Parenting practices and their relation to anxiety in young adulthood

Two-hundred introductory psychology students and their parents participated in a study of parenting perceptions and trait anxiety. Using student perceptions of parenting, this study replicates and extends research on the relation between parental control/autonomy granting, rejection/acceptance, and trait anxiety. The study was notable for incorporating data concerning both maternal and paternal influence in the model. Based upon prior research, parental control, parental rejection, and parent anxiety were expected to be associated with student anxiety. Further, perceptions of maternal parenting were expected to emerge as stronger correlates of student anxiety than paternal factors. Results indicated that for both females and males, perceptions of maternal control and paternal acceptance proved to have the strongest relations with student anxiety. However, large differences between males and females emerged in the model, with maternal control and paternal acceptance proving to be significant correlates only for female undergraduates. Maternal, but not paternal, self-reports of trait anxiety were related to student trait anxiety, but the relation was marginally significant in this sample.     

Parenting practices and childhood anxiety reporting in Mexican, Mexican American, and European American families

Parenting practices reflecting over-control and lack of warmth and acceptance are associated with childhood anxiety in white non-Latino populations. In this study, we examined whether these parenting practices were related to childhood anxiety in Mexican-descent children. Mexican (M: n=46), Mexican American (MA: n=48), and European American (EA: n=47) families discussed three ambiguous, potentially anxiety provoking situations. Transcribed discussions were coded for parenting practices reflecting control and lack of warmth and acceptance. Controlling practices were associated with more anxiety for the M and EA groups and with less anxiety for the MA group. The MA parents generated more verbalizations indicative of control than the M parents and more verbalizations indicative of lack of warmth and acceptance than the EA parents. Implications for our understanding of anxiety development in Latino children are discussed.     

Parenting practices in childhood and depression,anxiety, and internalizing symptoms in adolescence: a systematic review

Purpose

Parenting practices represent important and modifiable factors for health and wellbeing in children and adolescents; however, strength and quality of studies examining relationships between parenting practices in childhood and risk of depression and anxiety in adolescence are unclear. The objective of this systematic review was to synthesize the longitudinal literature that describes these associations.

Methods

Six electronic databases were searched for articles published through March 2018. Eligible articles were published in the English language, peer-reviewed, and had prospective cohort study designs. Articles eligible for inclusion examined positive and negative parenting practices of parents and/or guardians when study subjects were between 0 and 9 years of age, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and internalizing symptoms when subjects were between 10 and 19 years of age. Heterogeneity of included articles precluded meta-analysis: findings were reported narratively.

Results

4558 references were screened for inclusion, and 19 articles met eligibility criteria and were included for review. Ten articles examined positive parenting practices, and four demonstrated statistically significant associations between positive parenting practices and lower risk of adolescent depression, anxiety, and/or internalizing symptoms. Fifteen articles examined negative parenting practices, and five demonstrated significant associations between negative parenting practices and higher risk of adolescent depression, anxiety, and/or internalizing symptoms.

Conclusion

This review demonstrates that the evidence base supporting longitudinal associations between parenting practices in childhood and adolescent symptoms of depression, anxiety, and internalizing problems is inconsistent. Findings from this review highlight limitations of the existing literature and identify understudied parenting dimensions that require further investigation.

     

Social anxiety and cognitive biases in non-referred children: The interaction of self-focused attention and threat interpretation biases

Cognitive-behavioral models of social phobia emphasize the combined effects of cognitive biases in the maintenance of the condition, and recent findings in adults implicate self-focused attention as one such bias. However, research examining self-focus in youth is limited. This investigation examined the causal role of self-focused attention on threat interpretation biases in a community sample of 175 socially anxious children. Self-focused attention was experimentally induced via a mirror manipulation procedure and self-focused attention was assessed before and after mirror exposure. Social interpretation biases were examined via an ambiguous stories task with half of the children completing the task in front of a mirror and the other half without a mirror. Social anxiety predicted self-focus and threat interpretation bias. The mirror manipulation did not have an effect on focus of attention or on threat interpretation bias, nor did it interact with social anxiety. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Maternal cognitions about distress and anxiety in young Latino children with disruptive behaviors

This study was undertaken to describe how Caribbean Latina mothers understand distress in children, the behaviors that they attribute to it, and the labels that they use to express their cognitions. Findings from 62 mothers of young children with disruptive behaviors indicated that mothers made attributions about anxiety in 40% of the children with a high likelihood of clinical anxiety. Hyperactive and restless behavior, but not children's fears, was understood by mothers to reflect anxiety. References to 'nervios' could be categorized into: an illness condition, a crisis condition, and a temperament type. Only temperament usage was applied to children.     

