Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Temperament, Family Environment and Anxiety in Preschool Children

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This research examines the relationship between behavioural inhibition (BI), family environment (overinvolved and negative parenting, parental anxiety and parent-child attachment) and anxiety in a sample of 202 preschool children. Participants were aged between 3 years 2 months and 4 years 5 months, 101 were male. A thorough methodology was used that incorporated data from multiple observations of behaviour, diagnostic interviews and questionnaire measures. The results showed that children categorised as behaviourally inhibited were significantly more likely to meet criteria for a range of anxiety diagnoses. Furthermore, a wide range of family environment factors, including maternal anxiety, parenting and attachment were significantly associated with BI, with inhibited children more likely to experience adverse family environment factors. No interactions between temperament and family environment were found for child anxiety. However, a significant relationship between current maternal anxiety and child anxiety was found consistently even after controlling for BI. Additionally, there was some evidence of a relationship between maternal negativity and child anxiety, after controlling for BI. The results may suggest that temperament and family environment operate as additive, rather than interactive risk factors for child anxiety. This is discussed in the context of theoretical models of child anxiety and directions for future research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: Psychological study of the strange situation. Hillsdale: Erlaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Antony, M. M., Bieling, P. J., Cox, B. J., Enns, M. W., & Swinson, R. P. (1998). Psychometric properties of the 42-item and 21-item versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales in clinical groups and a community sample. Psychological Assessment, 10, 176–181. doi:10.1037//1040-3590.10.2.176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, P. M., Rapee, R. M., Dadds, M. M., & Ryan, S. M. (1996). Family enhancement of cognitive style in anxious and aggressive children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24, 187–203. doi:10.1007/BF01441484.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, P. M., Fox, T., & Farrell, L. J. (2005). Parent-child interactions with anxious children and with their siblings: an observational study. Behaviour Change, 22, 220–235. doi:10.1375/bech.22.4.220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayer, J. K., Sanson, A. V., & Hemphill, S. A. (2006). Parent influences on early childhood internalizing difficulties. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27, 542–559. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2006.08.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biederman, J., Rosenbaum, J. F., Bolduc-Murphy, E. A., Faraone, S. V., Chaloff, J., Hirshfeld, D. R., et al. (1993). A 3-year follow-up of children with and without behavioral inhibition. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 814–821. doi:10.1097/00004583-199307000-00016.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Biederman, J., Faraone, S. V., Hirshfeld-Becker, D. R., Friedman, D., Robin, J. A., & Rosenbaum, J. F. (2001). Patterns of psychopathology and dysfunction in high-risk children of parents with panic disorder and major depression. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 158, 49–57. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.1.49.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bogels, S. M., & Phares, V. (2008). Fathers’ role in the etiology, prevention and treatment of child anxiety: a review and new model. Clinical Psychology Review, 28, 539–558. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2007.07.011.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brumariu, L. E., & Kerns, K. A. (2010). Parent-child attachment and internalizing symptoms in childhood and adolescence: a review of empirical findings and future directions. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 177–203. doi:10.1017/S0954579409990344.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cartwright-Hatton, S., Roberts, C., Chitsabesan, P., Fothergill, C., & Harrington, R. (2004). Systematic review of the efficacy of cognitive behaviour therapies for childhood and adolescent anxiety disorders. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 421–436. doi:10.1348/0144665042388928.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, J., & Marvin, R. S. (1992). Attachment organization in preschool children: Procedures and coding manual (4 ed.). University of Virginia: Unpulished manuscript.

