ArticleGait & posture2024
The influence of fear of falling on the control of upright stance across the lifespan.
Article in Gait & posture, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of height-induced postural threat on static and dynamic balance performance in healthy individuals: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of restricted compared to free arms motion during standing and walking at height in healthy adolescents.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Impact of arm movement strategies on emotional state and gait outcomes during height-induced postural threat in healthy children compared to young adults.Experimental brain research · 2025Article
- Arm movement strategies did not influence emotional state and static postural control during height-induced postural threat in children and young adults.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Posturographic analysis of induced emotion: a scoping review.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Review
- Effects of age and arm movement condition on dynamic balance performance during virtual height exposure.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundStanding at height, and subsequent changes in emotional state (e.g., fear of falling), lead to robust alterations in balance in adults. However, little is known about how height-induced postural threat affects balance performance in children. Children may lack the cognitive capability necessary to inhibit the processing of threat and fear-related stimuli, and as a result, may show more marked (and perhaps detrimental) changes in postural control compared to adults. This work explored the emotional and balance responses to standing at height in children, and compared responses to young and older adults.
methodsChildren (age: 9.7 ± 0.8 years, n = 38), young adults (age: 21.8 ± 4.0 years, n = 45) and older adults (age: 73.3 ± 5.0 years, n = 15) stood in bipedal stance in two conditions: at ground level and 80 cm above ground. Centre of pressure (COP) amplitude (RMS), frequency (MPF) and complexity (sample entropy) were calculated to infer postural performance and strategy. Emotional responses were quantified by assessing balance confidence, fear of falling and perceived instability.
resultsYoung and older adults demonstrated a postural adaptation characterised by increased frequency and decreased amplitude of the COP, in conjunction with increased COP complexity (sample entropy). In contrast, children demonstrated opposite patterns of changes: they exhibited an increase in COP amplitude and decrease in both frequency and complexity when standing at height. SIGNIFICANCE: Children and adults adopted different postural control strategies when standing at height. Whilst young and older adults exhibited a potentially protective "stiffening" response to a height-induced threat, children demonstrated a potentially maladaptive and ineffective postural adaptation strategy. These observations expand upon existing postural threat related research in adults, providing important new insight into understanding how children respond to standing in a hazardous situation.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.