Abstract
Anxiety disorders are among the most common forms of psychopathology in childhood and represent a particularly concerning issue for Latinx children. Research on adults and children with anxiety suggests that the effective regulation of emotion is associated with fewer symptoms. The current study used data from 78 Latinx (predominantly Mexican American) 8- to 11-year-old children (M = 9.91; SD = 1.14; 50% girls) and one caregiver to explore regulatory processes that may characterize emerging psychopathology in Latinx families. Caregivers reported on their use of reappraisal and their child’s anxiety symptoms. Children completed a cognitive flexibility task and self-reported their anxiety symptoms. More extensive caregiver use of reappraisal was associated with fewer child anxiety symptoms (an average of caregiver- and child-report). As expected, this effect was qualified by children’s cognitive flexibility. Caregiver reappraisal was associated with anxiety symptoms only for children with greater cognitive flexibility, highlighting the importance of individual differences in cognitive skills underlying children’s mastery of sophisticated cognitive strategies. Findings suggest the importance of considering both caregiver and child regulatory processes to improve understanding of anxiety symptoms among Latinx children.
Highlights
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This study investigated whether caregiver and child regulatory processes jointly predict Latinx children’s anxiety symptoms.
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Greater use of reappraisal by a caregiver was associated with fewer symptoms for Latinx children high in cognitive flexibility.
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Findings suggest the importance of considering caregiver and child processes to understand anxiety symptoms among Latinx children.
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We thank the families who participated in the study, and the research assistants who helped collect these data.
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This study was supported in part by a Diversity Grant of the Psychological Science Research Grant – APA and by an APF/COGDOP Dr. Judy Kuriansky Scholarship to the first author. The first author was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF DGE-1326120) during data collection and by a National Institute of Mental Health training grant (NIMH T32 MH0100019-06; PIs: Barch and Luby) during paper writing.
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The study was approved by the IRB at the University of California Riverside (Protocol ID: HS-17-124).
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Quiñones-Camacho, L.E., Davis, E.L. Caregiver Socialization of Reappraisal and Children’s Cognitive Flexibility Jointly Predict Latinx Children’s Anxiety. J Child Fam Stud 31, 1404–1414 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02145-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-021-02145-5