Maria Kadoglou, Eftychia Tziaka, Maria Samakouri, Aspasia Serdari
{"title":"Preschoolers and anxiety: The effect of parental characteristics","authors":"Maria Kadoglou, Eftychia Tziaka, Maria Samakouri, Aspasia Serdari","doi":"10.1111/jcap.12445","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Problem</h3>\n \n <p>Anxiety is a common phenomenon among children that can lead to adverse developmental outcomes. A challenging parent–child relationship and its characteristics may negatively impact the development of a child's internalizing problems. However, theoretical models on children's anxiety have not fully emphasized the contribution of parenting and environmental factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the possible correlations between parenting styles and other parental characteristics with children's anxiety.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>The sample consisted of 443 parents of preschool children who completed the Parenting Styles and Dimension Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5–5. The univariate analysis included differences between demographic groups, assessed with independent sample <i>t</i>-tests. Associations between demographic evidence and child anxiety were estimated using <i>χ</i><sup>2</sup> tests. Binomial logistic regression analysis assessed the most important parenting characteristics contributing to a child's anxiety.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Findings</h3>\n \n <p>A total of 24.6% of the children had borderline or clinical symptoms of anxiety. Parents whose children were anxious were more permissive than parents of nonanxious children (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Mothers were more authoritative compared to fathers. In addition, permissive parenting style increased the probability of a child's anxiety and maternal permissive style emerged as a significant predictor of anxiety in preschoolers (<i>p</i> < 0.003).</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>This study revealed that the permissive parenting style is associated with anxiety in preschool children. Furthermore, the maternal permissive style was identified as a predictor of anxiety. Future research may address its causal effect on anxiety and other behavioral problems, focusing on multiple perspective relationships and cultural dimensions.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":46587,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jcap.12445","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcap.12445","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Problem
Anxiety is a common phenomenon among children that can lead to adverse developmental outcomes. A challenging parent–child relationship and its characteristics may negatively impact the development of a child's internalizing problems. However, theoretical models on children's anxiety have not fully emphasized the contribution of parenting and environmental factors. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the possible correlations between parenting styles and other parental characteristics with children's anxiety.
Methods
The sample consisted of 443 parents of preschool children who completed the Parenting Styles and Dimension Questionnaire and the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5–5. The univariate analysis included differences between demographic groups, assessed with independent sample t-tests. Associations between demographic evidence and child anxiety were estimated using χ2 tests. Binomial logistic regression analysis assessed the most important parenting characteristics contributing to a child's anxiety.
Findings
A total of 24.6% of the children had borderline or clinical symptoms of anxiety. Parents whose children were anxious were more permissive than parents of nonanxious children (p < 0.001). Mothers were more authoritative compared to fathers. In addition, permissive parenting style increased the probability of a child's anxiety and maternal permissive style emerged as a significant predictor of anxiety in preschoolers (p < 0.003).
Conclusions
This study revealed that the permissive parenting style is associated with anxiety in preschool children. Furthermore, the maternal permissive style was identified as a predictor of anxiety. Future research may address its causal effect on anxiety and other behavioral problems, focusing on multiple perspective relationships and cultural dimensions.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing (JCAPN) is the only nursing journal to focus exclusively on issues of child and adolescent mental health around the world. As a primary resource for nurses and other healthcare professionals in clinical practice, educator roles, and those conducting research in mental health and psychiatric care, the journal includes peer-reviewed, original articles from a wide range of contributors in a broad variety of settings.