Lunch Lecture - Brunna Tuschen-Caffier

Anxiety disorders: from basic research to psychotherapy

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders across the human life span with their origins in early childhood and adolescence. In clinical classification systems different types of anxiety disorders are described, e. g. separation anxiety disorder, selective mutism, specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia, or generalized anxiety disorder. Individuals suffering from different types of anxiety disorders differ with respect to the objects or situations that trigger fear or anxiety. Moreover, there are some similarities but also differences concerning etiological factors and mechanisms that may maintain anxiety disorders.

After a short overview on anxiety disorders in general, this lecture will focus on experimental studies with children and adolescents suffering from social anxiety disorder. Using a multimethod approach (e.g. eyetracking, ecological momentary assessment) we analyse the maintaining factors of social anxiety disorders (e.g. attentional biases, dysregulation of emotion). Eventually, the implications for psychotherapy will be discussed.