The role of perceived parenting in familial aggregation of anxiety disorders in children

This study was designed to explore the role of perceived parenting style in the familial aggregation of anxiety disorders. We examined the association between parental and child anxiety diagnoses, and tested whether this association was partly due to a perceived parenting style. The study was conducted in a clinical sample as well as in a control sample. Parental lifetime and current anxiety diagnoses were significantly associated with child anxiety diagnoses. When maternal and paternal lifetime and current anxiety diagnoses were entered as separate predictors, only maternal current anxiety diagnoses appeared to be significant. Perceived parenting style was assessed with the dimensions "overprotection," "emotional warmth," "rejection," and "anxious rearing." Results indicated that only maternal and paternal 'overprotection' was significantly but negatively associated with child anxiety. However, further analyses showed that 'overprotection' did not have a significant mediating role in the familial aggregation of anxiety disorders.     

The influences of family environment on personality traits

In order to clarify the influences of family environment on the development of personality traits, 150 children (104 males and 46 females, mean age 13.2 +/- 2.4 years) who had been interviewed at the Child Guidance Clinic in Osaka were investigated. From 13 behavioral characteristics (activity, talkativeness, sociability, social skills, rule-keeping, will, aggression, emotional control, imagination, anxiety, maturity, intelligence, and neuroticism), factor analysis identified three personality traits: extraversion, maturity, and intellect. The effects of family environment (maternal and paternal participation in child rearing before and after 4years of age, child-rearing style, parental relationship, sibling relationship, number of siblings, birth order, and socioeconomic status) on these personality traits were examined based on a structural equation model. The results found, first, that extraversion was negatively associated with overprotection/interference and with maternal participation in child rearing. Maturity correlated with high socioeconomic status, appropriate child-rearing style, and paternal participation in child rearing. Intellect was related to high socioeconomic status and maternal participation in child rearing. Second, path analysis with selected variables revealed that 8% of variance in extraversion, 14% in maturity, and 10% in intellect was due to family environment. Third, children with high introversion or high intellect had stronger influences from family environment than did those with high extraversion or low intellect.     

Characterizing the association between parenting and adolescent social phobia

ObjectivesFor characterizing the association between parenting and offspring social phobia (SP), contrasting maternal vs. paternal contributions, putative predictors of unfavorable parenting behaviors and its specificity for SP are warranted to delineate targeted prevention and intervention strategies.MethodsA population-based sample of 1053 adolescents was followed-up using the M-CIDI. Parenting was assessed via questionnaire in offspring passing the high risk period for SP-onset. Natal complications and childhood serious health problems as assessed by maternal reports were hypothesized to relate to unfavorable parenting.ResultsThe pattern of maternal overprotection, paternal rejection and lower emotional warmth was associated with SP, but not with other offspring anxiety disorders. Natal complications were related to overprotection and lower emotional warmth; trend-level associations emerged for serious health problems and unfavorable parenting.ConclusionsPaternal behavior appears particularly relevant for SP. The pattern of maternal overprotection, paternal rejection and lower emotional warmth was observed in SP only, suggesting that its detailed assessment provides a promising opportunity for targeted prevention and intervention in SP.     

Parental rearing and psychopathology in mothers of adolescents with and without borderline personality symptoms

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: A combination of multiple factors, including a strong genetic predisposition and environmental factors, are considered to contribute to the developmental pathways to borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, these factors have mostly been investigated retrospectively, and hardly in adolescents. The current study focuses on maternal factors in BPD features in adolescence. METHODS: Actual parenting was investigated in a group of referred adolescents with BPD features (N = 101) and a healthy control group (N = 44). Self-reports of perceived concurrent parenting were completed by the adolescents. Questionnaires on parental psychopathology (both Axis I and Axis II disorders) were completed by their mothers. RESULTS: Adolescents reported significantly less emotional warmth, more rejection and more overprotection from their mothers in the BPD-group than in the control group. Mothers in the BPD group reported significantly more parenting stress compared to mothers in the control group. Also, these mothers showed significantly more general psychopathology and clusters C personality traits than mothers in the control group. Contrary to expectations, mothers of adolescents with BPD features reported the same level of cluster B personality traits, compared to mothers in the control group. Hierarchical logistic regression revealed that parental rearing styles (less emotional warmth, and more overprotection) and general psychopathology of the mother were the strongest factors differentiating between controls and adolescents with BPD symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with BPD features experience less emotional warmth and more overprotection from their mothers, while the mothers themselves report more symptoms of anxiety and depression. Addition of family interventions to treatment programs for adolescents might increase the effectiveness of such early interventions, and prevent the adverse outcome that is often seen in adult BPD patients.     

