Schleider Jessica L, Lebowitz Eli R, Silverman Wendy K
Psychology Department, Harvard University, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
Yale Child Study Center, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA.
Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2018 Apr;49(2):187-196. doi: 10.1007/s10578-017-0740-1.
High levels of family accommodation (FA), or parental involvement in child symptoms, are associated with child anxiety symptom severity. The strength of associations has varied across studies, however, highlighting the need to identify moderating variables. We investigated whether anxiety sensitivity (AS) moderated the FA-anxiety symptom severity association in clinically anxious children (N = 103, ages 6-17; mean age 11.07 years). We collected child and mother ratings of FA, child anxiety symptom severity, and child AS ratings. AS significantly moderated the FA-child anxiety severity link. Specifically, this link was significant for low-AS but not high-AS children. Findings suggest that FA may operate in the typically observed fashion for low-AS children-alleviating immediate distress while inadvertently exacerbating longer-term anxiety-whereas high-AS children may experience distress following anxiety-provoking stimuli regardless of FA. Assessing AS in research and clinical settings may help identify subsets of children for whom FA is more closely tied to anxiety severity.
高水平的家庭适应（FA），即父母对孩子症状的参与，与儿童焦虑症状的严重程度相关。然而，各研究中这种关联的强度有所不同，这凸显了识别调节变量的必要性。我们调查了焦虑敏感性（AS）是否调节了临床焦虑儿童（N = 103，年龄6 - 17岁；平均年龄11.07岁）中FA与焦虑症状严重程度之间的关联。我们收集了儿童和母亲对FA、儿童焦虑症状严重程度以及儿童AS的评分。AS显著调节了FA与儿童焦虑严重程度之间的联系。具体而言，这种联系在低AS儿童中显著，而在高AS儿童中不显著。研究结果表明，对于低AS儿童，FA可能以通常观察到的方式起作用——减轻即时痛苦，却在无意中加剧长期焦虑；而高AS儿童可能无论FA如何，在面临引发焦虑的刺激后都会感到痛苦。在研究和临床环境中评估AS可能有助于识别出那些FA与焦虑严重程度联系更为紧密的儿童亚组。
