzo Jean-François Bureau Ellen Moss Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood Frontiers in Psychology attachment behavioral inhibition generalized anxiety disorder intolerance of uncertainty longitudinal design temperament |
| title | Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood |
| title_full | Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood |
| title_fullStr | Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood |
| title_full_unstemmed | Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood |
| title_short | Childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment: Links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood |
| title_sort | childhood behavioral inhibition and attachment links to generalized anxiety disorder in young adulthood |
| topic | attachment behavioral inhibition generalized anxiety disorder intolerance of uncertainty longitudinal design temperament |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.933213/full |
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