Benoit Allen Kristy, Silk Jennifer S, Meller Suzanne, Tan Patricia Z, Ladouceur Cecile D, Sheeber Lisa B, Forbes Erika E, Dahl Ronald E, Siegle Greg J, McMakin Dana L, Ryan Neal D
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2016 Jul;57(7):835-42. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12482. Epub 2015 Nov 9.
Childhood anxiety is associated with low levels of parental autonomy granting and child perceived control, elevated child emotional reactivity and deficits in child emotion regulation. In early childhood, low levels of parental autonomy granting are thought to decrease child perceived control, which in turn leads to increases in child negative emotion. Later in development, perceived control may become a more stable, trait-like characteristic that amplifies the relationship between parental autonomy granting and child negative emotion. The purpose of this study was to test mediation and moderation models linking parental autonomy granting and child perceived control with child emotional reactivity and emotion regulation in anxious youth.
Clinically anxious youth (N = 106) and their primary caregivers were assessed prior to beginning treatment. Children were administered a structured diagnostic interview and participated in a parent-child interaction task that was behaviorally coded for parental autonomy granting. Children completed an ecological momentary assessment protocol during which they reported on perceived control, emotional reactivity (anxiety and physiological arousal) and emotion regulation strategy use in response to daily negative life events.
The relationship between parental autonomy granting and both child emotional reactivity and emotion regulation strategy use was moderated by child perceived control: the highest levels of self-reported physiological responding and the lowest levels of acceptance in response to negative events occurred in children low in perceived control with parents high in autonomy granting. Evidence for a mediational model was not found. In addition, child perceived control over negative life events was related to less anxious reactivity and greater use of both problem solving and cognitive restructuring as emotion regulation strategies.
Both parental autonomy granting and child perceived control play important roles in the everyday emotional experience of clinically anxious children.
儿童焦虑与父母给予自主权程度低、儿童感知到的控制感低、儿童情绪反应性高以及儿童情绪调节缺陷有关。在幼儿期，父母给予自主权程度低被认为会降低儿童感知到的控制感，进而导致儿童负面情绪增加。在后期发展中，感知到的控制感可能会成为一种更稳定的、类似特质的特征，放大父母给予自主权与儿童负面情绪之间的关系。本研究的目的是检验焦虑青少年中父母给予自主权和儿童感知到的控制感与儿童情绪反应性和情绪调节之间的中介和调节模型。
在开始治疗前，对临床焦虑青少年（N = 106）及其主要照顾者进行评估。对儿童进行结构化诊断访谈，并让他们参与一项亲子互动任务，对父母给予自主权的行为进行编码。儿童完成一项生态瞬时评估方案，在此期间，他们报告在应对日常负面生活事件时的感知控制、情绪反应性（焦虑和生理唤醒）以及情绪调节策略的使用情况。
父母给予自主权与儿童情绪反应性和情绪调节策略使用之间的关系受到儿童感知到的控制感的调节：在感知控制感低且父母给予自主权高的儿童中，自我报告的生理反应水平最高，对负面事件的接受程度最低。未发现中介模型的证据。此外，儿童对负面生活事件的感知控制与焦虑反应性较低以及更多地使用解决问题和认知重构作为情绪调节策略有关。
父母给予自主权和儿童感知到的控制感在临床焦虑儿童的日常情绪体验中都起着重要作用。
