Parental Emotion Socialization Strategies and Their Interaction with Child Interpretation Biases Among Children with Anxiety Disorders

Children’s interpretations of events play a significant role in childhood anxiety, and research shows that the parenting environment, in particular, is an important contributor to the manner in which children interpret their experiences. This study examined associations between parental use of punitive and minimization reactions to children’s displays of negative affect, child interpretation biases (self-reports and computerized assessments), and child anxiety symptom severity in a clinical sample of children with anxiety disorders. Forty-four children between 8–12 years of age (M = 9.60, SD = 1.30; 52 % girls; 52 % African American) and their mothers (M = 38.48, SD = 6.86; 57 % married) participated in this study. Child interpretation biases were significantly associated with child-reported anxiety symptoms. Moderation analyses revealed a positive relation between self-reported interpretation biases and anxiety symptoms for children of low-minimization and low-punitive mothers. Likewise, a positive relation between computerized interpretation biases and mother-reported child anxiety symptoms was found for children of low-minimization and low-punitive mothers. However, a negative relationship between computerized interpretation biases and mother-reported child anxiety symptoms was found for children of high-minimization and high-punitive mothers. Findings and implications are discussed in the context of how these parental reactions may be addressed and incorporated in childhood anxiety treatments.