Overprotective Parenting, Anxiety Sensitivity and Child Anxiety: Understanding Mechanisms of Anxiety Transmission

Parenting behavior marked by over-protectiveness and/or low warmth has been proposed as a risk factor for anxiety problems. While some studies have attempted to differentiate the effects of overprotective versus low warmth parenting styles, little is known about the processes through which parenting styles influence the development of child anxiety. Two important and basic needs remain to advance this literature: (1) Theory driven research describing how an overprotective parenting style increases child anxiety symptoms, and (2) identifying the core differences between parents who engage in an overprotective parenting style, and those able to allow their children more freedom and autonomy. The current study was designed to help clarify the relationship between low warmth parenting, overprotective parenting, and behavior and cognition associated with child anxiety. Congruent with recent cognitive theories of anxiety, anxiety sensitivity (AS) was hypothesized to be a central mechanism in the transmission of anxiety by overprotective parents. A series of regression analyses were used to investigate the proposed relationships between overprotective parenting, AS, and child anxiety symptoms. Results of the regression analyses demonstrated AS to have no relation to overprotective parenting behavior during the experiment. Similarly, child AS did not predict anxious child behavior during the experiment. However, anxious child behavior during the experiment was related to overprotective parenting behavior, after controlling for child negative affect. Although AS may not be the construct to explain overprotective parenting behavior, the relationship between overprotective parenting and anxious child behavior was reconfirmed in this study.