Transactional Risk for Social Anxiety in Mother-Toddler Pairs

• In Event: 3-034 - Child-Directed and Bidirectional Parent-Child Effects Involving Maternal Mental Health

Integrative Statement

Temperamental inhibition characterizes the tendency to display wariness, hesitance, and distress in response to new people and novel situations (Kagan et al., 1984). Inhibition in early childhood predicts many negative outcomes that are social in nature, such as social withdrawal and social anxiety (Rubin et al., 2009). It is well-established that maternal anxiety increases risk for stability in toddler inhibition and subsequent negative outcomes, but it is also increasingly recognized that parent-child interactions are transactional. A transactional model of toddler inhibition (risk for social anxiety) and maternal social anxiety has yet to be tested but would more precisely delineate risk for social anxiety within families. Further, it is important to understand such transactions within the context of family socioeconomic status (SES). Low SES has been linked to increased risk for child internalizing problems, broadly, and has been found to strengthen the association between inhibited temperament and internalizing problems (Hastings et al., 2015). However, research also suggests that, unlike depression, anxiety may actually be higher among children who come from high SES families (Farrell et al., 2009). Greater social isolation and mistrust, pressures unique to upper-class mothers, and higher expectations of autonomy in higher SES communities (Luthar, 2003) may promote risk processes related to social anxiety in mother-child pairs. Thus, the current study examined a transactional model of influence between toddler inhibition and maternal social anxiety and tested SES as a moderator of mutual influence.

Participants included 118 mother-toddler dyads who participated in laboratory visits and questionnaire completion when toddlers were 12-15 months (Time 1 [T1]) and 24-30 months (Time 2 [T2]). Mothers reported their own social anxiety symptoms (Social Interaction Anxiety Scale; Mattick & Clark, 1998) and their toddlers’ inhibition to novelty (Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment; Carter & Briggs-Gowan, 2001). SES comprised standardized scores of maternal education and gross family income. Toddlers were also observed for inhibition using standardized laboratory procedures (Fox et al., 2001) at each time point. Scoring of toddler inhibition is currently ongoing, so results utilizing survey measures are reported.

An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (Kashy & Kenny, 2000) between toddler inhibition and maternal social anxiety (Figure 1) was evaluated in MPlus. Significant stability was found across timepoints for both toddler inhibition and maternal social anxiety. A parent-directed effect for toddler inhibition was not found, such that T1 maternal anxiety did not predict T2 toddler inhibition above and beyond stability in inhibition. A child-directed effect for maternal social anxiety was found, with T1 toddler inhibition predicting T2 maternal social anxiety above and beyond stability. Subsequent regression analyses examined whether SES moderated the “partner” (cross-lagged) paths. Both parent- and child-directed effects were moderated by SES, such that each member’s anxiety predicted the other member’s anxiety with increasing strength as SES increased (Figure 2), above and beyond stability. Results suggest it is critical to account for socioeconomic context when examining transactional effects on anxiety in mother-toddler dyads, as they may be especially strong in more advantaged families. Additional analyses will include observational assessment of toddler inhibition to novelty.

Authors

• Elizabeth J Kiel, Miami University
  Presenting Author

• Anne Kalomiris, Miami University
  Non-Presenting Author