Maladaptive and Protective Parenting Behaviors in the Context of Exposure for Youth with Social Anxiety Disorder

Thesis advisor: Karen RosenThesis advisor: Nancy LauPrior research has demonstrated that parental control, parental criticism, and parental acceptance are associated with social anxiety in youth (Wood, McLeod, Sigman, Hwang, & Chu 2003). However, researchers have not examined how these parenting behaviors might impact youth treatment responses. Research in this area has also relied almost exclusively on self and child- report measures. The current study used a newly developed behavioral observation coding system to observe: (1) parental control; (2) parental criticism; (3) quality of parent-child interaction (parental acceptance); (4) parental monitoring of youth anxiety; and (5) discussion of emotion in the context of a public speaking exposure therapy for socially anxious youth (n=39) ages 8-16 years (M = 10.82, SD = 1.94). It was hypothesized that (1) parents of socially anxious youth would exhibit higher levels of parental control, parental negativity, and parental monitoring of youth anxiety, (2) that the quality of interaction would be lower in socially anxious parent-child dyads, and (3) that parents of socially anxious youth would be less likely to discuss emotions with their children. Results demonstrated that parents of socially anxious youth offered significantly more praise than parents of non-socially anxious youth, (F(1, 33) = 5.662, p = 0.023). Parents of socially anxious youth also offered higher levels of directive help (F(1, 33) = 3.713, p = 0.063), although this finding was only trending towards significance. Potential explanations for these findings are discussed and directions for future research are offered.Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2014.Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences.Discipline: College Honors Program.Discipline: Psychology Honors Program.Discipline: Psychology