Title:
Transmission of parental anxiety: relation of parenting behaviors with child anxious behaviors
Author:
Latisha N. Curtis
Thesis Advisor:
Rachel L. Grover
Committee Member:
Matthew W. Kirkhart
Committee Member:
Jason M. Prenoveau
Committee Member:
Amanda M. Thomas
Committee Member:
Beth A. Kotchick
Degree Granting Institution:
Loyola University Maryland--College of Arts and Sciences
Place:
Baltimore (Md.)
Publisher:
Loyola University Maryland
Date Created:
2017
Type of Resource:
text
Genre:
thesis
Language:
eng
Format:
application/pdf
Physical Form:
electronic
Digital Source:
reformatted digital
Abstract:
Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent psychiatric disorders among children and adults (Ballash, Leyfer, Buckley, and Woodruff-Borden, 2006). Etiological theories identify several factors that potentially increase the risk of developing an anxiety disorder including hereditary risk, negative life events, and family environment. Family aggregation studies show that children of parents with an anxiety disorder are more likely to develop an anxiety disorder than children of parents without an anxiety disorder (Ballash, Leyfer, Buckley, and Woodruff-Borden, 2006). In looking at the potential influence of the family, researchers have investigated several specific parenting behaviors theorized to be related to the transmission of anxiety from parent to child including: negativity, low affection, high criticism, modeling of anxious thinking (e.g., catastrophizing), and low granting of autonomy (Hirshfeld, Biederman, Brody, Farane, and Rosenbaum, 1997; Turner, Beidel, Roberson-Nay, and Tervo, 2003; Whaley, Pinto, and Sigman, 1999). The current study examined the relation between specific parent behaviors and child anxious behaviors in children at high risk of developing an anxiety disorder using existing data from the Child Anxiety Prevention Study ' Coping and Promoting Strengths (CAPS; Ginsburg, 2009). Participants included mothers and fathers who met criteria for an anxiety disorder who had children between the ages of 6-13, who did not meet criteria for an anxiety disorder. Participants were observed in a five-minute etch-a-sketch task that required the parent and child to collaboratively produce a series of difficult designs. Parent and child behaviors were coded each minute. The present study used a within-subjects design to investigate the relation between parent behaviors (i.e., anxious behavior, overcontrol, hostility, criticism, and granting autonomy) and child anxious behavior (e.g., overinvolved, fearful statements, self-doubt, catastrophizing, and perfectionistic behaviors). As parent and child behavior ratings occurred during each minute of the task, it was possible to examine child responses to parent behaviors minute by minute. It was hypothesized that child anxious behavior ratings would be higher following minutes of high parent ratings of anxious behavior, overcontrol, hostility, or criticism compared with child anxious behavior ratings following minutes of low parent ratings of these behaviors. Similarly, it was hypothesized that child anxious behavior ratings would be lower following minutes of high parent ratings of granting of autonomy compared with child anxious behavior ratings following minutes of low parent ratings of granting of autonomy. A series of related t-tests were used to examine the differences in observer ratings of child anxious behavior following high and low observer ratings of parent behavior. Results indicated no significant differences between the ratings of child anxious behavior following the highest and lowest minute of each of the selected parent behaviors. Implications of the study findings are discussed.
Subject:
Electronic dissertations
Degree:
Master of Science
Level:
Master
Discipline:
Clinical Psychology
Restrictions on Access:
Author has given permission to make this work available online.
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Identifier:
CurtisLN-17