Neural correlates of attention biases,behavioral inhibition,and social anxiety in children: An ERP study

Behavioral inhibition (BI) is a biologically-based temperament characterized by vigilance toward threat. Over time, many children with BI increasingly fear social circumstances and display maladaptive social behavior. BI is also one of the strongest individual risk factors for developing social anxiety disorder. Although research has established a link between BI and anxiety, its causal mechanism remains unclear. Attention biases may underlie this relation. The current study examined neural markers of the BI-attention-anxiety link in children ages 9–12 years (N = 99, Mean = 9.97, SD = 0.97). ERP measures were collected as children completed an attention-bias (dot-probe) task with neutral and angry faces. P2 and N2 amplitudes were associated with social anxiety and attention bias, respectively. Specifically, augmented P2 was related to decreased symptoms of social anxiety and moderated the relation between BI and social anxiety, suggesting that increasing attention mobilization may serve as a compensatory mechanism that attenuates social anxiety in individuals with high BI. The BI by N2 interaction found that larger N2 related to threat avoidance with increasing levels of BI, consistent with over-controlled socio-emotional functioning. Lastly, children without BI (BN) showed an augmented P1 to probes replacing angry faces, suggesting maintenance of attentional resources in threat-related contexts.     

Family orientation, language, and anxiety among low-income Latino youth

There is emerging evidence that Latino youth report higher levels of anxiety symptoms than children from other ethnic groups. Although often implicated, cultural variables have not been systematically evaluated to determine their relationship to anxiety symptoms in Latino youth. The present study examined family orientation values, as measured by family obligation and affiliative obedience, and their relationship to youth anxiety symptoms. The sample consisted of 133 Latino students (grades 5th through 7th) of low-income backgrounds in an urban public school setting. Structural equation models revealed that higher family orientation was associated with separation anxiety/panic (β=.32) and harm avoidance (β=.51). Models employing language proficiency and use mirrored those employing family orientation, suggesting that language fluency captures, in part, family socialization values. The results provide support for the impact of culture in the assessment and specific needs of Latino youth with anxiety problems.     

Trained interpretive bias: validity and effects on anxiety

Mathews and Mackintosh [(2000). Induced emotional interpretation bias and anxiety. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109, 602-615] developed a clever training procedure that enables the investigation of a causal relationship between interpretive bias and anxiety. The present study examined the validity of this paradigm by testing (1) the effects of interpretation training on two other tasks (homograph EAST and open-ended questionnaire) that are less closely related to the interpretation training itself as in previous studies and (2) the robustness of the training effects on state and trait anxiety. Results indicated that while the two original dependent measures (i.e., a reaction time and recognition measure) showed that the training procedure was successful in changing interpretations, the two additional measures (i.e., EAST and questionnaire) did not. This might reflect a measurement artefact, but other explanations for the findings are also possible. Moreover, evidence was found for effects of biased interpretations on anxiety. This demonstrates the viability of the present paradigm, which has implications for clinical practice.     

Parenting practices,parental attachment and aggressiveness in adolescence: A predictive model

The aim of this study was twofold: a) to test the mediation role of attachment between parenting practices and aggressiveness, and b) to clarify the differential role of mothers and fathers with regard to aggressiveness. A total of 554 adolescents (330 girls and 224 boys), ages ranging between 16 and 19, completed measures of mothers' and fathers' parenting practices, attachment to mother and to father, and aggressiveness. Acceptance/involvement of each parent positively predicted an adolescent's attachment to that parent, and coercion/imposition negatively predicted attachment to a lesser extent. Using structural equation modeling, a full mediation model provided the most parsimonious explanation for the data. With attachment in the model, the paths between the two parenting practices and aggressiveness were minor and statistically non-significant. Only attachment to the father, was predictive of adolescents' aggressiveness. Results are discussed in the light of the importance of the father–son/daughter relationship in adolescence.     

