The Effect of Child Distress on Accommodation of Anxiety: Relations With Maternal Beliefs, Empathy, and Anxiety

Abstract

Little is known about the influence of child behaviors on accommodation of anxiety and how accommodation relates to other parent factors. The present study examined the comparative effect of high and low levels of child distress on mother-reported accommodation, mother factors in relation to accommodation, and moderators of the relation between accommodation and child distress. Maternal perceptions of accommodation were measured by vignettes depicting youth exhibiting high or low levels of distress in anxiety-provoking situations that elicited social anxiety, generalized anxiety, or separation anxiety in a sample of 7- to 17-year-old youth with anxiety disorders (N = 70, M = 11.66, 47.1% male). Findings indicated an effect of child distress on mother-reported accommodation of youth anxiety, such that mothers reported more overall accommodation under conditions of high child distress; situation-level analyses revealed this effect for social and generalized anxiety situations. Furthermore, an association was found between greater mother-reported accommodation and more negative beliefs about their child's experience of anxiety, which held across situations. Maternal empathy moderated the relation between overall accommodation and child distress. Maternal anxiety also moderated the relation between accommodation and child distress, with results varying based on situation type. Findings, consistent with theory, indicate a relation between child distress and mother-reported accommodation and suggest that maternal beliefs about anxiety are an important treatment target. High maternal empathy may be related to a greater degree of adaptability in response to child behaviors, whereas maternal anxiety may be linked with less adaptive responses to child behaviors.

Antidepressant Prescribing by Pediatricians: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

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Parent and child emotion and distress responses associated with parental accommodation of child anxiety symptoms

“…Because parental accommodation typically, if not always, occurs in the context of child distress, child psychopathology and markers of heightened distress are also relevant to understanding accommodating behaviors. Studies have repeatedly linked child anxiety symptoms to increased levels of parental accommodation, such that parents engage in more accommodating behaviors when children show higher levels of anxious distress (Settipani & Kendall, 2017) and children who exhibit greater anxious distress responses elicit more accommodation from parents (Jones et al, 2015; Lebowitz, Scharfstein, & Jones, 2014; Storch et al, 2015). Among anxious youth, markers of emotion dysregulation and increased distress, such as externalizing symptoms (e.g., temper outbursts) have also been associated with the use of parental accommodation.…”

Parental Attitudes, Beliefs, and Understanding of Anxiety (PABUA): Development and psychometric properties of a measure

“…Recent evidence suggests that parent beliefs about anxiety are related to accommodation of youth anxiety, such that mothers who report more strongly believing that experiencing anxiety is harmful for children are more likely to report that they would allow their child to avoid feared situations (Settipani & Kendall, in press). …”