The relationship between maternal and child anxiety in a school sample

Anxiety is one of the primary reasons for referral to mental health services among youth (Costello, Egger, & Angold, 2005). There has been a strong correlation between anxious symptoms and disorders in mothers and children (Hughes, Fun, Sood, Barmish, & Kendall, 2009); however, there are limited studies that demonstrate what symptoms are similar in mother-child dyads. Study One compared parent and child self-report measures of anxiety to test the hypothesis that similar items on these measures assess similar anxiety symptoms. Study Two examined similar symptom pairs determined in Study One to test the hypothesis suggesting there is a relationship between maternal and child anxiety. A total of 58 mother-child dyads participated, with children ranging from 7-17 years of age. Results indicated there was a significant relationship between specific anxiety symptoms. Implications of this study will help to provide a better understanding of how the transmission of anxious symptoms from mothers to their children