Fathers’ challenging parenting behavior predicts less subsequent anxiety symptoms in early childhood

Recent theories propose that (especially fathers’) challenging parenting behavior (CPB) serves to reduce offspring's anxiety development, and that fearful children are more susceptible to parenting. Using a longitudinal design we explored whether more CPB (and less overprotection) of both parents, (1) separately, (2) relatively, and (3) jointly predicts less anxiety in early childhood, and (4) whether child fearful temperament moderates these relations. Participants were 132 couples with their first-born child. Child fearful temperament was observed at 4 months and 1 year, and parents’ CPB and overprotection at 1 and 2.5 years. Child anxiety symptoms were assessed at 2.5 and 4.5 years. Multilevel analyses showed that more CPB and, unexpectedly, more overprotection predicted less child anxiety. Relatively, fathers’ CPB and mothers’ overprotection predicted less anxiety. An interaction showed that if one parent shows low CPB, the other parent's higher CPB predicts less child anxiety. A trend interaction suggested that fathers’ CPB predicts less anxiety most strongly for fearful children. Thus, fathers’ CPB appears to play a protective role in anxiety development, possibly in particular for children most vulnerable to develop anxiety problems. Parents can compensate for a less challenging partner. The finding that maternal overprotection mitigates child anxiety requires further investigation

Autonomic arousal in children of parents with and without Social Anxiety Disorder:A high-risk study

Objective Autonomic hyperarousal in social situations is considered a genetic vulnerability factor for social anxiety disorder (SAD), but so far it is unstudied in children at risk for developing SAD. We examined autonomic activity during socially stressful tasks in children of mothers and fathers with and without lifetime SAD to reveal possible biological mechanisms of intergenerational transmission of SAD. Methods One hundred ten children aged 4.5 years were asked to sing a song in front of an audience and watch back their performance in the presence of that audience. Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), electrodermal activity (EDA), and blushing (cheek blood flow and temperature) were measured in anticipation of, during, and after the tasks. Both parents’ lifetime SAD status was assessed, and both parents reported about their own and their child's social anxiety symptoms. Results Children of parents with lifetime SAD blushed more during the socially challenging tasks than children of parents without SAD. Moreover, children of parents with more social anxiety symptoms showed increased EDA throughout the tasks. Finally, more blushing, increased EDA, and reduced HRV were associated with greater child social anxiety. Conclusions This study adds to the current knowledge on the intergenerational transmission of SAD by providing evidence that children at risk for SAD are characterized by excessive blushing in socially challenging situations. The findings also demonstrate that heightened autonomic activity is a characteristic of social anxiety already during early childhood. Hence, autonomic hyperarousal, and blushing in particular, is likely to play an etiological role in the development of SAD

When gushing leads to blushing: Inflated praise leads socially anxious children to blush

Blushing is an involuntary reddening of the face that typically occurs when people are concerned about making negative impressions on others. Although people typically blush for their mishaps or misdeeds, Darwin observed that some people, and especially children, also blush when they are lavished with praise. We theorize that socially anxious children blush when praised in inflated ways because they believe they do not match the inflated image others hold of them. Such praise-induced blushing might be particularly common in late childhood, when children's worries about their social image escalate. In this randomized experiment, 105 children (ages 8–12, 85% Caucasian) sang in front of an audience. Afterwards, children received inflated praise (“You sang incredibly well!”), noninflated praise (“You sang well!”), or no praise. Children's physiological blushing was assessed through photoplethysmography and a temperature sensor. As predicted, inflated praise—but not non-inflated praise—increased blushing in socially anxious children. This emerged for blood pulse amplitude changes (AC reactivity) and self-reported blushing, not for blood volume (DC reactivity) and temperature changes. Socially anxious children may blush to “apologize” in advance for not being as incredible as others think they are. Thus, blushing may be elicited in situations that seem benign but actually evoke the fear of being evaluated negatively

How do parents' depression and anxiety, and infants' negative temperament relate to parent–infant face-to-face interactions?