独生子女情感障碍患者心理防御机制与人格特征及父母教养方式的研究

目的为探讨独生子女情感障碍患者人格、心理防御机制及父母教养方式的关系。方法采用艾森克个性问卷（EPQ）、防御方式问卷（DSQ）、父母教养方式评价量表（EMBU）对住院的100例独生子女情感障碍患者和正常独生子女进行测评,其中患者在自知力恢复以后测评。结果独生子女情感障碍患者更多地使用投射、抱怨、幻想、退缩、躯体化等不成熟的防御机制,EPQ得分精神质、神经质、内外倾性高于正常独生子女（P〈0．01）,相关分析发现,精神质、神经质与不成熟防御机制、中间防御机制呈正相关,内外倾性与成熟防御机制呈正相关,独生子女情感障碍患者的父母惩罚、父母拒绝、父亲保护、母亲干涉因子分高于正常独生子女（P〈0．01）,而父亲温暖因子低于正常独生子女,相关分析发现,父母惩罚、父母拒绝、父母干涉、父亲保护与不成熟防御机制正相关,而父母温暖与不成熟防御机制负相关。结论独生子女情感障碍患者多使用不成熟防御机制、不良的父母教养方式,存在个性缺陷,且三者之间密切相关。     

Young Children’s Ritualistic Compulsive-Like Behavior and Executive Function: A Cross Sectional Study

The goal of this study was to test whether the development of executive function in young children could add to the explained variance in child ritualistic behavior beyond child and maternal traits previously found to have explanatory power. Routinized, ritualistic behavior is common and normative in young children between the ages of 2 and 5, after which it subsides. In this cross-sectional study, maternal reports on 1345 children between the ages of 2 and 6 included child variables such as temperament, fears, and behavioral problems. Mother’s characteristics included perfectionism, her attachment style, and trait anxiety. The sample included ultra-orthodox families, an understudied minority, and thus it was possible to compare their ritualistic behavior with that of children from other rearing environments. Ultraorthodox children had more ritualistic behavior than age-matched children. This finding offers support for an environmental influence on level of ritualistic behavior in children. For the entire sample, we found that young children’s ritualistic behavior was associated with shy and emotional temperament, fears, pervasive developmental behavioral problems, and that executive function delays in shifting and emotion regulation had an additional contribution. Ritualistic child behavior was only weakly related to maternal variables. The results were consistent with a maturational process for the trajectory of ritualistic behavior, rather than with an environmentally induced behavior. The development of executive function may be the process mediating the decline of ritualistic behavior over development.     

Paternal Anxiety in Relation to Toddler Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Maternal Behavior

Despite robust investigations examining the impact of maternal anxiety and parenting behaviors and child anxiety risk, less is understood about the impact of paternal anxiety and parenting behaviors on child anxiety risk, particularly within the broader family context. An Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) was used to examine whether paternal anxiety longitudinally predicted child anxiety risk indirectly through maternal and paternal parenting behaviors, while controlling for maternal anxiety. Both fathers and mothers of 12- to 30-month-olds (n?=?94) provided self-report of their anxiety and parenting behaviors. Child inhibited temperament (i.e., anxiety risk) was coded. Two APIMs separately considering encouragement of independence and overprotection were examined. These models revealed no direct relation between parent and child anxiety while controlling for parenting behaviors. Models did suggest that paternal anxiety is indirectly linked with future child anxiety through lower maternal encouragement of independence, but not through maternal overprotection or paternal parenting behaviors.     

Neuropsychological correlates of dominance, warmth, and extraversion in neurodegenerative disease

IntroductionChanges in personality differ qualitatively and quantitatively among patients with different neurodegenerative diseases, likely due to divergent patterns of regional neurodegeneration. Regional damage to circuits underlying various cognitive and emotional functions have been associated with interpersonal traits like dominance, extraversion, and warmth in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, suggesting that personality may in part be mediated by these more basic neuropsychological functions. In this study, we hypothesized that different combinations of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and emotional measures would predict different interpersonal traits in patients with neurodegenerative diseases.MethodsA battery of cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and emotional measures was administered to 286 patients with various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, semantic dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy, and informants described patients’ dominance, extraversion, and warmth using the Interpersonal Adjective Scales (IAS) personality questionnaire. Regression modeling was performed to identify which neuropsychological factors uniquely predicted current personality, controlling for age, gender, and premorbid personality.ResultsSocial dominance covaried with patients’ capacity for cognitive control and verbal fluency. Conversely, warmth did not rely on these executive or verbal skills, but covaried primarily with patients’ capacity for emotional responsiveness. Extraversion, representing a blend of dominance and warmth, demonstrated an intermediate degree of relationship to both executive/verbal and emotional functions.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that different personality traits are partly subserved by specific cognitive and emotional functions in neurodegenerative disease patients. While this study was performed in the context of brain damage, the results raise the question of whether individual differences in these neuropsychological abilities may also underlie variability in normal personality.     

