Physiological Response to Negative Emotions in Children with Anxiety Symptoms: Many Steps Still to be Taken

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Unstable Maternal Environment, Separation Anxiety, and Heightened CO2 Sensitivity Induced by Gene-by-Environment Interplay

Background: In man, many different events implying childhood separation from caregivers/unstable parental environment are associated with heightened risk for panic disorder in adulthood. Twin data show that the occurrence of such events in childhood contributes to explaining the covariation between separation anxiety disorder, panic, and the related psychobiological trait of CO2 hypersensitivity. We hypothesized that early interference with infant-mother interaction could moderate the interspecific trait of response to CO2 through genetic control of sensitivity to the environment. Methodology: Having spent the first 24 hours after birth with their biological mother, outbred NMRI mice were crossfostered to adoptive mothers for the following 4 post-natal days. They were successively compared to normally-reared individuals for: number of ultrasonic vocalizations during isolation, respiratory physiology responses to normal air (20%O2), CO2-enriched air (6% CO2), hypoxic air (10%O2), and avoidance of CO2-enriched environments. Results: Cross-fostered pups showed significantly more ultrasonic vocalizations, more pronounced hyperventilatory responses (larger tidal volume and minute volume increments) to CO2-enriched air and heightened aversion towards CO2- enriched environments, than normally-reared individuals. Enhanced tidal volume increment response to 6%CO2 was present at 16–20, and 75–90 postnatal days, implying the trait’s stability. Quantitative genetic analyses of unrelated individuals, sibs and half-sibs, showed that the genetic variance for tidal volume increment during 6%CO2 breathing was significantly higher (Bartlett x = 8.3, p = 0.004) among the cross-fostered than the normally-reared individuals, yielding heritability of 0.37 and 0.21 respectively. These results support a stress-diathesis model whereby the genetic influences underlying the response to 6%CO2 increase their contribution in the presence of an environmental adversity. Maternal grooming/licking behaviour, and corticosterone basal levels were similar among cross-fostered and normally-reared individuals. Conclusions: A mechanism of gene-by-environment interplay connects this form of early perturbation of infant-mother interaction, heightened CO2 sensitivity and anxiety. Some no

A Meta-Analysis Of The Cross-Cultural Psychometric Properties Of The Social Phobia And Anxiety Inventory For Children (Spai-C)

Several studies have found that the Social Phobia and Anxiety Inventory for Children (SPAI-C), an empirically derived self-report instrument to assess DSM-IV social phobia in childhood and adolescence, has good psychometric properties. While these findings were replicated across different cultures, the overall strength of the psychometric properties of the SPAI-C remains unknown. We assessed the validity of the SPAI-C by meta-analytic techniques across studies collected from PubMed, PsycInfo and Eric databases, conducted in different countries, among subjects of different age, and sex. A total of 21 articles were retained, predominantly from Europe and North America. We found that the psychometric properties based on Cronbach alpha, mean score differences between sexes, and construct validity, were robust for the SPAI-C scale. Girls scored significantly higher than boys, and geographical differences played a moderating effect on sex-related score differences. These results further support the SPAI-C as an instrument to identify Social Phobia in youth. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

Psychometric Properties Of The Social Phobia And Anxiety Inventory For Children (Spai-C): A Sample Of Italian School-Aged Children From The General Population

Unarticulated assumptions rarely help our students. The assumption that students can learn to do high-quality literature reviews without guidance from program faculty is surely unhelpful. And our failure to articulate our performance expectations further deprives students of guidance. With most doctoral programs unwilling or unable to teach students to write high-quality literature reviews, students have turned to other sources. Unfortunately, those other sources often misdirect students and inculcate unproductive habits. Academic librarians have specialized knowledge and skills that are invaluable for our students. However, my experience is that they tend to focus on searching library databases, which is rarely a productive way to start. Similarly, most of the published research methodology textbooks and literature review reference books tend to focus on database searching (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2005). Taken together, it would be easy for students to conclude that “the review of literature is a preliminary, cursory exercise that must be endured prior to the start of the ‘real’ study” (Dellinger, 2005: 52)

A genetically informed study of the association between childhood separation anxiety, sensitivity to CO2, panic disorder, and the effect of childhood parental loss

Context: Childhood separation anxiety disorder can predate panic disorder, which usually begins in early adulthood. Both disorders are associated with heightened sensitivity to inhaled CO and can be influenced by childhood parental loss. Objectives: To find the sources of covariation between childhood separation anxiety disorder, hypersen-sitivity to CO, and panic disorder in adulthood and to measure the effect of childhood parental loss on such covariation. Design: Multivariate twin study. Participants: Seven hundred twelve young adults from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health Twin Panel, a general population cohort. Main Outcome Measures: Personal direct assessment of lifetime panic disorder through structured psychiatric interviews, history of childhood parental loss, and separation anxiety disorder symptoms. Subjective anxiety response to a 35% CO/65% O inhaled mixture compared with compressed air (placebo). Results: Our best-fitting solution yielded a common pathway model, implying that covariation between separation anxiety in childhood, hypersensitivity to CO, and panic disorder in adulthood can be explained by a single latent intervening variable influencing all phenotypes. The latent variable governing the 3 phenotypes' covariation was in turn largely (89%) influenced by genetic factors and childhood parental loss (treated as an identified element of risk acting at a family-wide level), which accounted for the remaining 11% of covariance. Residual variance was explained by 1 specific genetic variance component for separation anxiety disorder and variable-specific unique environmental variance components. Conclusions: Shared genetic determinants appear to be the major underlying cause of the developmental continuity of childhood separation anxiety disorder into adult panic disorder and the association of both disorders with heightened sensitivity to CO. Inasmuch as childhood parental loss is a truly environmental risk factor, it can account for a significant additional proportion of the covariation of these 3 developmentally related phenotypes