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Publication
Perfis de comportamento inibido em idade pré-escolar (3-6 anos) e sintomas de ansiedade
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Abstract(s)
A inibição comportamental (IC) em idade pré-escolar pode ser definida com o retraimento biologicamente determinado perante pessoas, situações e atividades novas e associa-se a um risco acrescido de desenvolver sintomas de ansiedade, nomeadamente de ansiedade social. Apesar da IC não ser um conceito unitário, poucos estudos até à data procuraram caracterizar diferentes subgrupos de crianças com recurso a medidas multidimensionais de relato parental e comparar estes diferentes subgrupos relativamente aos sintomas de ansiedade. Assim, o nosso estudo teve como objetivos identificar diferentes perfis de crianças com IC e explorar se estes diferentes perfis se distinguem ao nível da sintomatologia ansiosa. A amostra foi composta por 108 mães de crianças com média de 53.79 meses que preencheram o Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire e o Preschool Anxiety Scale para avaliar a IC e os sintomas de ansiedade, respetivamente. Os nossos resultados conduziram à identificação de dois perfis de crianças – crianças com níveis elevados e com médios de IC. As crianças identificadas como pertencentes ao subgrupo com níveis elevados de IC apresentaram comportamentos inibidos mais frequentes em contextos sociais (perante adultos, pares, situações de desempenho) e não-sociais (perante situações novas, de separação e desafio físico). As crianças identificadas como pertencentes ao subgrupo com níveis elevados de IC apresentaram mais sintomas de ansiedade generalizada, ansiedade social e medo de danos do que aquelas que foram identificadas como pertencentes ao subgrupo com níveis médios de IC. Estas diferenças entre os subgrupos foram de maior magnitude para os sintomas de ansiedade social.
Behavioral inhibition (BI) at preschool age can be defined as a biologically-based wariness when exposed to novel people, situations and activities and has been associated with an increased risk of developing anxiety symptoms, especially social anxiety. Although BI is not a unitary concept, to date, few studies aimed to characterize different subgroups of children using multidimensional parental measures and compared these different subgroups regarding anxiety symptoms. Thus, our study aimed to identify different profiles of children with BI and explore how these different profiles differed concerning anxiety symptoms. A sample consisted of 108 mothers of children with a mean age of 53.79 months, who completed the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire and the Preschool Anxiety Scale to assess BI and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Our results lead to the identification of two profiles of children: children with high and medium levels of BI. Children identified as belonging to the subgroup with high levels of BI were found to display more frequent inhibited behaviors in social (when exposed to adults, peers and performance situations) and non-social (when exposed to novel situations, separation and physical challenge) contexts than children identified as belonging to the subgroup with medium levels of BI. Children identified as belonging to the subgroup with high levels of BI displayed more anxiety symptoms than those identified as belonging to the subgroup with average BI levels. These differences were of greater magnitude for social anxiety symptoms.
Behavioral inhibition (BI) at preschool age can be defined as a biologically-based wariness when exposed to novel people, situations and activities and has been associated with an increased risk of developing anxiety symptoms, especially social anxiety. Although BI is not a unitary concept, to date, few studies aimed to characterize different subgroups of children using multidimensional parental measures and compared these different subgroups regarding anxiety symptoms. Thus, our study aimed to identify different profiles of children with BI and explore how these different profiles differed concerning anxiety symptoms. A sample consisted of 108 mothers of children with a mean age of 53.79 months, who completed the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire and the Preschool Anxiety Scale to assess BI and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Our results lead to the identification of two profiles of children: children with high and medium levels of BI. Children identified as belonging to the subgroup with high levels of BI were found to display more frequent inhibited behaviors in social (when exposed to adults, peers and performance situations) and non-social (when exposed to novel situations, separation and physical challenge) contexts than children identified as belonging to the subgroup with medium levels of BI. Children identified as belonging to the subgroup with high levels of BI displayed more anxiety symptoms than those identified as belonging to the subgroup with average BI levels. These differences were of greater magnitude for social anxiety symptoms.
Description
Dissertação de Mestrado apresentada
no ISPA – Instituto Universitário para obtenção de grau
de Mestre em Psicologia na especialidade de Clínica.
Keywords
Sintomas de ansiedade Inibição comportamental Idade pré-escolar Ansiedade social Anxiety symptoms Behavioral inhibition Preschool children Social anxiety