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Temperament and parental child-rearing style: unique contributions to clinical anxiety disorders in childhood

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Abstract

Both temperament and parental child-rearing style are found to be associated with childhood anxiety disorders in population studies. This study investigates the contribution of not only temperament but also parental child-rearing to clinical childhood anxiety disorders. It also investigates whether the contribution of temperament is moderated by child-rearing style, as is suggested by some studies in the general population. Fifty children were included (25 with anxiety disorders and 25 non-clinical controls). Child-rearing and the child’s temperament were assessed by means of parental questionnaire (Child Rearing Practices Report (CRPR) (Block in The Child-Rearing Practices Report. Institute of Human Development. University of California, Berkely, 1965; The Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR): a set of Q items for the description of parental socialisation attitudes and values. Unpublished manuscript. Institute of Human Development. University of California, Berkely, 1981), EAS Temperament Survey for Children (Boer and Westenberg in J Pers Assess 62:537–551, 1994; Buss and Plomin in Temperament: early developing personality traits. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc, Hillsdale, 1984s). Analysis of variance showed that anxiety-disordered children scored significantly higher on the temperamental characteristics emotionality and shyness than non-clinical control children. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses showed that temperament (emotionality and shyness) and child-rearing style (more parental negative affect, and less encouraging independence of the child) both accounted for a unique proportion of the variance of anxiety disorders. Preliminary results suggest that child-rearing style did not moderate the association between children’s temperament and childhood anxiety disorders. The limited sample size might have been underpowered to assess this interaction.

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Notes

  1. At the time of the study the DSM IV version of the ADIS-C was not yet available in its Dutch version.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to the participating families and staff members of Curium. We gratefully acknowledge the support of Sophie R. Borst, Marjo Borsje and Ragna Maignay, in conducting this study and Hein Putter for his statistical advises. Completion of this study was facilitated by Grant 4105 from the Dutch National Fund for Mental Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Triversum, Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, PO Box 225, 1800 AE, Alkmaar, The Netherlands

    Ingeborg E. Lindhout MD, PhD

  2. Academic Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Curium, Endegeesterstraatweg 27, 2342 AK, Oegstgeest, The Netherlands

    Monica Th. Markus PhD & Thea H. G. Hoogendijk MA

  3. Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Monica Th. Markus PhD & Thea H. G. Hoogendijk MA

  4. AMC Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/de Bascule, PO Box 12474, 1100 AL, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Frits Boer MD, PhD

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  1. Ingeborg E. Lindhout MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Ingeborg E. Lindhout MD, PhD.

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Lindhout, I.E., Markus, M.T., Hoogendijk, T.H.G. et al. Temperament and parental child-rearing style: unique contributions to clinical anxiety disorders in childhood. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry 18, 439–446 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-009-0753-9

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