The role of differentiation in the association between anxiety symptoms among parents and their child

Previous studies on parent to child anxiety have not examined the role of the mother and father’s differentiation levels on the child’s anxiety. While there have been mixed findings, some studies have found an association between parent and child anxiety. Using anxiety and differentiation data from the Flourishing Families Project (FFP) Waves I and III, this study examined differentiation’s role to the association of anxiety from parent to child. The FFP data was gathered in a longitudinal study comprised of 500 total families, with this article looking at the 337 two-parent families. ANOVA and group comparison tests amongst 4 classes, all with varying levels of parental differentiation. Class 1 (both parents had high differentiation) and 3 (father low, mother high) had the lowest child anxiety. The repeated measures test was done to find whether anxiety levels varied by the differentiation profile and to determine whether the associations between child anxiety and parent anxiety varied among the profiles. Lower levels of differentiation were associated with higher levels of anxiety in both parents. Child anxiety was highest in the class 4, where both parents had low differentiation. Engaging parents in treatment for their differentiation levels could be beneficial for treating the anxiety of their children.