Child Age and Gender Do Not Moderate the Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Child Anxiety

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether particular parenting styles are correlated with childhood anxiety levels. The interactive effect of child age and gender on child anxiety levels was examined as well. Finally, it was hypothesized that child age and gender may moderate the relationship between parenting styles and child anxiety levels. Thus, as part of a further analysis, the effects of age and gender on the parenting style-child anxiety relationship were studied. Novel analyses were conducted on data previously collected as part of a larger study, the School-Based Treatment of Anxiety Research Study (STARS), by the child/adolescent anxiety and mood program at UConn Health. Two-hundred and sixteen children and adolescents (ages 6-18) and their parents were administered the Egna Minnen Betraffande Uppfostran (EMBU) questionnaire, which gathers information regarding parenting styles, and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) questionnaire, which identifies children’s anxiety levels. A moderate correlation between overprotective, rejection, and anxious rearing styles and child anxiety levels was found. In addition, female adolescents had significantly higher anxiety levels than male adolescents, male children, and female children. Surprisingly, neither child age nor gender influenced the relationship between parenting styles and child anxiety levels.