  • Chronis-Tuscano, A., Degnan, K. A., Pine, D. S., Perez-Edgar, K., Henderson, H. A., & Diaz, Y. (2009). Stable early maternal report of behavioral inhibition predicts lifetime social anxiety disorder in adolescence. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 48, 928–935. doi:10.1097/CHI.1090b1013e3181ae1009df.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, P. J., Fearn, V., Willetts, L., Seabrook, H., & Parkinson, M. (2006). Affective disorder in the parents of a clinic sample of children with anxiety disorders. Journal of Affective Disorders, 93, 205–212. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2006.03.017.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Costello, E., Mustillo, S., Erkanli, A., Keeler, G., & Angold, A. (2003). Prevalence and development of psychiatric disorders in childhood and adolescence. Archives of General Psychiatry, 60, 837–844. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.8.837.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Degnan, K. A., Henderson, H. A., Fox, N. A., & Rubin, K. H. (2008). Predicting social wariness in middle childhood: the moderating roles of childcare history, maternal personality and maternal behavior. Social Development, 17, 471–487. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2007.00437.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Degnan, K. A., Almas, A. N., & Fox, N. A. (2010). Temperament and the environment in the etiology of childhood anxiety. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 497–517. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02228.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dilalla, L. F., Kagan, J., & Reznick, J. S. (1994). Genetic etiology of behavioral inhibition among 2-year-old children. Infant Behavior and Development, 17, 405–412. doi:10.1016/0163-6383(94)90032-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DiNardo, P. A., Brown, T. A., & Barlow, D. H. (1994). Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule: Lifetime Version (ADIS-IV-L). Client interview schedules. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, S. L., Rapee, R. M., & Kennedy, S. (2010). Prediction of anxiety symptoms in preschool-aged children: examination of maternal and paternal perspectives. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51, 313–321. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02160.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Field, A. P., Lawson, J., & Banerjee, R. (2008). The verbal threat information pathway to fear in children: the longitudinal effects on fear cognitions and the immediate effects on avoidance behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 117, 214–224. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.117.1.214.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fox, N. A., Henderson, H. A., Marshall, P. J., Nichols, K. E., & Ghera, M. M. (2005). Behavioral inhibition: linking biology and behavior within a developmental framework. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, 235–262. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141532.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia-Coll, C., Kagan, J., & Reznick, J. (1984). Behavioral Inhibition in young children. Child Development, 55, 1005–1019. doi:10.2307/1130152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirshfeld-Becker, D. R., Biederman, J., Brody, L., & Faraone, S. V. (1997). Associations between expressed emotion and child behavioral inihibition and psychopathology: a pilot study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36, 205–213. doi:10.1097/00004583-199702000-00011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, J. L., & Rapee, R. M. (2001). Parent-child interactions and anxiety disorders: an observational study. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39, 1411–1427. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(00)00107-8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson, J. L., & Rapee, R. M. (2004). From temperament to disorder: An etiological model of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. In R. G. Heimberg, C. C. Turk, & D. S. Menin (Eds.), Generalized anxiety disorder: Advances in research and practice. New York: Guildford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, J., Reznick, J., & Gibbons, J. (1989). Inhibited and uninhibited types of children. Child Development, 60, 838–845. doi:10.2307/1131025.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lieb, R., Wittchen, H.-U., Hofler, M., Fuetsch, M., Stein, M. B., & Merikangas, K. R. (2000). Parental psychopathology, parenting styles, and the risk of social phobia in offspring: a prospective-longitudinal community study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 859–866. doi:doi:10.1001/archpsyc.57.9.859.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lovibond, S. H., & Lovibond, P. F. (1995). Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (2nd ed.). Sydney: Psychology Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magana, A. B., Goldstein, M. J., Karno, M., Miklowitz, D. J., Jenkins, J., & Falloon, I. R. H. (1986). A brief method for assessing expressed emotion in relatives of psychiatric patients. Psychiatry Research, 17, 203–212. doi:10.1016/0165-1781%2886%2990049-1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maxwell, S. E., & Cole, D. A. (2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods, 12, 23–44. doi:10.1037/1082-989X.12.1.23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClelland, G. H., & Judd, C. M. (1993). Statistical difficulties of detecting interactions and moderator effects. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 376–390. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.114.2.376.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McClure, E. B., Brennan, P. A., Hammen, C., & Le Brocque, R. M. (2001). Parental anxiety disorders, child anxiety disorders, and the perceived parent-child relationship in an Australian high-risk sample. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 1–10. doi:10.1023/A:1005260311313.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McLeod, B. D., Wood, J. J., & Weisz, J. R. (2007). Examining the association between parenting and childhood anxiety: a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 27, 155–172.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moss, E., Smolla, N., Cyr, C., Dubois-Comtois, K., Mazzarello, T., & Berthiaume, C. (2006). Attachment and behavior problems in middle childhood as reported by adult and child informants. Development and Psychopathology, 18, 425–444. doi:10.1017/S0954579406060238.