Temperament,Peer Victimization,and Nurturing Parenting in Child Anxiety: A Moderated Mediation Model

Research has linked fearful temperament and childhood anxiety. Yet there remain numerous factors that moderate and mediate this relation. Two specific factors, identified in separate lines of research, are peer victimization and parenting. The current study tested a moderated mediational model to investigate the respective effects of peer victimization and nurturing parenting on the relation between fearful temperament and child anxiety. Participants were 124 parent–child dyads recruited from the community. Children were between the ages of 7 and 12 (56.5 % male, 93.5 % Caucasian) and most parents were mothers. Overall the data fit the model well. Analyses indicated that peer victimization was a mediator of the temperament to child anxiety relation, while nurturing parenting moderated this mediated effect. Nurturing parenting did not mediate the temperament to child anxiety relation directly. The findings suggest that nurturing parenting may be a specific, rather than global, protective factor for peer victimization in child anxiety.     

Interrelations between temperament, character, and parental rearing among delinquent adolescents: a cross-validation

We performed a cross-validation of results from investigations in juvenile delinquents in Russia and Germany concerning relationships of personality characteristics in terms of temperament and character with parental rearing. Both studies used the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) based on Cloninger's psychobiological theory, and the Own Memories on Parenting (Egna Minnen Betr?ffande Uppfostran-Swedish [EMBU]) questionnaire on parental rearing based on Perris' vulnerability model. The inter-relatedness of parental rearing, temperament, and character traits in socially normally integrated adolescents, as well as in delinquent adolescents, implying direct and indirect pathways from personality and parental rearing to delinquency, could be cross-validated. Differences between delinquents and socially normally integrated adolescents are rather based on different levels of expressions of various temperament traits, harm avoidance and novelty seeking in particular, and the character trait self-directedness, as well as on parental rearing behavior (predominantly parental rejection and emotional warmth) than on different structures within related developmental processes.     

Parental changes after involvement in their anxious child's cognitive behavior therapy

ObjectiveSpecific parental behaviors and cognitions are associated with child anxiety. Studies informing us of the directionality of the associations are lacking. We investigated the effect of parental involvement in children's anxiety treatment on parental behaviors and cognitions.MethodChildren (N = 54, 7–12 years) and parents were randomly allocated to different treatment groups (involved, not involved). Observed behavior, self-reported behavior and cognitions were assessed separately for mothers and fathers at pre-, posttreatment and follow-up.ResultsThere were no differences over time for self-reported parental efficacy and observed negativity, but self-reported autonomy granting increased for both groups over time. Differential effects were found between groups for observed paternal over-involvement (fathers involved in treatment showed a more rapid decrease) and self-reported maternal autonomy-granting (non-involved mothers showed a greater increase).ConclusionOur findings suggest that child anxiety significantly influences parental behaviors and cognitions. Child therapy may successfully change the family system.     

Moderators and mediators of a maternal depression treatment study: Impact of maternal trauma and parenting on child outcomes

