title: Parental and Family Factors as Predictors of Threat Bias in Anxious Youth.
abstract: The present study examined the relative predictive value of parental anxiety, parents' expectation of child threat bias, and family dysfunction on child's threat bias in a clinical sample of anxious youth. Participants (N= 488) were part of the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multi-modal study (CAMS), ages 7-17 years (M = 10.69; SD = 2.80). Children met diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder, separation anxiety and/or social phobia. Children and caregivers completed questionnaires assessing child threat bias, child anxiety, parent anxiety and family functioning. Child age, child anxiety, parental anxiety, parents' expectation of child's threat bias and child-reported family dysfunction were significantly associated with child threat bias. Controlling for child's age and anxiety, regression analyses indicated that parents' expectation of child's threat bias and child-reported family dysfunction were significant positive predictors of child's self-reported threat bias. Findings build on previous literature by clarifying parent and family factors that appear to play a role in the development or maintenance of threat bias and may inform etiological models of child anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Nemours Pediatrics, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, 833 Chestnut Street, Ste 1210, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Blossom
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Golda S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Ginsburg
authors.affiliation: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Birmaher
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: John T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Walkup
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Philip C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.affiliation: Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Courtney P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Keeton
authors.affiliation: Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Audra K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Langley
authors.affiliation: Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Piacentini
authors.affiliation: Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Dara
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sakolsky
authors.affiliation: New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Anne Marie
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Albano
keywords: Anxiety; Child; Family functioning; Threat bias