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Handbook of Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders pp 213–228Cite as

Parenting and Child Anxiety Disorders

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Abstract

What role does parenting play in the development, maintenance, and amelioration of child anxiety? In this chapter, we address this question by reviewing the current state of knowledge regarding the nature and direction of the relationship between parenting and child anxiety. Numerous theoretical models outline the role that various parenting practices may play in the development, maintenance, and amelioration of childhood anxiety. These models vary in terms of their precision and specificity. Traditional models of childhood anxiety focused primarily on broad parenting dimensions of acceptance and psychological control (see Gerlsma, Emmelkamp, & Arrindell, 1990; Masia & Morris, 1998; Rapee, 1997). However, these broad parenting dimensions have fallen out of favor in recent years as meta-analyses have demonstrated that these dimensions explain little of the variance in child anxiety (McLeod, Wood, & Weisz, 2007; van der Bruggen, Stams, & Bogels, 2008). Consequently, experts have issued calls for a move toward a more precise study of the parenting–child anxiety linkage (McLeod et al., 2007; Wood, McLeod, Sigman, Hwang, & Chu, 2003). In response, the field has adopted a more microscopic approach with greater theoretical specificity that focuses upon particular salient parenting practices that may influence children’s acquisition of fear.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Bryce D. McLeod

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  1. Bryce D. McLeod
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  2. Jeffrey J. Wood
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  3. Shelley B. Avny
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Correspondence to Bryce D. McLeod .

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  1. , Department of Psychology, Fordham University, East Fordham Road 441, Bronx, 10458, New York, USA

    Dean McKay

  2. , Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, a, University of South Florida, Tampa, 33612, Florida, USA

    Eric A. Storch

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McLeod, B.D., Wood, J.J., Avny, S.B. (2011). Parenting and Child Anxiety Disorders. In: McKay, D., Storch, E. (eds) Handbook of Child and Adolescent Anxiety Disorders. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7784-7_15

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