ObjectiveTreatment of maternal depression with psychotherapy has been shown to confer indirect benefits to school-age offspring with psychiatric disorders. The current study sought to understand mechanisms by which improvement in depressed mothers, with and without histories of trauma and treated with psychotherapy, produce changes in children who struggle with psychiatric illnesses themselves. We hypothesized that maternal history of childhood trauma would moderate the relationship between maternal and child outcomes and that increased positive and decreased negative parenting behaviors would mediate the relationship between maternal and child outcomes. We also examined whether maternal history of trauma would moderate the mediational effects of parenting behaviors.MethodsParticipants were dyads (n = 62) of mothers with major depressive disorder and their children, ages 7–18, with at least one internalizing disorder. Mothers were treated with nine sessions of psychotherapy and children were treated openly in the community. Dyads were evaluated every three months over one year.ResultsMaternal improvement in depressive symptoms was associated, in a lagged fashion, with child improvement in functioning six months later. There was a significant interaction of time and change in maternal symptoms [F(1, 45) = 5.84, p = 0.02], where change in maternal depressive symptoms from baseline to six months was robustly associated with change in child functioning from baseline to 12 months (β = 0.49, p = 0.0002). Maternal history of childhood sexual abuse moderated the association between change in maternal and child depressive symptoms [F(1,87) = 5.8, p = 0.02], and maternal history of physical neglect moderated the relationship between improvement in maternal depression and improvement in child functioning [F(1,36) = 4.34, p = 0.04], where significant associations between maternal and child outcomes were only found in mothers without histories of sexual abuse or physical neglect. Increase in positive parenting strategies (acceptance) by mothers mediated 6-month lagged associations between maternal and child outcomes, but reduction in negative parenting strategies (psychological control) did not. Maternal history of childhood emotional neglect moderated the mediational model, such that improved positive parenting did not explain lagged improvement in child depression among the subset of mothers with childhood histories of emotional neglect.ConclusionsIn dyads comprised of depressed mothers and school-age children with internalizing disorders, children improved when mothers improved, but not among those whose mothers who had histories of sexual abuse or physical neglect. Increased use of positive parenting strategies among mothers accounted for lagged relationships between improvement in maternal depressive symptoms and improvement in child functioning. This pattern was not, however, observed among mothers with childhood histories of emotional neglect. Interventions that directly enhance positive parenting and more rapidly change these behaviors may hasten improvement in offspring. Offspring of depressed mothers with histories of early trauma are at high risk for poor outcomes, even when their mothers receive depression treatment.     

Child versus family cognitive-behavioral therapy in clinically anxious youth: an efficacy and partial effectiveness study

ObjectiveThe efficacy and partial effectiveness of child-focused versus family-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for clinically anxious youths was evaluated, in particular in relation to parental anxiety disorders and child's age.MethodClinically referred children with anxiety disorders (N = 128) and their parents were randomly assigned to child or family CBT and evaluated at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up. Twenty-five families were measured before and after a 2- to 3-month waitlist period.ResultsNone of the waitlisted children recovered from their anxiety disorders. In contrast, 41% of the treated children no longer met criteria for any anxiety disorder after CBT, and 52% demonstrated continued improvement at the 3-month follow-up. Significantly more children were free of anxiety disorders (53%) in the child CBT condition compared with family CBT condition (28%) at posttreatment, whereas at 3-month follow-up, the superior effect of child CBT was no longer significant. Similar results were obtained from the questionnaire measures. Both child and family CBT were less effective if parents had an anxiety disorder themselves. On some of the measures, child CBT was superior if parents had anxiety disorders themselves, whereas family CBT was superior if parents had no anxiety disorders. Finally, younger children had better outcomes than older children, regardless of the treatment condition.ConclusionsOverall, child CBT seems slightly more beneficial than family CBT. Because this study was conducted in a clinical setting with clinically referred children, results indicate partial effectiveness for child CBT.     

Effects of the “affectionless control” parenting style on personality traits in healthy subjects

The effects of the affectionless control (AC) parenting style on personality traits were studied in 414 Japanese healthy subjects. Perceived parental rearing was assessed by the Parental Bonding Instrument, which comprises care and protection factors, and personality traits were assessed by the Temperament and Character Inventory, which has seven dimensions. Parental rearing was classified into four types, i.e., optimal parenting (high care/low protection), affectionate constraint (high care/high protection), neglectful parenting (low care/low protection), and AC (low care/high protection). Males with maternal AC showed significantly higher harm avoidance (HA) scores and lower scores of persistence and cooperativeness than those with maternal optimal parenting. Females with maternal AC showed significantly higher HA scores and lower self-directedness scores than those with maternal optimal parenting. Paternal AC was not significantly related to any personality score. In females, the interaction between paternal rearing and maternal rearing was significant; the effect of maternal AC on HA scores was strongest when combined with paternal neglectful parenting. The present study suggests that the AC type parenting by mothers is associated with specific personality traits, especially high HA, in healthy subjects.     

Maternal perception of child temperament and observed mother-child interaction

This research explored the relationship between maternal perception of child temperament characteristics and observations of mother-child interaction in a free play situation. Children were divided into “difficult” and “easy” temperament groups on the basis of their mothers' responses to a temperament questionnaire. Mothers were also interviewed regarding their use of different child rearing techniques. The results indicated that difficult and easy children did not behave differently with their mothers. Mothers, however, did show behavioral differences as a function of their child's temperament classification. In addition, the children's behavior varied as a function of sex and temperament when level of maternal control was considered as a variable. These results suggest that control may be influential in determining whether a mother perceives her child as difficult or easy. The results also suggest that a child's temperament characteristics should not be considered in isolation from his or her sex: that being an easy or difficult child is different depending on whether one is a boy or a girl.     

