Does the child's anxiety determine the mother’s over-involvement or vice versa? An observational study from the QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Introduction: Anxiety disorders start very early in young people and several factors, as prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) and maternal overinvolvement are believed to contribute to their development and maintenance. The objective of this study is to better understand if the overinvolvement of the mother is a cause or a consequence of the child’s anxiety, all in a context of maternal prenatal stress due to a natural disaster. Method: The sample is part of a larger project that assessed the objective/subjective stress in women who were pregnant during the 2011 Queensland flood in Australia. The current sample includes 72 mother-child dyads, completing a 5-minute puzzle task when the children were 4 years old. Observers rated maternal (overinvolved) and child (anxious) behaviors from videos continuously. Sequential analysis techniques were used to determine the likelihood of a maternal overinvolved behavior occurring before or after a child anxious behavior and vice versa. Results: The correlations between PNMS (objective and subjective) and the child's anxiety and maternal over-involvement were not significant. Maternal over-involvement did not mediate the relationship between PNMS (objective and subjective) and anxiety in children. However, the odds of maternal over-involvement following the child's anxiety, was stronger than the odds of child anxiety following maternal overinvolvement. Conclusion: Our results suggest that maternal overinvolvement is a reaction to the child’s anxious behavior rather than a cause of it. It is essential for future research to keep in mind that the child is an active participant in the mother-child relationship and that it is important to study the bidirectionality of the relationship to better understand it and intervene.

Group Authors

Alexandra Bucur, Guillaume Elgbeili, David Laplante, Maggie Roy, Sue Kildea, Suzanne King

Author

• Alexandra Bucur, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Presenting Author