Is Your Child’s Anxiety Taking Over Your Family?

2020 ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood Anxiety ◽  
Family Context ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
Childhood Disorders ◽  
Psychological Theories ◽  
Natural Tendency ◽  
The Family

This chapter addresses child anxiety in the family context, starting with the myth that parents cause anxiety problems in their children. The idea that parents are responsible for children’s emotional and behavioral problems stems in large part from inaccurate assumptions about human development; outdated psychological theories; misunderstandings of research on the links between parental behavior and childhood disorders; and an incorrect interpretation of family dynamics. On the other hand, a child’s anxiety problem is likely to have an impact on the parents and on the rest of the family. The reason that childhood anxiety, more than other problems, can have such a large impact on parents is that when a child is feeling anxious, they look to their parents to help them feel better. But why are anxious children so reliant on parents? The reason has to do with the very nature of anxiety in humans. The natural tendency of the child to look to the parents for protection and reassurance when feeling worried, scared, or stressed is essentially hardwired into the human brain.

SPACE, Parent-Based Treatment for Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: Clinical Case Illustration

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz ◽  
Jennifer M. Majdick
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood Anxiety ◽  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Childhood Anxiety Disorders ◽  
Adolescent Anxiety ◽  
Supportive Parenting ◽  
Efficacious Treatment

Efficacious treatments for childhood anxiety disorders include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and medications, yet there is urgent need for additional efficacious treatment modalities. Parent-based treatment provides such an alternative. Recent literature has supported that SPACE (Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions), an entirely parent-based treatment, is as efficacious as CBT in reducing child anxiety. SPACE focuses on systematically reducing family accommodation, or changes to parental behavior aimed at alleviating or avoiding a child's distress related to their anxiety disorder, while maintaining a supportive stance toward the child. To date, SPACE is the only intervention that places the reduction of parental accommodation at the center of its theoretical foundation and treatment objectives. This article provides theoretical and empirical background for SPACE and illustrates its implementation through a case description.

Planning How Parents Will Reduce Accommodation

2019 ◽  
pp. 81-92
Author(s):  
Eli R. Lebowitz
Keyword(s):  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Parental Attitude ◽  
Family Accommodation ◽  
The Common

Effectively helping parents to reduce family accommodation of childhood anxiety requires careful and thoughtful planning. This chapter provides guidance on formulating effective and realistic plans for changes in parental behavior aimed at reducing family accommodation of child anxiety symptoms. A well-crafted plan will be focused, specific, and pragmatic. It will also avoid the common pitfalls that can hinder implementation, which are discussed in the next chapter. This chapter also provides guidelines and examples for communicating the plan to the child and maintaining a supportive parental attitude. Clinical anecdotes and sample texts enrich the chapter and bring the content to life.

Family Relations, Stressful Events and Internalizing Symptoms in Adolescence: a Longitudinal Study

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Raquel Binsfeld Hess ◽  
Maycoln Leoni Martins Teodoro ◽  
Denise Falcke
Keyword(s):  
Peer Influence ◽  
Family Relationships ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Stressful Events ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
The Family ◽  
One Year

AbstractThis study aimed to examine how emotional and behavioral problems of parents and children and the characteristics of family relationships can be predictors of internalizing symptoms manifested by children after one year. This was a quantitative research study, of the longitudinal type, with a one year interval between the first and second evaluation. Participants were 139 adolescents, and their parents, with ages ranged from 11 to 16 years (Mage = 12.90, SD = 1.07). The instruments used were: a Socio-Demographic Data Sheet, Youth Self-Report of 11 to 18 years old (YSR), Adult Self-Report of 18 to 59 years old (ASR), Familiogram (FG), the Family Climate Inventory (FCI) and Inventory of Stressful Events in Adolescence (ISEA). Results indicated that family relationships did not have a significant explanatory power in relation to internalizing symptoms of the adolescent after a year. Based on this study, it is possible to think that during adolescence, the power of the family to influence becomes more restricted in comparison with social and peer influence.

