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Emotional Reasoning and Parent-Based Reasoning in Normal Children

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Abstract

A previous study by Muris, Merckelbach, and Van Spauwen1 demonstrated that children display emotional reasoning irrespective of their anxiety levels. That is, when estimating whether a situation is dangerous, children not only rely on objective danger information but also on their own anxiety-response. The present study further examined emotional reasoning in children aged 7–13 years (N = 508). In addition, it was investigated whether children also show parent-based reasoning, which can be defined as the tendency to rely on anxiety-responses that can be observed in parents. Children completed self-report questionnaires of anxiety, depression, and emotional and parent-based reasoning. Evidence was found for both emotional and parent-based reasoning effects. More specifically, children’s danger ratings were not only affected by objective danger information, but also by anxiety-response information in both objective danger and safety stories. High levels of anxiety and depression were significantly associated with the tendency to rely on anxiety-response information, but only in the case of safety scripts.

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Authors
  1. Mattijn Morren
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  2. Peter Muris
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  3. Merel Kindt
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Morren, M., Muris, P. & Kindt, M. Emotional Reasoning and Parent-Based Reasoning in Normal Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 35, 3–20 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CHUD.0000039317.50547.e3

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