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Exploring Parental Predictors of Child Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Child Interpretation Bias

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Abstract

Background

Separate lines of research have shown that higher levels of parental overcontrol and parental anxiety are related to higher levels of child anxiety. The mechanisms of transmission, however, are poorly understood.

Objective

It has been theorized, though not empirically tested, that parental overcontrol and anxiety increase children’s interpretation bias by signaling to the child that the environment is threatening (e.g. through modeling or restriction of autonomy), thus increasing the child’s anxiety level.

Methods

The present study investigated this theory using 75 parent–child dyads (parents aged 27–52, 82 % female; children aged 7–12, 52 % female, 80 % Caucasian). All parents were diagnosed with a primary anxiety disorder, while no child was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Results

Children’s interpretation bias, measured using ambiguous stories, was shown to partially mediate the relation between parental overcontrol and child anxiety and completely mediate the relation between parental anxiety and child anxiety. There was no significant relation between parental overcontrol and parental anxiety.

Conclusions

Findings partially support theoretical models, which posit that higher levels of overcontrol and parental anxiety signal to children that their environment is threatening, perhaps increasing their threat appraisal of ambiguous situations and increasing their anxiety. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (grant number R01MH077312-01) awarded to Golda S. Ginsburg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 550 North Broadway/Suite 202, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Nicholas W. Affrunti & Golda S. Ginsburg

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  1. Nicholas W. Affrunti
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  2. Golda S. Ginsburg
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Correspondence to Golda S. Ginsburg.

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Affrunti, N.W., Ginsburg, G.S. Exploring Parental Predictors of Child Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Child Interpretation Bias. Child Youth Care Forum 41, 517–527 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-012-9186-6

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