Parent Distress: Can Maladaptive Reactions Affect Child Anxiety?

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Lower family socioeconomic status (SES) and perception of economic stress may influence parental distress and responses to children’s behavior (Mistry et al., 2002), both of which confer risk for youth generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms (Hurrell, Hudson, & Schniering, 2015; Moffitt et al., 2007; Ochi et al., 2014). Although the mechanisms are unclear, it is possible that the combination of economic stress and parental distress increases youth’s sense of uncertainty and worry (Aktar, 2017) and lower levels of either of these contextual factors may buffer risk for GAD symptoms. These relations may be particularly robust among families who reside in contextually disadvantaged circumstances, though research is wanting. To address this gap, we investigated whether access to basic household resources (HR) moderated the association between parental distress reactions (DR) to child negative emotional affect and youth GAD symptoms. Participants were 104 low-income, urban youth (M=9.92±1.22 years; 50.5% male; 95% African American). Caregivers completed a questionnaire to assess their perception of economic stress (i.e., their degree of difficulty affording various needs and activities) and the Parent Attitude and Behavior Questionnaire, of which the distress scale—measuring parent’s level of DR to child’s negative affect—was used. Youth completed the Youth Self-Report Inventory-4, a DSM-referenced measurement of GAD symptoms. Regression analyses were conducted with youth GAD symptoms as the dependent variable, and child sex, age, DR, HR, and HR × DR interaction term as predictors. The interaction term was then post-hoc probed (Holmbeck, 2002). The HR × DR interaction term was significant (β=-.37, p<.001). Post-hoc probing revealed that the slope was significant for less access to (B=-2.00, p<.001), but not more access to (B=1.27, p=.07), household resources. Thus, among parents reporting less access to HR, (a) higher levels of DR were associated with lower levels of GAD symptoms and (b) lower levels of DR were associated with higher levels of GAD symptoms. Among parents reporting more access to HR, the slope were nonsignificant, indicating that youth exhibited similar and moderate levels of GAD symptoms regardless of the levels of caregiver DR. Counter to previous research, these findings indicate that distress reactions from caregivers may not confer risk for GAD symptoms among youth residing in low-income households, especially those reporting less access to basic resources. In fact, what previous research may have considered to be maladaptive parenting techniques may act as a protective factor in this context, reducing youth reports of GAD symptoms. However, when parents display low DR within a household that reports less access to basic resources, youth report higher levels of GAD symptoms. Furthermore, findings suggest that when a child is living in a household with more access to basic resources, parental distress reactions may not rise to a threshold of affecting anxiety. Thus, ensuring families have access to basic household resources may represent a viable strategy for identification of and intervention for youth experiencing GAD symptoms.

Authors

• Abbey Lauren Friedman, Temple University
  Presenting Author

• Rafaella Jakubovic, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author

• George Emory, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Deborah A. G. Drabick, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author