Bidirectional effects of toddler temperament and maternal overprotection on maternal and child anxiety symptoms across preschool

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin A. Buss ◽  
Anna M. Zhou ◽  
Austen Trainer
2017 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1020-1033 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Ulmer-Yaniv ◽  
A. Djalovski ◽  
K. Yirmiya ◽  
G. Halevi ◽  
O. Zagoory-Sharon ◽  
...  

BackgroundChronic early trauma alters children's stress reactivity and increases the prevalence of anxiety disorders; yet the neuroendocrine and immune mechanisms underpinning this effect are not fully clear. Animal studies indicate that the mother's physiology and behavior mediate offspring stress in a system-specific manner, but few studies tested this external-regulatory maternal role in human children exposed to chronic stress.MethodsWe followed a unique cohort of children exposed to continuous wartime trauma (N= 177; exposed;N= 101, controls;N= 76). At 10 years, maternal and child's salivary immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) and oxytocin (OT), biomarkers of the immune and affiliation systems, were assayed, maternal and child relational behaviors observed, mother and child underwent psychiatric diagnosis, and child anxiety symptoms assessed.ResultsWar-exposed mothers had higher s-IgA, lower OT, more anxiety symptoms, and their parenting was characterized by reduced sensitivity. Exposed children showed higher s-IgA, more anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress disorder, and more anxiety symptoms. Path analysis model defined three pathways by which maternal physiology and behavior impacted child anxiety; (a) increasing maternal s-IgA, which led to increased child s-IgA, augmenting child anxiety; (b) reducing maternal OT, which linked with diminished child OT and social repertoire; and (c) increasing maternal anxiety, which directly impacted child anxiety.ConclusionsOur findings, the first to measure immune and affiliation biomarkers in mothers and children, detail their unique and joint effects on children's anxiety in response to stress; highlight the relations between chronic stress, immune activation, and anxiety in children; and describe how processes of biobehavioral synchrony shape children's long-term adaptation.


2019 ◽  

Intergenerational anxiety associations in families are well reported, but the underlying mechanisms of anxiety transmission are unclear. Now, researchers in the UK and the USA have conducted the first genetically sensitive study to explore the effects of genetic and environmental anxiety transmission in families during middle childhood.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Peter Field ◽  
Kathryn J. Lester ◽  
Sam Cartwright-Hatton ◽  
Gordon Harold ◽  
Daniel S. Shaw ◽  
...  

One theory suggests that anxious fathers may pose a greater environmental influence on childhood anxiety than anxious mothers. This study uses the Early Growth and Development Study (EGDS) to test rearing parent anxiety influences from mothers and fathers on child anxiety symptoms between 18 months and 4.5, while considering inherited influences. The EGDS is a longitudinal, multisite study of adopted children recruited through US adoption agencies, and their adoptive and birth parents. Bayesian latent growth models of the trajectory of child anxiety symptoms over 3 years predicted from inherited (birth parent anxiety) and adoptive parent anxiety influences were compared for maternal and paternal measures. Parameter estimates and their HPD intervals provided evidence that the slope for anxiety symptoms between 18 and 54 months is trivially affected by both rearing parent anxiety and inherited influences from both mothers and fathers. Similarly, rearing parental anxiety and inherited influence from both mothers and fathers had only a very small effect on the intercept for growth (anxiety symptoms at 18 months old). The evidence for differences between mothers and fathers for any of these parameters was, at best, weak. Contrary to theoretical predictions, anxiety in the rearing father is unlikely to have a more important role in fostering child anxiety symptoms than that in the rearing mother.


2013 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna de Abreu Costa ◽  
Giovanni Abrahão Salum Junior ◽  
Luciano Rassier Isolan ◽  
Jandira Rahmeier Acosta ◽  
Rafaela Behs Jarros ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorders are highly prevalent, affecting approximately 10% of individuals throughout life; its onset can be detected since early childhood or adolescence. Studies in adults have shown that anxiety disorders are associated with alcohol abuse, but few studies have investigated the association between anxiety symptoms and problematic alcohol use in early ages. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if anxiety symptoms are associated with problematic alcohol use in young subjects. METHODS: A total of 239 individuals aged 10-17 years were randomly selected from schools located in the catchment area of Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre. The Screen for Child Anxiety-Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) was used to evaluate the presence of anxiety symptoms, and the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), to evaluate alcohol use. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-seven individuals (53.1% ) reported having already used alcohol. Of these, 14 individuals showed problematic alcohol use (5.8% ). There was no association between lifetime use of alcohol and anxiety symptoms, but mean SCARED scores in individuals with problematic alcohol use was higher if compared to those without problematic use, even after adjustment for age and gender (29.9±8.5 vs. 23.7±11.8, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the limitation of a cross-sectional design, our study suggests that anxiety symptoms are associated with problematic alcohol use early in life.


Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz

Effectively helping parents to reduce family accommodation of childhood anxiety requires careful and thoughtful planning. This chapter provides guidance on formulating effective and realistic plans for changes in parental behavior aimed at reducing family accommodation of child anxiety symptoms. A well-crafted plan will be focused, specific, and pragmatic. It will also avoid the common pitfalls that can hinder implementation, which are discussed in the next chapter. This chapter also provides guidelines and examples for communicating the plan to the child and maintaining a supportive parental attitude. Clinical anecdotes and sample texts enrich the chapter and bring the content to life.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (12) ◽  
pp. 1269-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmin I. Ahmadzadeh ◽  
Thalia C. Eley ◽  
Leslie D. Leve ◽  
Daniel S. Shaw ◽  
Misaki N. Natsuaki ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 3130-3144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica L. Borelli ◽  
Hannah F. Rasmussen ◽  
H. Kate St. John ◽  
Jessica L. West ◽  
John C. Piacentini

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