Economic Stress in the Family and Children's Emotional and Behavioral Problems

1991 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 1031 ◽  
Author(s):  
David T. Takeuchi ◽  
David R. Williams ◽  
Russell K. Adair
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Economic Stress ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
The Family

Children’s Emotional and Behavioral Problems in the Foster Family Context

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (5) ◽  
pp. 1373-1383 ◽  
Author(s):  
María D. Salas ◽  
Miguel Á. García-Martín ◽  
María J. Fuentes ◽  
Isabel M. Bernedo
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Family Context ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
Foster Family

scholarly journals SKIRTUMAI TARP LYČIŲ, PROGNOZUOJANT ELGESIO IR EMOCINIUS SUNKUMUS PAAUGLYSTĖJE PAGAL ASMENYBĖS BRUOŽUS IR TĖVŲ AUKLĖJIMO STILIŲ

Psichologija ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 63-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Žukauskienė ◽  
Oksana Malinauskienė
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Parental Behavior ◽  
Clinical Investigation ◽  
Externalizing Disorders ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
Parental Rejection ◽  
Adjustment Problems ◽  
Parental Rearing

Straipsnyje analizuojamos vaikinų ir merginų emocinių ir elgesio sunkumų, asmenybės bruožų bei tėvų auklėjimo stilių sąsajos, bandoma nustatyti lyčių skirtumus, aiškinantis emocinių ir elgesio sunkumų numatymo galimybes. Tyrime naudojami ilgalaikio tyrimo, kuriame analizuojama prisitaikymo sunkumų raida nuo vaikystės iki paauglystės, duomenys. Tiriamųjų imtį sudarė 16–17 metų paaugliai (N = 467): 251 mergina ir 216 vaikinų. Tėvų auklėjimo stiliams nustatyti buvo naudojami EMBU (Arrindell et al., 1999), paauglių emociniams ir elgesio sunkumams – YSR 11/18 (Achenbach et al., 1991), asmenybės bruožams – NEO-FFI (Costa and McCrae, 1992) klausimynai. Rezultatų analizė atskleidė, kad merginos pasižymi aukštesniais emocinių (bet ne elgesio) sunkumų įverčiais nei vaikinai, o tėvai emocinę šilumą labiau naudoja dukterų, o ne sūnų atžvilgiu. Paaiškėjo, kad tėvų auklėjimo stilius bei paauglių asmenybės bruožai yra labiau susiję su merginų, o ne su vaikinų emociniais ir elgesio sunkumais. Regresinės analizės rezultatai parodė, kad ir vaikinų, ir merginų emociniams bei elgesio sunkumams tėvų auklėjimo stilius turi mažiau, o paauglių asmenybės bruožai (ir ypač neurotizmas) – daugiau prognostinės vertės. Remiantis tėvų auklėjimo stiliumi bei paauglių asmenybės bruožais, merginų emocinius ir elgesio sunkumus galima geriau numatyti nei vaikinų.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: paaugliai, emociniai ir elgesio sunkumai, asmenybės bruožai, tėvų auklėjimo stilius. Personality and Parental Rearing Practices as Predictors of Adolescent Emotional and Behavioral Problems: Gender Differences in Predictive AccuracyRita Žukauskienė, Oksana MalinauskienėSummary Many models of psychological development are based on the assumption that parent’s actions are linked to, or the cause of, a child’s behavior. Information about childhood experiences, particularly parental rearing behaviour, is of importance in the clinical investigation of adjustment problems in adolescence. It has been well documented that adolescents run a heightened risk for emotional and behavioral problems when they feel rejected or overprotected by their parents and that parental rejection and overprotection has different effects for gender in developing emotional and behavioral problems. In general, the perceptions of early negative parental behavior are found to be connected to maladjustment and problem behaviors with internalizing as well as externalizing symptoms in adolescence. High perceived parental overinvolvment, rejection, and low emotional warmth correlates with low adjustment and low selfesteem, externalizing disorders, childhood depression, obsession-compulsion, and psychosomatic complaints, and parental control and absence of autonomy is connected with anxiety disorders. Adolescent delinquents perceived their parents as more rejecting, overprotecting, and less emotionally warm than normal adolescents. The perceptions of parental rejection and overprotection in the group of adolescent delinquents also correlated with attention and social problems and somatic complaints. Whether personality in combination with gender plays a role in the association between parental rejection and overprotection and emotional and behavioral problems has not yet received much attention. This study focuses on assessment of personality and parental rearing practices as predictors of adolescent emotional and behavioral problems and gender differences in predictive accuracy of emotional and behavioral problems. Data is used from longitudinal study on development of adjustment problems from childhood to adolescence. A total of 467 adolescent (251 girls and 216 boys), ages 16–17, completed questionnaires about parental rearing practices EMBU (The Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran for Children, Arrindell et al., 1999). EMBU is a short 34-item questionnaire that intends to measure children and adolescents’ perception of three main aspects of parental rearing behaviour: Emotional Warmth, Rejection and Overprotection. Adolescents also completed questionnaires about their emotional and behavioral problems (YSR 11/18, Achenbach, 1991), and personality traits (NEO-FFI, Costa and McCrae, 1992). Girls scored higher on emotional problems (but not on behavioral problems) than boys. Parental behavior was more strongly associated with girls’ emotional and behavioral problems, in comparison to boys. Regression analysis revealed that parental rearing behavior is less significant predictors of emotional and behavioral problems in adolescence, than personality traits. Furthermore, parental rearing behavior and personality traits (namely, neuroticizm) were stronger predictors of emotional and behavioral problems for girls in comparison to boys. Overall, parental rearing practices and personality traits of adolescents are better predictors for emotional and behavioral problems of girls in comparison to boys.Keywords: adolescents, emotional and behavioral problems, personality traits, parental rearing behavior.