Attentional biases in older adults with generalized anxiety disorder

Cognitive theories of anxiety propose that selective attention to negative information plays a central role in the development and maintenance of anxiety. The presence of such attentional bias has been confirmed in younger adults. Nevertheless, there are few studies that have explored anxiety-linked attentional bias in older adults, and the available results are inconclusive. Conversely, the socioemotional selectivity theory posits that there are age-related changes in emotional information processing and, consistent with this account, it has been found that older adults preferentially pay more attention to positive stimuli compared with younger adults (“positivity effect”). The present study aimed to explore attentional bias towards negative and positive information in a sample of older adults with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) compared with a control group. The results showed that older adults with GAD displayed an attentional preference for negative information and attentional avoidance for positive information, whereas healthy older adults showed the reverse pattern of attentional deployment. These results suggest that selective attention toward negative information and selective avoidance of positive information may be a relevant factor in clinically anxious older adults.     

Cognitive biases in anxiety disorders and their effect on cognitive-behavioral treatment

Cognitive theorists hypothesize that cognitive biases are a major component in the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders. These include attentional biases toward threat-related information, distorted judgments of risk, and selective memory processing. The empirical evidence for these cognitive biases in anxiety disorder populations is reviewed. Potential deleterious effects of these biases on the process of cognitive-behavioral therapy are also discussed, as are possible ways of overriding those effects and maximizing treatment efficacy.     

Parenting practices and the development of adolescents' social trust

Social trust (ST) (i.e., beliefs that people are generally fair and trustworthy) is a critical disposition for democratic governance. Yet there has been scant research on its developmental foundations. We assess factors related to ST in 11-18 year olds with survey data collected over two years from 1150 U.S. adolescents and their mothers. Adolescents' ST in year 1 and their reports of a positive neighborhood climate predicted ST one year later. Adolescents' reports of family practices were stronger predictors of their ST than were mothers' reports. Regression analyses revealed different factors predicting changes in ST for three adolescent age groups: With ST at T1 and background factors controlled, democratic parenting boosted ST for early- and middle-adolescents. Adolescents' reports that parents encouraged compassion for others boosted ST for middle- and late-adolescents, and parental cautions about other people taking advantage diminished ST among middle adolescents. Results suggest that the disposition to trust others is formed, in part, by what adolescents hear from parents about their responsibilities to fellow human beings and by modeling of democratic parenting.     

Selective attentional biases for physical threat in physical anxiety sensitivity

Anxiety sensitivity is a trait susceptibility associated with the fear of anxiety-related sensations. One reason why such fears exist may be because those high in anxiety sensitivity selectively attend towards such sensations. However, few studies have actually investigated these cognitive biases in high anxiety sensitive individuals. The current study, therefore, sought to investigate selective attentional biases using the visual dot-probe paradigm. Since recent research suggests that at least one component of anxiety sensitivity is linked to the fear of physical sensations, individual were selected on the basis as to whether they were high or low in their anxious concern for physical sensations. In order to determine whether a general or specific attentional bias exists, the emotionality of material presented to participants was varied in terms of whether it was physically threat-related, socially threat-related, or positive. Consistent with predictions, those high in physical anxiety sensitivity were found to exhibit a selective attentional bias in favour of the location of physically threatening material. Furthermore, those low in anxiety sensitivity were found to avoid such material. Interestingly, a similar attentional bias was not found for either socially threatening or positive material. If anything, those high in physical anxiety sensitivity avoided positive material. These findings are discussed in light of current theories of anxiety sensitivity and future research.     

Parenting stress in raising autistic children

A review of the literature documents the absence of research on the parents of autistic children as copers in a chronic stressful life situation. The 46 parents of 23 autistic children (ages 7-14) were given a series of self-report measures: Overall parenting difficulty associated with raising their autistic child, number of parenting tasks performed primarily by each parent, division of overall parenting burden between father and mother, fairness of and satisfaction with this division, and personal life satisfaction. Findings were consistent with a cognitive appraisal orientation to the stressor-stress reaction relationship. The best predictor of life satisfaction for fathers was the absolute parenting burden they were assuming, and for mothers it was the relative burden. The latter finding was attributed to the different parenting roles of men and women in society.     

An examination of Anglo and Latino parenting practices: Relation to behavior problems in children with or without developmental delay

The transactional model of development has received empirical support in research on at-risk children. However, little is known about the role of ethnicity or child delay status (i.e., developmental delay [DD] or typical cognitive development [TD]) in the process of parents adapting to their child's behavior problems and special needs. We examined whether Latina (N = 44) and Anglo (N = 147) mothers of 3-year-old children with or without DD differed in their use of two parenting practices, maternal scaffolding and sensitivity. We also examined how the status and ethnic groups differed in child behavior problems at ages 3 and 5 and whether parenting predicted change in behavior problems over time in the ethnic and status groups. Analyses generally supported previous research on status group differences in behavior problems (DD higher) and parenting practices (TD higher). Parenting practices predicted a decrease in externalizing problems from child age 3 to 5 years among Latino families only. Child developmental status was not associated with change in behavior problems. Cultural perspectives on the transactional model of development and implications for intervention are discussed.     

