"Danger is lurking everywhere". The relation between anxiety and threat perception abnormalities in normal children

The present study examined the relation between anxiety and depression and threat perception abnormalities. Children were exposed to stories describin g social situations. Some of the stories were ambiguous (i.e,, these storie s contained information that could be interpreted as threatening) whereas o ther stories were non-threatening (i.e., these stories contained no obvious trace of threat). From children's responses to the stories, several threat perception indices were derived. Children's level of anxiety and depressio n were assessed by means of self-report questionnaires. Results indicated t hat high levels of anxiety were accompanied by a high frequency of threat p erception, high ratings of threat, a high frequency of threatening interpre tations, high levels of negative feelings and cognitions, and an early dete ction of threat. interestingly, significant associations between anxiety an d threat perception abnormalities were not only observed in response to amb iguous stories but also in relation to non-threatening scenarios. Furthermo re? depression was also connected with threat perception distortions. Even when controlling for anxiety levels, depression remained significantly rela ted to threat frequency, threat ratings, and threat thresholds. (C) 2000 El sevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.