Relationships between neuroticism, attentional control, and anxiety disorders symptoms in non-clinical children

The present study was a first attempt to examine Lonigan and Phillips’ (2001) theory on the role of neuroticism and attentional control in the development of childhood anxiety. A large sample of non-clinical children aged 8–13 years (N=303) completed the neuroticism scale of the Junior version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (JEPQ), the Attentional Control Scale for Children (ACS-C), and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), which is a questionnaire measuring symptoms of childhood anxiety disorders. Results showed that the links between neuroticism and attentional control, on the one hand, and anxiety disorders symptoms, on the other hand, were as expected. That is, the correlation between neuroticism and anxiety was positive, whereas that between attentional control and anxiety was negative. Furthermore, although neuroticism and attentional control both explained a unique and significant proportion of the variance in anxiety disorders symptoms, no support was found for Lonigan and Phillips’ notion that in particular the interaction of these two variables is needed for developing high levels of anxiety. Implications of these findings for theories on temperamental vulnerability for childhood anxiety are briefly discussed.