Biomedical subjects

Janet Woodruff-Borden

Publications and source records attributed to Janet Woodruff-Borden.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders in 4 to 16-year-olds with Williams syndrome.

The prevalence of a range of DSM-IV psychiatric disorders in a sample of 119 4-16-year-old children with Williams syndrome (WS) was assessed using a structured diagnostic interview with their parents. Most children (80.7%) met criteria for at least one DSM-IV diagnosis. The most prevalent diagnoses were Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; 64.7%) and Specific Phobia (53.8%). There was a significant shift in Predominant Type of ADHD as a function of CA, from Combined for the youngest group (ages 4-6 years) to Inattentive for the oldest group (ages 11-16 years). The prevalence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) increased significantly with age. These findings are another step toward defining the behavioral phenotype of WS.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Parental control in the etiology of anxiety.

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent forms of adult and childhood psychiatric disorders, and they are highly familial. However, the mechanisms of transmission remain unclear. One familial characteristic that may promote the development of anxiety is the construct of parental control. This paper provides a conceptual overview of the construct of control in the parenting and anxiety literatures, reviews existing literature on control in anxious families, and reviews current conceptual models of and developmental approaches to anxiety. Based on the current empirical literature, an elaborated model that takes child developmental level into consideration is proposed in order to provide a better understanding of the role of parental control in the development of anxiety.

Anxiety Disorders↗

PubMed2005

Family functioning, perceived control, and anxiety: a mediational model.

Research has focused on defining which types of family interactions promote development of anxiety. Control has emerged as an important construct in anxious families. Central to conceptualizing the relationship between family functioning, control beliefs, and anxiety is establishing a sequential relationship among these variable, which may entail mediating or moderating relationships, or relationships that change over the course of development. The current study investigated whether control acts as a moderator or a mediator between perceived family environment and anxiety in your adults. An undergraduate sample (N=364) completed the family assessment device (FAD), anxiety control questionnaire (ACQ), Beck anxiety inventory (BAI), and a demographic questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test both moderating and mediating models. No moderating effects were found. Sense of control mediated the relation between aspects of family functioning and anxiety. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Examination of the utility of the Beck Anxiety Inventory and its factors as a screener for anxiety disorders.

The Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule (ADIS-IV) were administered to 193 adults at a major Midwestern university recruited from an anxiety research and treatment center. The BAI and its four factor scores were compared from individuals with a primary diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), specific or social phobia, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and no psychiatric diagnosis. The cut scores on the BAI and its factors, their sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive values were calculated for each group. The results of this study support previous findings that the strongest quality of the BAI is its ability to assess panic symptomatology. The present study also expands on this notion by establishing that the BAI can be used as an efficient screening tool for distinguishing between individuals with and without panic disorder.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

The phenomenology of non-clinical panic in older adults in comparison to younger adults.

The prevalence and nature of panic symptoms in the elderly are poorly understood. In a replication and extension of Deer and Calamari [J. Behav. Ther. Exp. Psychiatry 29 (1998) 303], the current study sought to determine which symptoms of anxiety best differentiated elderly endorsers of panic from elderly who do not panic, and to compare these results to a reference younger sample. Based on a sample of 302 community-dwelling older adults and a comparison group of 275 younger adults, non-clinical panic (NCP) was endorsed in 26.2% of older adults, which is less frequent than the younger adults (42.7%). Although older and younger adults were similar in terms of clinical features of panic, health factors interacted significantly with panic symptoms in the elderly. When controlling for health, cognitive symptoms of anxiety were stronger predictors of panic in older adults than were physiological symptoms. Clinical implications for the assessment of panic in older adults are discussed.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Social anxiety in older adults: phenomenology, prevalence, and measurement.

Although phobias represent the most common anxiety disorders among the elderly, little is known about their social nature. The present study provides information about the prevalence, measurement, and phenomenology of social anxiety in older adults (n = 283) and compares results to those of younger adults (n = 318). Analyses revealed that social anxiety is less prevalent in old age than it is within younger cohorts and is associated with different symptomatology. The psychopathological profile of those who reach clinical levels of social anxiety is however similar, irrespective of age. Results regarding the psychometric properties of the SPAI when used for the elderly were promising, but the questionnaire appears to be difficult for some older adults to complete. Results are discussed in terms of explanations for age differences in social anxiety, initial psychometrics of the SPAI in an older adult sample, and suggestions for future research.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

Structural differentiation of self-reported depression and anxiety in late life.

Research has shown impressive support for tripartite models of anxiety and depression that include a common factor of negative affect, and the unique factors positive affect and arousal. It is not clear whether this structure extends into later life. The current study used confirmatory factor analysis to model the structural relationship of anxiety and depression in two samples of older adults: a large probability sample (N = 1429) and a smaller convenience sample (N = 210). Across all analyses, a correlated, two-factor, psychometric model was most parsimonious. The tripartite model could be fit to the data, but added no explanatory power; in some cases a one-factor model also fit. The results suggest that there is a unitary factor of "distress" that incorporates anxiety and depression, but that the structure is not consistent with factor structures found in younger samples. Instead, the broad constructs may be represented in a more complex manner among older adults, and are less easily differentiated.

Affect↗

PubMed2002

The behavior of anxious parents: examining mechanisms of transmission of anxiety from parent to child.

Examined the behavior of anxious parents in interactions with their children (ages 6 to 12 years) to test hypotheses about possible psychosocial mechanisms of transmission of anxiety from parent to child. Fifty-one parent-child dyads completed the study. Parents and children were assessed with structured interviews and participated in 2 tasks that were videotaped and coded. Twenty-five dyads had an anxious parent. Primary diagnoses of the anxious group were mostly panic disorder (PD), with or without agoraphobia (AG), social phobia (SP), and generalized anxiety disorder. Anxious participants were excluded if they presented a secondary diagnosis other than another anxiety disorder. Control parents had no present or past diagnosis. Observational data revealed that anxious parents were significantly less productively engaged and more withdrawn and disengaged during the interactions but did not differ from nonanxious parents in terms of overall levels of control. Sequential analyses indicated that there was a trend for both parent group and child sex to effect efforts to control the interaction in response to child expression of negative affect. Implications of these results for a mediational role of parental behavior in the development and maintenance of child anxiety are discussed.

Adult↗