Parent-child interactions in clinically anxious children and their siblings

Observed 57 children (37 anxiety-disordered and 20 non-clinic-referred children) and their siblings interacting with their parents while completing a complex puzzle task. Consistent with previous findings, mothers were more involved and more intrusive during the task with their anxiety-disordered child than mothers of non-clinic-referred children. Mothers in the clinic-referred group were also significantly more involved and more intrusive during interactions with the anxious child's sibling than mothers of non-clinic-referred children. Although fathers were more involved during the task than mothers overall, no significant differences in overinvolvement were found between fathers of anxiety-disordered children and fathers of non-clinic-referred children. Both mothers and fathers were equally involved with the anxious child and the sibling of the anxious child. Although this study provides support for the association between maternal overinvolvement and the anxiety disorders, it suggests that overinvolvement does not occur exclusively in the context of relationships with the anxiety-disordered child.