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Infant learning from fathers in a social referencing paradigm: a registered report

Infant learning from fathers in a social referencing paradigm: a registered report
Infant learning from fathers in a social referencing paradigm: a registered report
Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders among children worldwide. The exposure to parents’ anxious behaviours represents an environmental risk factor for offspring anxiety and infant behavioural inhibition is prospectively associated with the broad class of anxiety disorders. However, fathers have been largely neglected in the study of child anxiety and their causal role in its intergenerational transmission remains to be investigated. In this experiment, we will test the impact of experimentally-manipulating fathers’ socially anxious behaviours on their infants’ behavioural and emotional responses to a stranger in a social referencing paradigm. Moreover, we will investigate the moderating role of infant behavioural inhibition. Twelve to 14-month-old infants (N sample size = XX; M age = XX; SD = XX) recruited in the county of Hampshire, United Kingdom, will participate in the study with their non-anxious fathers, who will be trained to interact in a neutral or anxious manner with two different male strangers. All infants will experience two conditions: (i) father interacting in a neutral (i.e., non-anxious) manner with the stranger, and (ii) father interacting in a socially anxious manner with a different stranger. The order of each condition and the order of stranger presentation will be counterbalanced. This experimental study will help shed light on the causal role of fathers’ anxious behaviours in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety.
anxiety, fathers, social referencing paradigm, infants, behavioural inhibition
0012-1649
Zecchinato, Francesca
b9345a6c-e682-43b8-bb9d-832a21040303
Kreppner, Jana
6a5f447e-1cfe-4654-95b4-e6f89b0275d6
Aktar, Evin
bb4fea8b-73ab-432c-973b-22b0b082dc7d
Lawrence, Peter J.
0d45e107-38ef-4932-aec1-504573de01ef
Zecchinato, Francesca
b9345a6c-e682-43b8-bb9d-832a21040303
Kreppner, Jana
6a5f447e-1cfe-4654-95b4-e6f89b0275d6
Aktar, Evin
bb4fea8b-73ab-432c-973b-22b0b082dc7d
Lawrence, Peter J.
0d45e107-38ef-4932-aec1-504573de01ef

Zecchinato, Francesca, Kreppner, Jana, Aktar, Evin and Lawrence, Peter J. (2023) Infant learning from fathers in a social referencing paradigm: a registered report. Developmental Psychology. (doi:10.17605/OSF.IO/WFBR2). (In Press)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders among children worldwide. The exposure to parents’ anxious behaviours represents an environmental risk factor for offspring anxiety and infant behavioural inhibition is prospectively associated with the broad class of anxiety disorders. However, fathers have been largely neglected in the study of child anxiety and their causal role in its intergenerational transmission remains to be investigated. In this experiment, we will test the impact of experimentally-manipulating fathers’ socially anxious behaviours on their infants’ behavioural and emotional responses to a stranger in a social referencing paradigm. Moreover, we will investigate the moderating role of infant behavioural inhibition. Twelve to 14-month-old infants (N sample size = XX; M age = XX; SD = XX) recruited in the county of Hampshire, United Kingdom, will participate in the study with their non-anxious fathers, who will be trained to interact in a neutral or anxious manner with two different male strangers. All infants will experience two conditions: (i) father interacting in a neutral (i.e., non-anxious) manner with the stranger, and (ii) father interacting in a socially anxious manner with a different stranger. The order of each condition and the order of stranger presentation will be counterbalanced. This experimental study will help shed light on the causal role of fathers’ anxious behaviours in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety.

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Accepted/In Press date: 8 March 2023
Additional Information: This is an accepted and peer-reviewed Stage 1 registered report.
Keywords: anxiety, fathers, social referencing paradigm, infants, behavioural inhibition

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 478320
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/478320
ISSN: 0012-1649
PURE UUID: c66bf0ef-6f20-4e30-b77f-1f760c5520a2
ORCID for Francesca Zecchinato: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4639-8830
ORCID for Jana Kreppner: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3527-9083
ORCID for Peter J. Lawrence: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6181-433X

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Date deposited: 28 Jun 2023 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:08

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Contributors

Author: Francesca Zecchinato ORCID iD
Author: Jana Kreppner ORCID iD
Author: Evin Aktar

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