Child and Maternal Influence on Parenting Behavior in Clinically Anxious Children

Abstract

This study examined child and maternal influences on maternal overinvolvement and negativity. A sample of mothers of children with anxiety disorders (n = 45) and mothers of nonclinical children (n = 46) were observed interacting during a speech preparation task with a child from the same diagnostic group as their child (i.e., anxious or nonanxious) and with a child from a different diagnostic group. During interactions involving children who were not their own, mothers were observed to be more involved with anxious children in comparison to nonclinical children. Mothers of clinically anxious children were observed to be less negative during the interactions with nonclinical children than with clinically anxious children. These results are discussed in relation to the cyclical relationship between parenting behavior and child anxiety.

This research was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant Project ID DP0342793 (Chief Investigator—Hudson).

Notes

Note. Means with different subscripts are significantly different from each other at the critical alpha (p < .05). SDQ = Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SCAS = Spence Children's Anxiety Scale.