Our Research Interests

Anxiety Symptoms Prevention Investigation (ASPI) Study

This study has two stages. In the first stage, we will be inviting parents and children into the lab to test how anxiety gets transmitted from parents to children, and seeing whether we can alter this. In the second stage, we will be inviting parents who suffer from anxiety to come to a one- day workshop. At this workshop we will give parents tips and advice to help them raise confident children. We will then be testing out whether this has any impact on the children. To go to the ASPI website (due late 2011) please click here. (Project Lead: Sam Cartwright-Hatton)

The Development of Fears in Children

Are children affected by what they hear about new stimuli and situations? We have shown that threat information about a new animal or situation can lead to changes in their fears that last up to 6-months and affect how children think about that animal. We study the factors that influence children's learning (their personality, family environment, cognitive development and so on) and also look at how children encode and retrieve fear-related information. (Project Lead: Andy Field).

The Emotional Impact of 'Scary' TV and Stories

A recent development in our interests is exploring children’s emotional reactions to ‘scary’ factual and fantasy TV? Does cognitive development affect these responses? Are these responses different in children with different temperaments? Can fearful experiences have a positive impact on children? Can ‘scary’ TV and story books create resilience to anxiety? (Project Lead: Andy Field).

Funding

Sign Up To Take Part

Throughout the summer holidays we will be looking for families to help us with our research at the Department of Psychology, University of Sussex. >> Register here

Useful Links

University of Sussex