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Child–Mother Reappraisal and Child’s Anxiety Among Anxious and Non-Clinical Groups

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Abstract

Objectives

Reappraisal is a major target of cognitive therapy for anxiety disorders because the absence or a low level of reappraisal ability has been identified among highly anxious adults and children. Not enough is known, however, about the development of this ability, although family processes have been implicated. The current study investigated reappraisal ability of anxious children and their mothers by (1) comparing clinical and non-clinical populations, (2) analyzing reappraisal correlations and contribution to child anxiety level, and (3) comparing pre-and post-cognitive behavioral therapy.

Methods

Participants were 49 children with a primary diagnosis of anxiety disorder and 42 children from a non-clinical population and their mothers. The children completed self-report measures of anxiety. Reappraisal ability was measured using a real-time computer test where children and mothers were asked to react to the content of negative valence pictures. The anxiety disorder group was reassessed again following CBT.

Results

The clinical and non-clinical groups differed significantly on measures of reappraisal. Furthermore, mothers’ and children’s reappraisals were significantly correlated, and both predicted the child’s anxiety level. Following treatment, the mothers, but not the children, showed significant improvement in reappraisal.

Conclusions

The current study highlights the need to target parent reappraisal as an important factor in the development of child anxiety and reappraisal ability.

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Author contributions

NW: designed the study, executed the study in Ziv Medical Center, assisted with the data analyses, and wrote the paper. YTZ: designed the study and executed the study in Schneider’s Children Medical Center. VSG: conceptualize the study and collaborated on writing the paper. UY: collaborated with writing the paper. TC: collaborated with designed the study and writing the paper. AA: collaborated with designed the study and writing the paper.

Funding

Ministry of Health, Chief Scientist Office, Israel, Grant/Award Number: 3-500000-7641 Child–Mother Reappraisal and Child’s Anxiety Among Anxious and Non-Clinical Groups.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Nava Wald, Yael Tadmor-Zisman & Alan Apter

  2. Ziv Medical Center, Zfat, Israel

    Nava Wald & Uri Yatzkar

  3. Tel-Hai College, Qiryat Shemona, Israel

    Nava Wald & Vered Shenaar-Golan

  4. Schneider’s Children Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tikva, Israel

    Yael Tadmor-Zisman, Tal Carthy & Alan Apter

  5. Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Hertsliya, Israel

    Tal Carthy

Authors
  1. Nava Wald
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  2. Yael Tadmor-Zisman
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  3. Vered Shenaar-Golan
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  4. Uri Yatzkar
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  5. Tal Carthy
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  6. Alan Apter
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Correspondence to Nava Wald.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study has been approved by the appropriate ethics committee of the IRB of the two hospitals: Ziv Medical Center, Zfat, Israel and Schneider’s Children Medical Center of Israel, Israel, and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Wald, N., Tadmor-Zisman, Y., Shenaar-Golan, V. et al. Child–Mother Reappraisal and Child’s Anxiety Among Anxious and Non-Clinical Groups. J Child Fam Stud 29, 1642–1648 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01598-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01598-z

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