Associations between parent and child anxiety are bidirectional: evidence from mothers and fathers

Anxiety symptoms in parents are associated with anxiety symptoms in offspring. However, little is known about the mechanisms that mediate this intergenerational transmission. Here we conducted the first genetically sensitive... [ view full abstract ]

Anxiety symptoms in parents are associated with anxiety symptoms in offspring. However, little is known about the mechanisms that mediate this intergenerational transmission. Here we conducted the first genetically sensitive study to examine bidirectional effects between parent and child anxiety symptoms during middle childhood, using data from Cohort I of the Early Growth and Development Study (n=346 adoptive families). Child anxiety symptoms were measured by adoptive parent report on the Child Behavior Checklist and the Eley Anxiety Measure at ages six, seven and eight years. Adoptive mother and father anxiety symptoms were measured at corresponding time points using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Birth mother’s anxiety symptoms were included as a proxy for inherited risk, measured at child ages five months, eighteen months and four years using the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Structural equation models were fitted to the data, with adoptive mothers and fathers assessed separately. Higher anxious symptoms in children at age seven predicted higher anxious symptoms in adoptive mothers at age eight. No child-to-father effects were observed. In contrast, higher anxious symptoms in adoptive fathers at age six predicted higher anxious symptoms in children at subsequent time points, while no mother-to-child effects were observed. The composite measure of birth mother anxiety was not associated with child anxiety, suggesting that the genetic factors associated with anxiety in adult parents are not involved in anxiety in young child offspring. The pattern of results was consistent for both measures of child anxiety. Overall, these results emphasise the importance of taking a family-wide perspective when researching the intergenerational transmission of anxiety. Additional analyses will now be conducted to examine the role of adoptive mothers and fathers within the same structural equation model, alongside a broader measure of birth parent internalising – to further examine the role of inherited risk within this sample.