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.

KEYWORDS:

• Child
• adolescent
• anxiety
• physiological arousal
• interpretation
• appraisal

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the children and their parents who participated in this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the UCLA Research Program for Psychobiological Sciences T32 MH 17140 (Leuchter) and the UCLA Clinical Translational Science Institute UL1TR000124 (Rozenman).