The role of the family environment and of threat-related cognitive biases in childhood anxiety

Abstract

The thesis investigates cognitive and family factors linked to childhood anxiety in a non-referred population taking a developmental approach. It examines whether children with symptoms of anxiety exhibit a threat-related cognitive bias. Attentional and interpretive biases are specifically looked at. It also examines maternal variables that would be influential to the child’s levels of anxiety. Maternal parenting behaviours, maternal mental health and maternal beliefs and attitudes towards the child are specifically looked at. Cognitive and maternal factors are integrated in the explanation of childhood anxiety. Whether links between maternal factors and childhood anxiety are mediated by the development of biased cognitive styles is explored.

A total of 129 children aged 7-14 years and their mothers participated in the study. Children are assessed on cognitive tasks tapping into attentional and interpretive biases. Their levels of anxiety are assessed with questionnaire reports completed by themselves and their mothers. Maternal parenting behaviours and maternal mental health variables are assessed with questionnaire reports completed by the mothers. Maternal beliefs and attitudes towards the child are assessed with the Expressed Emotion index following five minute interviews.

The results show that children with symptoms of anxiety exhibit a threat-related cognitive bias. In support of developmental theories of cognition and anxiety, threat-related attentional biases (Abs) emerged for children aged over 10 years. The results also single out maternal variables that are contributing to a child’s anxiety. The association between maternal parenting behaviours or maternal beliefs and attitudes and a child’s anxiety however is shown to not be consistent. In contrast maternal depression is found to be consistently associated with a child’s symptoms of separation anxiety independent of the age of the child. Support for a cognitive mediated pathway in which threat-related ABs are partially mediating a link between maternal overprotection and a child’s separation anxiety is found. These findings add to developmental models of childhood anxiety.

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