Beato Ana, Barros Luísa, Pereira Ana Isabel
Faculty of Psychology, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Child Care Health Dev. 2018 Sep;44(5):784-793. doi: 10.1111/cch.12603.
Previous research has focused on parenting styles and parental behaviors associated with children's anxiety. Parental beliefs about their child's anxiety have scarcely been studied, in spite of their probable influence in parents seeking help. The present study intended to fil that gap, by exploring what parents think about their children's anxiety and whether these cognitions are related or not to their use of professional help.
In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 48 parents (50% fathers) of children (9-12 years old) with anxiety problems. Theoretical thematic analysis was performed on the transcripts.
Three dimensions were derived from the analysis, concerning (a) the causes of child's anxiety, (b) the impact of anxiety in the child's functioning, and (c) the evolution of anxiety. Most parents perceived the child's anxiety as a permanent condition, attributing it to external and parental factors and considering that the anxiety problems have a negative impact on the child's well-being. Plus, parents who had previously sought professional help for the child's emotional problems tended to believe that anxiety could improve with child's or parents' efforts and with professional guidance, contrarily to those who had not. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.
The present study highlighted important parental beliefs about their children's anxiety that might influence their attitudes and decisions (e.g., seek for professional help). Other parental cognitions should be investigated in order to understand parenting in the context of childhood anxiety.
以往的研究主要集中在与儿童焦虑相关的育儿方式和父母行为上。尽管父母对孩子焦虑的认知可能会影响他们寻求帮助的行为，但这方面的研究却很少。本研究旨在填补这一空白，探讨父母对孩子焦虑的看法，以及这些认知是否与他们寻求专业帮助有关。
对48名有焦虑问题孩子（9至12岁）的父母（50%为父亲）进行了深入的半结构化访谈。对访谈记录进行了理论主题分析。
分析得出三个维度，分别涉及（a）孩子焦虑的原因，（b）焦虑对孩子功能的影响，以及（c）焦虑的演变。大多数父母认为孩子的焦虑是一种长期状况，将其归因于外部和父母因素，并认为焦虑问题会对孩子的幸福产生负面影响。此外，那些曾为孩子的情绪问题寻求专业帮助的父母倾向于认为，通过孩子或父母的努力以及专业指导，焦虑状况可以得到改善，而未寻求专业帮助的父母则不然。文中讨论了该研究对研究和临床实践的启示。
本研究突出了父母对孩子焦虑的重要认知，这些认知可能会影响他们的态度和决策（例如寻求专业帮助）。为了理解儿童焦虑背景下的育儿情况，还应调查其他父母认知。
