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. 2023 Dec;26(4):1025-1051.
doi: 10.1007/s10567-023-00458-z. Epub 2023 Oct 11.

An Integrative Model of Youth Anxiety: Cognitive-Affective Processes and Parenting in Developmental Context

Kristy Benoit Allen #  1 , Patricia Z Tan #  2   3 , Jacqueline A Sullivan  4 , Megan Baumgardner  4 , Hannah Hunter  4 , Samantha Noose Glovak  4
Affiliations

An Integrative Model of Youth Anxiety: Cognitive-Affective Processes and Parenting in Developmental Context

Kristy Benoit Allen et al. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2023 Dec.

Abstract

Multiple theoretical frameworks have been proposed to provide a more comprehensive picture of the risk factors that influence anxiety-related developmental trajectories. Nonetheless, there remains a need for an integrative model that outlines: (1) which risk factors may be most pertinent at different points in development, and (2) how parenting may maintain, exacerbate, or attenuate an affective style that is characterized by high negative emotional reactivity to unfamiliar, uncertain, and threatening situations. A developmentally informed, integrative model has the potential to guide treatment development and delivery, which is critical to reducing the public health burden associated with these disorders. This paper outlines a model integrating research on many well-established risk mechanisms for anxiety disorders, focusing on (1) the developmental progression from emotional reactivity constructs early in life to those involving higher-level cognitive processes later in youth, and (2) potential pathways by which parenting may impact the stability of youth's cognitive-affective responses to threat-relevant information across development.

Keywords: Anxiety; Attention bias; Interoception; Interpretation bias; Intolerance of uncertainty; Parenting.

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