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The Associations of Parents’ and Children’s Anxiety Sensitivity with Child Anxiety and Somatic-Hypochondriac Symptoms

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Abstract

Background

The clinical relevance of Anxiety Sensitivity (AS) is well established, as well as the association between parents’ and children’s AS. However, there is little data data on the indirect relation between parents’ AS and children’s anxiety and somatic-hypochondriac symptoms through children’s AS, and the few findings available are inconsistent.

Objective

The study examined, in a community sample, whether children’s AS was associated to their anxiety and somatic-hypochondriac symptoms, and tested whether children’s AS mediated the link between parents’ AS and children’s anxiety and somatic-hypochondriac symptoms.

Methods

A total of 392 children and one of their parents completed a battery of questionnaires.

Results

Children’s AS mediated the links between parents’ AS and children’s anxiety and somatic-hypochondriac symptoms. These pathways were moderated by the child’s age, in that they were significant for older children (ages 11–17 years old), but not for younger ones (ages 8–10 years old).

Conclusions

The findings advance understanding of how parental AS might be implicated in children’s AS and clinical symptoms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Psychology, Communication, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Palazzo Chiaia-Napolitano, via Crisanzio 42, 70100, Bari, Italy

    Gabrielle Coppola & Antonietta Curci

  2. Service of Psychology, Paediatric Hospital Giovanni XXIII - Polyclinic of Bari, via Giovanni Amendola, 207, 70123, Bari, Italy

    Maria Grazia Foschino Barbaro, Michele Simeone, Marvita Goffredo, Alessandra Latrofa & Daria Di Liso

  3. Department of Political Science, University of Bari Aldo Moro, ex Palazzo Ferrovie, C.so Italia n. 23, 70100, Bari, Italy

    Alessandro Costantini

  4. Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA

    Wendy K. Silverman

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  1. Gabrielle Coppola
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  2. Maria Grazia Foschino Barbaro
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  3. Antonietta Curci
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  4. Michele Simeone
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Correspondence to Gabrielle Coppola.

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Coppola, G., Foschino Barbaro, M.G., Curci, A. et al. The Associations of Parents’ and Children’s Anxiety Sensitivity with Child Anxiety and Somatic-Hypochondriac Symptoms. Child Youth Care Forum 47, 845–861 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-018-9464-z

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