Poster #146 - Exploring the Associations Between Temperament, Parenting Styles and Anxiety Problems in Early Childhood

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Introduction: Anxiety is one of the most prevalent and debilitating disorders currently affecting children’s health (McRae et al., 2016; Waddell et al., 2007). Transactional models of anxiety postulate that development is influenced by continuous, dynamic and bidirectional interactions between individuals and their environment (Pine, 2009). In the present study, temperament and parenting styles will be examined as possible early childhood risk factors for anxiety problems. This study extends prior research by including both mothers and fathers, and examining anxiety problems in early childhood.
The first aim of the present study is to assess the predictive relationship of temperamental traits on children’s anxiety problems in early childhood. It is hypothesized that high levels of negative affect, low levels of surgency, or high levels of effortful control will predict higher levels of anxiety problems in early childhood (Clements & Bailey, 2010; Festen et al., 2013; Davis et al., 2015; Kampman et al., 2017). The second aim of the study is to evaluate parenting styles as a moderator in the relationship between children’s temperament and anxiety problems. Based on previous research, it is hypothesized that the relationship between temperament and anxiety problems will be strengthened by a permissive parenting style (Dougherty et al., 2013).
Method: Participants included 190 preschool-aged children (100 males) and their parents. Families were recruited from preschool and early learning centers in Canada. Children ranged in age between 31 and 68 months old (M=53.04, SD=6.55) at baseline. Both mothers and fathers completed self-report measures of their parenting styles using the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ; Robinson et al., 2001); Children’s temperament was assessed by parents using the Child Behaviour Questionnaire Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF; Putnim & Rothbart, 2006). Two years later (T2), mothers and fathers reported on children’s levels of anxiety problems using the Behaviour Assessment System for Children (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004).
Results: Multiple linear regression analyses were completed to investigate the relationship between temperament and anxiety. The results indicated that child temperament at T1 was a significant predictor of children’s anxiety at T2, based on both maternal (F(2,188)=23.67, p<.01, R2=.20) and paternal (F(2,188)=8.47, p<.01, R2=.08) reports. Children’s negative affect and surgency were significant predictors of children’s anxiety, based on maternal and paternal reports (see Table 1 and Table 2). Effortful control was not a significant predictor of children’s anxiety, and was removed from further analyses.
Separate multiple regression analyses were completed to investigate the interaction between parenting styles and temperament. No moderating effects were found for mothers’ parenting styles. For fathers, significant interactions were found between child negative affect and parent autonomy granting, as well as between child surgency and parent non-reasoning/punitive.
Conclusion: These results suggest that certain temperamental traits predict higher levels of anxiety in early childhood. A moderating effect was found for specific combinations of parenting styles and child temperament for fathers only. These findings draw attention to the importance of including fathers in research investigating anxiety problems in early childhood, as fathers may offer distinct ways of influencing their children’s development.

Authors

• Meghan Walker, University of Alberta
  Presenting Author

• Vincenza A Martinovich, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author

• Cassandra Pirraglia, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author

• Chelsea Durber, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christina M. Rinaldi, University of Alberta
  Non-Presenting Author