Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2017 Oct;45(7):1461-1472. doi: 10.1007/s10802-016-0256-3.
Anxious youth may experience altered positive affect (PA) relative to healthy youth, perhaps because of greater sensitivity to social experiences. Altered PA may be especially evident during the transition to adolescence, a period in which positive social events increase in salience and value. The current study evaluated whether anxious youth show differences in baseline PA, rate of return to baseline, and variability around baseline PA and tested whether these differences would depend on social context and anxiety subtype. Participants were 176 9- to 14-year-old youth, including 130 clinically anxious (with Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and/or Separation Anxiety Disorder) and 46 healthy youth. Youth reported their current PA, peak PA in the past hour, and social context in natural settings using ecological momentary assessment. Hierarchical linear models showed that both socially anxious and other anxious youth showed greater variability of PA relative to healthy youth. Youth with other anxiety disorders showed higher peak PA to a positive event relative to healthy youth. Feeling close to a friend was associated with higher peak PA, especially for socially anxious youth. Socially anxious youth showed significantly lower peak PA relative to both healthy and other anxious youth when interacting with a less close peer, but similar levels to these youth when interacting with a close friend. These findings suggest that clinically anxious youth may more sensitive to positive events and social interactions than healthy youth. Findings provide potential treatment targets for anxious youth, including applying regulatory strategies to positive events.
焦虑的年轻人可能与健康的年轻人相比，表现出积极情绪（PA）的改变，也许是因为他们对社交体验更加敏感。积极情绪的改变在青春期过渡期间可能尤为明显，在这个时期，积极的社交事件变得更加突出和重要。本研究评估了焦虑的年轻人在基线 PA、恢复到基线的速度以及围绕基线 PA 的可变性方面是否存在差异，并检验了这些差异是否取决于社交背景和焦虑亚型。参与者包括 176 名 9 至 14 岁的年轻人，其中 130 名是临床焦虑症患者（患有社交焦虑症、广泛性焦虑症和/或分离焦虑症），46 名是健康的年轻人。年轻人在自然环境中使用生态瞬间评估报告他们当前的 PA、过去一小时的峰值 PA 和社交背景。分层线性模型显示，社交焦虑和其他焦虑的年轻人的 PA 变异性均高于健康的年轻人。与健康的年轻人相比，患有其他焦虑症的年轻人对积极事件的峰值 PA 更高。与朋友亲近会导致更高的峰值 PA，尤其是对社交焦虑的年轻人。与不太亲近的同龄人互动时，社交焦虑的年轻人的峰值 PA 明显低于健康和其他焦虑的年轻人，但与亲密朋友互动时，他们的峰值 PA 与这些年轻人相似。这些发现表明，与健康的年轻人相比，临床焦虑的年轻人可能对积极事件和社交互动更为敏感。研究结果为焦虑的年轻人提供了潜在的治疗目标，包括对积极事件应用调节策略。
