Exploring the relationships between maternal and child metacognitions and child anxiety.
Research has shown that anxiety may be transmitted through verbal information pathways, for example, when parents share their anxious cognitions with their child. Less is known about the influence of parental metacognitions, that is, beliefs regarding thoughts, on child anxiety. We explored the relations between metacognitions in mothers and their children and anxiety in the children. Our study included 111 non-clinical children aged 8 to 12 years and their mothers. Children rated their metacognitions, worry and anxiety, and mothers rated their metacognitions. Results indicated agreement between maternal and child metacognitions. Maternal metacognitions were positively associated with children's anxiety symptoms and worry, and this relation was mediated by the children's metacognitions. Our results warrant further examination of the role of parental metacognitions in child anxiety.
['Esbjørn|Barbara Hoff|BH|', 'Normann|Nicoline|N|', 'Lønfeldt|Nicole Nadine|NN|', 'Tolstrup|Marie|M|', 'Reinholdt-Dunne|Marie Louise|ML|']
D001007:Anxiety D002648:Child D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D000067489:Metacognition D009034:Mother-Child Relations D009035:Mothers
Metacognitions child anxiety community sample risk factor transmission