Family Accommodation in Anxious Irritable and Anxious Nonirritable Youth

Abstract

Family accommodation is a significant contributor to the maintenance and course of youth anxiety. There is also high co-occurrence of anxiety and irritability in youth. Research is lacking, however, on the influence of irritability in the association between anxiety and family accommodation, including among youth with clinically diagnosed anxiety disorders. We therefore examined this issue in a sample of clinic-referred anxious irritable and anxious nonirritable youth. Youth (N = 645, M_age = 9.86 years, SD = 2.92) and their parents completed diagnostic interviews and questionnaires assessing youth anxiety, irritability, and family accommodation. Based on both youth and parent ratings, family accommodation was significantly and positively associated with youth anxiety and irritability. Anxious irritable youth rated family accommodation significantly higher than anxious nonirritable youth. In addition, youth self-rated irritability levels significantly moderated the association between their anxiety and family accommodation. No moderation effect was found for the parent ratings. Based on the youth ratings, our overall findings show that parents of anxious irritable youth are more accommodating of their children’s anxiety, compared with parents of anxious nonirritable youth. Anxiety levels also predict family accommodation more strongly in youth with lower levels of irritability. Our findings provide novel insights about accommodation behaviors in families of anxious irritable youth and suggest its potential utility as a treatment target when working with anxious irritable youth.