Threat perception abnormalities in children: the role of anxiety disorders symptoms,chronic anxiety,and state anxiety

This study investigated the relative contribution of general (trait) anxiety and state anxiety to threat perception abnormalities in nonreferred children aged 8-13 years (N=299). Children were first asked to complete self-report measures of anxiety disorders symptoms and chronic anxiety. Next, they were individually interviewed using an ambiguous story paradigm from which a number of threat perception indexes were derived. Just before the interview started, children were asked to fill out a measure of state anxiety. Results showed that high levels of general anxiety (as indexed by anxiety disorders symptoms and chronic anxiety) were significantly related to increased threat perception and lower threat thresholds. High levels of state anxiety were also associated with increased threat perception and lower threat thresholds. Regression analyses indicated that general anxiety and state anxiety both accounted for a unique proportion of the variance in threat perception abnormalities, although the contribution of general anxiety was in most cases substantially larger than that of state anxiety. Finally, no support was found for the notion that threat perception abnormalities are the result of the conjoint influence of general anxiety and state anxiety.     

Depression,anxiety, and functional impairment in children with trichotillomania

Background: Trichotillomania (TTM) remains understudied in children. Adult research suggests that TTM is accompanied by significant depression, anxiety, and functional impairment. The purpose of this study is to examine the occurrence of depression and anxiety in a relatively large sample of youth with TTM and the extent to which these symptoms mediate the relationship between TTM severity and associated impairment. Methods: The study utilized data from the Child and Adolescent Trichotillomania Impact Project (CA‐TIP), an internet‐based sample of 133 youth aged 10–17 (inclusive) with TTM. Results: Over 45% of children with TTM endorsed depressive symptoms and 40% endorsed anxiety symptoms in excess of one standard deviation (SD) above published community norms. More remarkably, 25% of our sample reported depressive and 20% reported anxiety symptoms in excess of 2 SD above these norms. Older participants reported more symptoms of depression and anxiety than younger ones; age of onset (children with later onset), but not duration of illness, was predictive of higher reports of both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Neither depressive nor anxiety symptoms were related to pulling site. Depressive symptoms partially mediated the relationship between TTM severity and functional impairment. Conclusions: Based on an internet sample recruited from the homepage of the Trichotillomania Learning Center, data from this study suggests that symptoms of depression and anxiety may be pervasive among youth with TTM and likely impact functional impairment. Longitudinal studies using directly assessed samples are needed to replicate and extend these findings. Depression and Anxiety, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Parenting strategies and socio-cultural influences in childhood anxiety: Mexican,Latin American descent,and European American families

This study examined the relationship between anxiety in Latin American children and Latino cultural schemas, parenting strategies, being an ethnic minority, and assimilation. Latin American (n = 72; LA) and white European-American (n = 46; EA) children living in the U.S., Mexican children living in Mexico (n = 99; M), and at least one parent per family (n = 283) were administered measures assessing anxiety, parenting strategies, collectivism, family cohesion, simpatia, parent–child communication, and assimilation. M and LA children expressed more anxiety symptoms than EA children. More mother control and less father acceptance were associated with childhood anxiety across all three groups. However, father control was associated with more anxiety for the EA group but not the MA group, and mother acceptance was associated with more anxiety for the EA and MA groups but with less anxiety for the M group. Family cohesion was negatively associated with children's anxiety independent of ethnic group. Finally, differing from parents in assimilation did not influence LA children's anxiety.     

Dopaminergic genotype biases spatial attention in healthy children

In everyday life, our sensory system is bombarded with visual input and we rely upon attention to select only those inputs that are relevant to behavioural goals. Typically, humans can shift their attention from one visual field to the other with little cost to perception. In cases of 'unilateral neglect', however, there is a persistent bias of spatial attention towards the same side as the damaged cerebral hemisphere. We used a visual orienting task to examine the influence of functional polymorphisms of the dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) on individual differences in spatial attention in normally developing children. DAT1 genotype significantly influenced spatial bias. Healthy children who were homozygous for alleles that influence the expression of dopamine transporters in the brain displayed inattention for left-sided stimuli, whereas heterozygotes did not. Our data provide the first evidence in healthy individuals of a genetically mediated bias in spatial attention that is related to dopamine signalling.