Work

Observational Measures of Parenting in Anxious and Nonanxious Mothers: Does Type of Task Matter?

Year: 2006

Type: article

Abstract: This study examined the relation between type of parent-child interaction task and parenting behaviors among a predominantly African American community-based sample. Twenty-five anxious and matched nonanxious (N = 50) mothers were videotaped with their children (M age = 5.8 years) engaging in both a structured and unstructured task. Blind raters coded 3 parent behaviors hypothesized to play a role in the development of child anxiety: overcontrol, anxious behavior, and criticism. Results indicated that higher levels of overcontrol, anxious behavior, and criticism were found in the structured compared to unstructured task. Levels of criticism, among anxious mothers only, were significantly correlated across tasks. Results suggest that situation specific aspects of parent-child interaction tasks may influence parenting behaviors. These findings help explain variations in observational research in the anxiety literature and highlight the need for careful selection of parent-child tasks in future research.

Source: Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology

DOI: 10.1207/s15374424jccp3502_16

Authors: Golda S. Ginsburg, Rachel L. Grover, Jennalee J. Cord, Nick Ialongo

Institutions: Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University Maryland

Language: English

Topic: Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Subfield: Clinical Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute of Mental Health