title: Parenting and social anxiety: fathers' versus mothers' influence on their children's anxiety in ambiguous social situations.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The role of parenting in child social anxiety was examined in an information processing experiment. We tested the relative weight that children in general, and high versus low socially anxious children in particular, put on fathers' versus mothers' signal about whether a social situation is safe or a threat.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged 8-12 (n = 144) varying in social anxiety were presented scripts of ambiguous social situations in which either the father or the mother acted anxious or confident. Children indicated how anxious or confident they would be.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fathers' behaviour influenced high socially anxious children's confidence or anxiety more than mothers' behaviour. In contrast, in normal and low socially anxious children, mothers' behaviour was more influential than fathers'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mothers might have the role of teaching social wariness to their low socially anxious children, whereas fathers may teach social confidence to socially anxious children.
authors.affiliation: Research institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.m.bogels@ uva.nl
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bögels
authors.forename: Juliette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Majdandžić
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment