Cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents: A 3‐year longitudinal study. Issue 7 (5th May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ho, Samuel MY; Zhang, Qiaochu; Lai, Yihuan; Dai, Darren W.T.
• Is Part Of: Journal of clinical psychology. Volume 77:Issue 7(2021)
• Page Start: 1700
• Page End: 1714
• Publication Date: 2021-05-05
• Subjects: adolescence -- anxiety -- anxiety sensitivity -- attentional bias -- developmental trajectory; Psychology -- Periodicals; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1002/jclp.23161
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9762

Abstract

Abstract: Objective: This study established cognitive vulnerability of anxiety symptoms among high school students. Method: A total of 72 grade 9–11 students completed measures on levels of anxiety sensitivity (AS), selective attentional processing, and anxiety symptoms annually between 2016 and 2018. Results: Latent class growth analysis (unconditional model) showed a four‐class model: High (stable) (6.94%), low (stable) (11.11%), medium (decreasing) (61.11%), and medium (increasing) (20.83%). The conditioned model controlling for the physical‐concerns dimension of AS and negative attentional bias demonstrated that a two‐class model consisted of a low anxiety class ( n = 59, 81.9%) and a high anxiety class ( n = 13, 18.1%) provided the best fit for the data. Negative attentional bias is a significant factor related to the development of anxiety trajectories. Conclusion: Attentional bias modification to disengage from negative stimuli may serve as a potential target of intervention to reduce chronic anxiety among high school students.