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Pathways to health: A longitudinal examination of protective factors in children with and without preschool anxiety

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 November 2024

Esmeralda Navarro Open the ORCID record for Esmeralda Navarro [Opens in a new window] ,
Megan Davis ,
Sophia Martin ,
Lauren V. Butler ,
Helen Egger ,
Kimberly L.H. Carpenter ,
William E. Copeland  and
Margaret A. Sheridan Open the ORCID record for Margaret A. Sheridan [Opens in a new window]
Esmeralda Navarro*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Megan Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Sophia Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Lauren V. Butler
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Helen Egger
Affiliation:
Little Otter, Inc., San Francisco, CA, USA
Kimberly L.H. Carpenter
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
William E. Copeland
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA
Margaret A. Sheridan
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
*
Corresponding author: Esmeralda Navarro; Email: enavarro@unc.edu
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Abstract

Preschool anxiety is highly prevalent and well known to predict risk for future psychopathology. The present study explores whether a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder in preschool interacts with (a) social skills and (b) cognitive ability to longitudinally predict psychopathology, two well-known protective factors, among a sample of 207 children measured at preschool (Mage = 4.34 years) and early childhood (Mage = 6.61 years). To assess social skills and cognitive ability, we utilized the Social Skills Rating Scale and the Differential Abilities Scale, respectively. To assess psychopathology, we utilized the parent report of the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. Hierarchical linear regression models revealed significant interactions between both social skills and cognitive ability with preschool anxiety. We observed that social skills protected against emergent psychopathology for both children with and without anxiety, although this association was stronger for children with preschool anxiety. Contrastingly, cognitive ability served as a protective factor against future psychopathology primarily among children without preschool anxiety. Results from this study identify targets for future intervention and inform our understanding of how preschool anxiety, a common disorder among young children, shapes future psychopathology risk in childhood.

Keywords

Psychopathologyprotective factorspreschool anxiety

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Type
Regular Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 37 , Issue 3 , August 2025 , pp. 1584 - 1592
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© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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