Mother-child disagreements on child anxiety: associated factors

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-270
Author(s):  
Kathryn R. Giuseppone ◽  
Laura E. Brumariu
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Attachment Security ◽  
Child Anxiety ◽  
Childhood Anxiety ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Affect Intensity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Child Attachment ◽  
Individuation Process ◽  
Specific Factors

Purpose Previous literature demonstrated low-to-moderate rates of agreement between children and mothers regarding child anxiety. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate factors related to differences between mother-child dyads who disagreed vs agreed in their reports of child anxiety symptoms. Design/methodology/approach In total, 87 children aged 9-12 years old and their mothers completed questionnaires regarding maternal perceptions of child behavior, maternal separation anxiety about the child’s individuation, and mother-child relationship characteristics. Findings The results showed that mothers in mother-child dyads who disagreed on child anxiety symptoms, compared to those in dyads who agreed on child anxiety symptoms, perceived their children as showing higher affect intensity and behavioral problems. They also expressed greater anxiety about the children’s individuation process, characterized in part by children’s increased autonomy and decline of reliance on them. Further, children in dyads who disagreed, compared to those in dyads who agreed, reported lower mother-child attachment security. Originality/value The results extend the literature by identifying specific factors related to the discrepancy between mothers’ and children’s reports of childhood anxiety in early adolescence. The results highlight the need to consider both mothers’ and children’s views when assessing childhood anxiety. Importantly, the results also indicate that specific factors investigated in this study, including maternal perception of children’s behavioral problems and their affect intensity, maternal anxiety about child individuation, and mother-child attachment security, could be used to inform clinical decisions regarding informant discrepancies.

Adaptation Concerns of Families of People with Head Injuries

1996 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Kosciulek ◽  
Eugene F. Pichette
Keyword(s):  
Head Injury ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Head Injuries ◽  
Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽  
Family Adaptation ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Family ◽  
Primary Family

The adaptation concerns of families of people with head injuries were investigated by administering the Family Adaptation Concerns Questionnaire (FAQ) to 82 primary caregivers of persons with head injuries recruited through the Georgia Head Injury Association. Respondents cited the following as family adaptation strengths: (a) encouragement and support from friends; (b) positive family outlook; (c) availability of a family support group; and (d) family unity, loyalty, and cooperation. Primary family adaptation problems identified included: (a) lack of respite, (b) unavailability of vocational and rehabilitation services, (c) minimal assistance for meeting day-to-day head injury-related needs, (d) inappropriate living situations for the family member with the head injury, and (e) emotional and behavioral problems in the member with the injury. These findings form the basis of a consumer-driven action agenda for public policy, practice, and long-term service provision designed to promote positive family adaptation to head injury.

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