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muris, P., van Brakel, A. M. L., Arntz, A., & Schouten, E. (2010). Behavioral inhibition as a risk factor for the development of childhood anxiety disorders: a longitudinal study. Journal of Child and Family Studies. doi:10.1007/s10826-010-9365-8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, L., de Rosnay, M., Pearson, J., Bergeron, C., Schofield, E., & Royal-Lawson, M. (2008). Intergenerational transmission of social anxiety: the role of social referencing processes in infancy. Child Development, 79, 1049–1064. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01175.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Prior, M., Smart, D., Sanson, A., & Oberklaid, F. (2000). Does shy-inhibited temperament in childhood lead to anxiety problems in adolescence? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 39, 461–468. doi:10.1097/00004583-200004000-00015.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rapee, R. M. (1997). Potential role of childrearing practices in the development of anxiety and depression. Clinical Psychology Review, 17, 47–67. doi:10.1016/S0272-7358(96)00040-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rapee, R. M., Kennedy, S., Ingram, M., Edwards, S., & Sweeney, L. (2005). Prevention and early intervention of anxiety disorders in inhibited preschool children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 73, 488–497.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, K. H., Nelson, L. J., Hastings, P., & Asendorpf, J. (1999). The transaction between parents’ perceptions of their children’s shyness and their parenting styles. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 23, 937–958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, K. H., Burgess, K. B., & Hastings, P. D. (2002). Stability and social-behavioral consequences of toddlers’ inhibited temperament and parenting behaviors. Child Development, 73, 483–495. doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00419.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sanson, A., Smart, D., Prior, M., Oberklaid, F., & Pedlow, R. (1994). The structure of temperament from age 3 to 7 Years: age, sex, and sociodemographic influences. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 40, 233–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, C. E., Snidman, N., & Kagan, J. (1999). Adolescent social anxiety as an outcome of inhibited temperament in childhood. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 38, 1008–1015. doi:10.1097/00004583-199908000-00017.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shamir-Essakow, G., Ungerer, J. A., & Rapee, R. M. (2005). Attachment, behavioral inhibition, and anxiety in preschool children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 33, 131–143. doi:10.1007/s10802-005-1822-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, W. K., & Albano, A. M. (1996). The anxiety disorders interview schedule for children for DSM-IV: Child and parent versions. San Antonia: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, S. H., Rapee, R., McDonald, C., & Ingram, M. (2001). The structure of anxiety symptoms among preschoolers. Behaviour Research & Therapy, 39, 1293–1316. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(00)00098-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomasgard, M., & Metz, W. (1999). Parent-child relationship disorders: what do the child vulnerability scale and the parent protection scale measure? Clinical Pediatrics, 38, 347–356. doi:10.1177/000992289903800605.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thomasgard, M., Metz, W., Edelbrock, C., & Shonkoff, J. P. (1995). Parent-child relationship disorders: I. Parental overprotection and the development of the Parent Protection Scale. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, 16, 244–250. doi:10.1097/00004703-199508000-00006.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • van Brakel, A. M., Muris, P., Bogels, S. M., & Thomassen, C. (2006). A multifactorial model for the etiology of anxiety in non-clinical adolescents: main and interactive effects of behavioral inhibition, attachment and parental rearing. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15, 569–579. doi:10.1007/s10826-006-9061-x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Bruggen, C. O., Stams, G. J. J., & Bogels, S. M. (2008). Research review: the relation between child and parent anxiety and parental control: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 1257–1269. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01898.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vasey, M. W., & Dadds, M. R. (Eds.). (2001). The developmental psychopathology of anxiety. London: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. J., McLeod, B. D., Sigman, M., Hwang, W.-C., & Chu, B. C. (2003). Parenting and childhood anxiety: theory, empirical findings, and future directions. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44, 134–151. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00106.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Thank you to the following research assistants and students who assisted in the data collection and coding for this project: Ruth Locker; Natalie Gar; Delyse Hutchinson; Tania Trapolini; Elizabeth Seeley; Heidi Lyneham; IvoneRebelo; Matthew Horne; Kirsteen Moss; Katy Vidler, Rachel Smith and to the numerous undergraduate volunteers who assisted in the data collection. Thank you also to Alan Taylor for his statistical advice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Emotional Health, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, Australia

    Jennifer L. Hudson, Helen F. Dodd & Nataly Bovopoulos

Authors
  1. Jennifer L. Hudson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Helen F. Dodd
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nataly Bovopoulos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer L. Hudson.

Additional information

This project was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP0342793).

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hudson, J.L., Dodd, H.F. & Bovopoulos, N. Temperament, Family Environment and Anxiety in Preschool Children. J Abnorm Child Psychol 39, 939–951 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-011-9502-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-011-9502-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation