Mother and Child Ratings of Child Anxiety: Associations With Behavioral Avoidance and the Role of Family Accommodation.

OBJECTIVE

This study compared mother and child ratings of child anxiety to each other and to an objective measure of the child's avoidant behavior, using a novel motion-tracking paradigm. The study also examined the moderating role of family accommodation for the link between mother ratings of child anxiety and child behavioral avoidance.

DESIGN

Participants were 98 children (7- to 14-years-old) and their mothers. Children met criteria for a primary anxiety disorder. Measures included parent and child versions of the Multi-Dimensional Anxiety Scale for Children and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders. Children also completed the Spider Phobia Questionnaire for children and the Family Accommodation Scale for Anxiety-Child Report. The Yale Interactive Kinect Environment Software platform was used to measure children's behavioral avoidance of spider images.

RESULTS

Mother and child ratings of child anxiety were moderately correlated. Only child ratings of child anxiety were associated with child behavioral avoidance. Child-rated family accommodation moderated the association between parent ratings and child avoidance. When accommodation was low parent ratings correlated with child avoidance, but not when accommodation was high.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings contribute to understanding commonly reported discrepancies between mother and child ratings of child anxiety symptoms.