Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Department of Psychology, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA.
Depress Anxiety. 2021 Dec;38(12):1289-1297. doi: 10.1002/da.23210. Epub 2021 Aug 31.
We leveraged a recent efficacy trial to investigate directionality between parent anxiety and child anxiety at posttreatment and 12-month follow-up, and the potential role of parent psychological control as a mediator. We also explored child age and sex as moderators.
Two-hundred and fifty-four children were randomized to individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or to one of two CBT arms with parent involvement. Parent anxiety was not a treatment target in any of the three arms.
Child anxiety at posttreatment was associated with parent anxiety and psychological control at 12-month follow-up, providing evidence of child-to-parent directionality. Parent anxiety at posttreatment was associated indirectly with child anxiety at 12-month follow-up through associations with parent psychological control, providing evidence of parent-to-child directionality. At posttreatment, parent psychological control contemporaneously mediated the relation between parent and child anxiety. Neither child age nor sex moderated any association.
Findings highlight the directional effects between child anxiety, parent anxiety, and psychological control from posttreatment to 12-month follow-up, even when parent anxiety is not a treatment target. Research and clinical implications are discussed, with an emphasis on enhancing durability following treatment effects.
我们利用最近的一项疗效试验，调查了治疗后和 12 个月随访时父母焦虑与子女焦虑之间的方向关系，以及父母心理控制作为中介的潜在作用。我们还探讨了儿童年龄和性别作为调节因素的作用。
254 名儿童被随机分配到个体认知行为疗法（CBT）或父母参与的两种 CBT 手臂之一。在任何三个手臂中，父母的焦虑都不是治疗的目标。
治疗后的儿童焦虑与 12 个月随访时的父母焦虑和心理控制有关，这为儿童对父母的方向关系提供了证据。治疗后的父母焦虑通过与父母心理控制的关联间接与 12 个月随访时的儿童焦虑相关，这为父母对子女的方向关系提供了证据。在治疗后，父母的心理控制同时调节了父母和孩子焦虑之间的关系。儿童年龄和性别均未调节任何关联。
研究结果突出了从治疗后到 12 个月随访时儿童焦虑、父母焦虑和心理控制之间的方向影响，即使父母焦虑不是治疗目标。讨论了研究和临床意义，重点是增强治疗效果后的耐久性。