The present study investigated the associations of mothers' and fathers' lifetime depression and anxiety symptoms, and of infants' negative temperament with parents' and infants' gaze, facial expressions of emotion, and synchrony. We observed infants' (age between 3.5 and 5.5 months, N = 101) and parents' gaze and facial expressions during 4-min naturalistic face-to-face interactions. Parents' lifetime symptoms of depression and anxiety were assessed with clinical interviews, and infants' negative temperament was measured with standardized observations. Parents with more depressive symptoms and their infants expressed less positive and more neutral affect. Parents' lifetime anxiety symptoms were not significantly related to parents' expressions of affect, while they were linked to longer durations of gaze to parent, and to more positive and negative affect in infants. Parents' lifetime depression or anxiety was not related to synchrony. Infants' temperament did not predict infants' or parents' interactive behavior. The study reveals that more depression symptoms in parents are linked to more neutral affect from parents and from infants during face-to-face interactions, while parents' anxiety symptoms are related to more attention to parent and less neutral affect from infants (but not from parents)

Movilización de carbono orgánico por distintos procesos erosivos en la conexión ladera-cauce

21 páginas, 5 figuras, 2 tablas.[ES] Con el fin de caracterizar la cantidad y tipo (lábil o recalcitrante) de carbono orgánico (CO) movilizado por distintos procesos erosivos identificados en las conexiones ladera-cauce, se estudiaron las características de los depósitos de erosión concentrada en cárcavas, erosión hídrica laminar, erosión lateral-gravitacional y erosión por laboreo en el contacto ladera-cauce de una cuenca de pequeño tamaño (10 ha) y se relacionaron con las características de los suelos-fuentes originales de donde procedían. La selectividad en el arranque y transporte de suelo de los distintos procesos se pudo asociar a diferentes contenidos y tipos de CO en los depósitos. Las razones de enriquecimiento de carbono orgánico sedimento/suelo fueron bajas (~0,40 ± 0,26), a pesar de haber un ligero enriquecimiento en partículas finas (correlacionadas positivamente con el CO) en los depósitos. Todo ello se atribuyó a los efectos de la mineralización en un cauce muy activo con pocas zonas de deposición y abundantes procesos de erosión no selectiva.[EN] With the purpose of analysing the type (labile or stable) and quantity of organic carbon (OC) mobilized by different erosive processes identified at the slope-bed connection, the erosion deposits of gullies, sheet erosion, bank erosion and tillage erosion were studied in a small catchment (10 ha) and compared to the characteristics of the catchment soils. Selectivity upon soil detachment and transport was associated to different OC content and types in the erosion deposits. Enrichment ratios of organic carbon sediment/soil were low (~0,40 ± 0,26), even though a slight enrichment was described for fine particles (positively correlated to CO). These results were attributed to mineralization processes prevailing over OC burial in a very active channel where depositional sites are scarce.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por los proyectos ERCO (CGL-2007- 62590/BTE) del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y el proyecto PROBASE (CGL2006-11619). La primera autora tiene el apoyo económico de una ayuda FPI del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (BES-2008-002379).Peer reviewe

Cyclic GMP in the pig vitreous and retina after experimental retinal detachment

Purpose: Earlier studies have revealed a decreased level of cGMP in vitreous fluid obtained from patients with a retinal detachment. To further investigate this phenomenon, we developed an experimental retinal detachment model in pigs. Methods: Experimental unilateral retinal detachments were induced in pig eyes by subretinal injection of 0.25% sodium hyaluronate. Fourteen days later the vitreous and retinas were analyzed for cGMP expression. Following enucleation, the retinas were incubated in the presence of a nonselective phosphodiesterase inhibitor (IBMX), and the particulate guanylyl cyclase stimulator atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) or the soluble guanylyl cyclase stimulator sodium nitroprusside (SNP). cGMP was visualized in retinal wholemounts by immunochemistry combined with a computer based stereology system. cGMP levels in vitreous were determined by ELISA. Results: The mean vitreous cGMP level in pig eyes with a retinal detachment (1.45 pmol/ml) was significantly lower compared to the mean level of cGMP in healthy pig eyes (4.61 pmol/ml; p= 0.028 was considered significant). In the inner retina, ANP as well as SNP induced cGMP immunoreactivity in both detached and healthy retinas. After incubation with ANP, cGMP could also be detected in the outer nuclear layer of the detached retina, whereas this was not the case in the normal retina. Conclusions: Experimental retinal detachment in the pig eye leads to a decrease of cGMP levels in vitreous similar to that observed in clinical studies. This model may be helpful to analyze the mechanisms involved in cGMP dynamics following retinal detachment

Blushing and Social Anxiety: A Meta-Analysis

Blushing was recently introduced in the DSM-5 as a “hallmark” physiological response of social anxiety disorder, and it is now acknowledged as an important aspect of social anxiety. Three meta-analyses were performed to examine the association between blushing and social anxiety. The relationship between blushing and social anxiety was strong for self-perceived blushing, small for physiological blushing, and medium for observed blushing. In addition, the relationship between self-perceived blushing and social anxiety was stronger when social anxiety was measured as a state and when blushing was measured using questionnaires with five or more items. Results suggest that socially anxious people perceive themselves as blushing more than do less socially anxious people and overestimate the intensity of their physiological blushing