Effects of gender difference and birth order on perceived parenting styles, measured by the EMBU scale, in Japanese two-sibling subjects

The relationship between Egna Minnen av Barndoms Uppforstran (EMBU) scaling and gender, birth order and parents' gender was previously investigated in a large volunteer sample; significant interactions among the variables were found. In the present study, 730 Japanese volunteers with one sibling were used as subjects in order to control the number of siblings: the effect of gender of subjects and siblings and birth order on the perceived parenting style was examined. Based on gender and birth orders, 730 subjects were grouped into the following categories: (i) male with a younger brother; (ii) male with a younger sister; (iii) male with an older brother; (iv) male with an older sister; (v) female with a younger brother; (vi) female with a younger sister; (vii) female with an older brother; and (viii) female with an older sister. One-way ANOVA was performed with each EMBU subscale used as a dependent variable and these eight groups as independent variables. The scores for rejection and emotional warmth of father were influenced significantly by the pattern of siblings (P<0.006 and P<0.0012, respectively), and scores for emotional warmth of mother were influenced significantly by the pattern of siblings (P<0.0012). The elder male children strongly experienced parenting style as more rejecting than others, and female children (elder sisters with brother, or younger sisters with sister) recognized parenting style as more caring and demonstrated more warmth than others. The results confirmed a significant interaction of gender of subjects and siblings and birth order of perceived parental rearing behavior.     

Parenting and social competence in school: The role of preadolescents' personality traits

In a study of 230 preadolescent students (mean age 11.3 years) from the wider area of Athens, Greece, the role of Big Five personality traits (i.e. Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Extraversion) in the relation between parenting dimensions (overprotection, emotional warmth, rejection, anxious rearing) and social competence in school was examined. Multiple sets of regression analyses were performed. Main effects of Conscientiousness and Openness to Experience were identified. Limited evidence for moderation and some support of gender-specific parenting was found. Agreeableness and Extraversion interacted with paternal overprotection, whereas Neuroticism interacted with maternal and paternal rejection in predicting social competence. Mean differences in gender and educational grade were reported. The relationship between environmental effects (such as parenting during early adolescence) and social adjustment in school is discussed in terms of the plasticity and malleability of the preadolescents' personality characteristics.     

Parenting young children with and without Fragile X syndrome

The purpose of this study was to examine maternal parenting styles across age-matched siblings using a within-family design, in which one child has Fragile X syndrome. Thirteen families participated; children were aged 16 to 71 months. Mothers completed several videotaped activities with each child separately as well as an interview. Mothers used a consistent, responsive style with both children, using the same degree of positive affect and warmth. Differences included using more behavior management strategies with the child with Fragile X and a conversational style of interaction with the sibling. Differences in approaches suggest the mothers adapted to the developmental differences between the children. The interview data supported these findings; mothers were aware of the changes made to accommodate the developmental differences.     

心因性非癫痫性发作儿童自我意识、家庭环境及父母养育方式的对照研究

目的探讨心因性非癫痫性发作（PNES）儿童自我意识、家庭环境和父母养育方式的特征及其与正常儿童的区别。方法采用Piers-Harris儿童自我意识量表（CSS）、家庭环境量表中文版（FES-CV）、父母养育方式问卷（EMBU）对43例PNES儿童和43名正常对照组儿童进行了评估。结果 PNES儿童CSS总分及焦虑、合群、幸福与满足分量表得分低于对照组儿童;FES-CV中的知识性分量表得分低于对照组儿童;EMBU中父亲的情感温暖与理解因子得分低于对照组儿童,父亲的惩罚严厉因子、母亲的过分干涉与过度保护因子、父母亲的拒绝否认因子得分高于对照组儿童。结论心因性非癫痫性发作儿童存在不良的自我意识、家庭环境及父母养育方式。     

Parental rearing behaviour, family atmosphere and adult depression: a pilot study with psychiatric inpatients

In a sample of 72 depressed inpatients the relationships between severity of depression, emotional family atmosphere and perceived parental rearing were studied at admission, discharge and follow-up. The results indicate that paternal rejection and overprotection might be of particular importance for developing social skills used to form close relationships, whereas maternal emotional warmth seems to have a preventive effect by promoting emotional stability.