Citation

Heim-Dreger U, Kohlmann CW, Eschenbeck H, Burkhardt U. Emotion 2006; 6(2): 320-325.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, University of Education Schwäbisch Gmünd, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany. uwe.heim-dreger@ph-gmuend.de

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1037/1528-3542.6.2.320

PMID

16768563

Abstract

The authors examined the processing of threat-related information in childhood anxiety with the emotional Stroop task and the dot probe task. In study 1, a nonclinical sample of 112 pupils (mean age = 9 years) performed pictorial versions of both tasks. For each task, an index indicating a bias for threat processing was computed. Positive correlations were found between these indices and anxiety. When compared with the original emotional Stroop index, the absolute value of the emotional Stroop index was a better predictor of anxiety. It was possible to replicate this result in study 2 with 80 pupils (mean age = 8.6 years). Results are discussed with regard to vigilance and avoidance as basic mechanisms underlying performance on the tasks.

Language: en