Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, 109 Williams Hall, Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2020 Jun;23(2):205-228. doi: 10.1007/s10567-019-00306-z.
Fearful temperament represents one of the most robust predictors of child and adolescent anxiety; however, not all children with fearful temperament unvaryingly develop anxiety. Diverse processes resulting from the interplay between automatic processing (i.e., attention bias) and controlled processing (i.e., effortful control) drive the trajectories toward more adaptive or maladaptive directions. In this review, we examine the associations between fearful temperament, attention bias, and anxiety, as well as the moderating effect of effortful control. Based on the reviewed literature, we propose a two-mechanism developmental model of attention bias that underlies the association between fearful temperament and anxiety. We propose that the sub-components of effortful control (i.e., attentional control and inhibitory control) play different roles depending on individuals' temperaments, initial automatic biases, and goal priorities. Our model may help resolve some of the mixed findings and conflicts in the current literature. It may also advance our knowledge regarding the cognitive mechanisms linking fearful temperament and anxiety, as well as facilitate the continuing efforts in identifying and intervening with children who are at risk. Finally, we conclude the review with a discussion on the existing limitations and then propose questions for future research.
恐惧气质是儿童和青少年焦虑的最强预测指标之一；然而，并非所有具有恐惧气质的儿童都会一成不变地发展为焦虑症。自动加工（即注意偏向）和控制加工（即努力控制）之间相互作用产生的多种过程，推动了向更适应或更适应不良的方向发展的轨迹。在这篇综述中，我们考察了恐惧气质、注意偏向和焦虑之间的关系，以及努力控制的调节作用。基于已审查的文献，我们提出了一个注意偏向的双机制发展模型，该模型是恐惧气质与焦虑之间关联的基础。我们提出，努力控制的子成分（即注意力控制和抑制控制）根据个体的气质、初始自动偏差和目标优先级，发挥不同的作用。我们的模型可以帮助解决当前文献中的一些混合发现和冲突。它还可以增进我们对将恐惧气质与焦虑联系起来的认知机制的认识，并有助于继续努力识别和干预处于危险中的儿童。最后，我们在讨论现有局限性的基础上结束了综述，然后提出了未来研究的问题。
