Effects of parenting styles on anxiety among children

Objectives: This study on the association between parenting style and the occurrence of anxiety among children is hinged on the notion that anxiety is an adverse but curable mental and behavioral problem. However, it has not received much attention from the scholars, yet the problem is continuously leading to negative effects. The study was thus, guided by the question: what is the effect of parenting styles on the occurrence of anxiety among children?

Design:A correlation study was used to determine the relationship between parenting styles and anxiety among children.

Method: 12 families participated in the study with a total of 24 participants, 12 caregivers and 12 children. These families were recruited to complete two online questionnaires, one questionnaire was completed by the care giver and the other was completed by their child that aged between 8-15. A parenting style questionnaire along with Spence children’s anxiety scale (SCAS) were administered.

Results:

Conclusion:

Introduction

The state of anxiety among children can be described as the inability to overcome worries and fears (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2020a). CDC (2020a) describes anxiety as disruption of normal child activities like learning and playing because of excessive fear and worry. Symptoms of anxiety include fear of being away from the family, fear of certain situations or things, worry of being in places of socialization, excessive fear of the future and possible bad occurrences, and fear that cause harm to the body among others (CDC, 2020a). According to CDC (2020b), anxiety can be triggered by different aspects, but the most prevalent one is parenting style. Parenting styles are the ways in which parents associate with one another and the manner of rearing their children (Rezvan & D’Souza, 2017).

Anxiety is a mental health challenge (CDC, 2020b). According to Ritchie and Roser (2018), the global prevalence of anxiety disorder has been estimated to be 3.8% representing 284 million people. CDC (2020a) further notes that nearly 4.4 million (7.1%) people aged between 3-17 have anxiety problems in the United States of America. In United Arab Emirates, 4.27 % of the population suffers from anxiety disorders (Chaudhary, 2019). Ritchie and Roser (2018) have challenged these estimates; they have indicated that anxiety disorders remain widely under-reported. A study by Knappe et al. (2015) has also found out that anxiety is often undiagnosed and, therefore; often goes undertreated or untreated. This is worrying because CDC (2020a) has reported that anxiety presents fear, worry, irritation, anger, fatigue, headaches, or stomachaches. Further, CDC (2020b) has revealed that anxiety is triggered by parenting styles. However, some studies like that of Rezvan and D’Souza (2017) conducted in India show that there is no significant relationship between parenting styles and anxiety status among children. CDC (2020b) admitted that some anxious children do not exhibit symptoms and as such their status is revealed. Gaps emanating from the review of literature include the following, some researchers dispute estimates of anxiety as many cases remain underreported; other researchers dispute the claim that parenting styles do not have an association with anxiety among children, and difficulties in determining whether children are anxious despite informed public on such matters.

Parenting styles have been claimed to be causes of anxiety among children. CDC (2020a) has identified society, separation, phobias, and general and panic anxieties to affect children. The defining feature of social anxiety disorder is an excessive fear in response to social situations in which the person believes that others may judge and negatively evaluate them. Separation anxiety is associated with excessive worry of being separated from parents or attachment personalities (Morris & March, 2004). Yaffe (2017) has found that parents who exhibit overprotection tendencies deny their children opportunities to establish independence, exert self-control, and gain confidence. Continued parental overprotection may cause children to suffer from separation anxiety. Phobia is the exhibition of persistent fear reactions to stimuli such as strangers, separations, loud noises, darkness, water, imaginary creatures, small animals such as snakes and spiders, specific events, or maladaptive objects which cause much distress in a child(Morris & March, 2004).Study results by Ahmad (2019) have indicated that parent exhibit authoritarian tendencies may cause extreme fears in a child. General anxiety is characterized as persistent and excessive worry about a number of events or activities which could have at least one of the following symptoms, easily tiredness, irritability, restless, low concentration levels, and insomnia(Csóti, 2003). General anxiety was low in the families where mothers exhibited either overprotection or authoritarian tendencies. However, when the same tendencies were applied by the fathers, general anxiety was high(Csóti, 2003; Anhalt & Morris, 2015). Panic disorders are characterized by extreme impacts of anxiety that causes attacks in a victim (Noyes et al., 1998). According to Knappe et al. (2015), patients with panic disorder rated their parents as more protective than non-anxious controls.The lack of sufficient access to treatment and other intervention measures among a large percentage of the population is an indicator of limited understanding of the risk factors to the disorder (American Psychological Association, 2019). This paper hypothesizes that sub-optimal parenting styles such as permissive and authoritative styles predispose children to the dangers of anxiety. The expected outcomes are that there is a significant effect between the two variables; hence the need to modify parenting styles as an antecedent to the occurrence of childhood anxiety.

For major parenting styles commonly practiced by parents include:

Authoritarian Style

Authoritarian parents tend to be very strict, controlling and have a strong desire for obedience. They are rarely challenged since they discourage “give-and-take” with their children. Accordingly, children of such parents tend to grow into timid individuals with low self-esteem and lack of spontaneity.

Authoritative Style

These parents emphasize on maintaining a positive relationship with their children. They give justifications to their actions. While giving them rule, they present the consequences of negative actions. This parenting style is largely considered a good style of rearing children.

Permissive Parenting

These parents do not enforce the rules they set. They rarely give the consequences of children’s behavior. They often regard children’s experiences optimal when they do things on their own. This style often leads to children indulging in behavior problems due to lack of parental control.

Uninvolved Parenting

These are parents who do bother with their children’s affairs such educational and sanitation matters. They rarely care to find out the movements of their children. As such, they spend most of their time in other fields such as economic affairs with little focus on children’s progress.

Purpose of the Study

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the effects of parenting styles on anxiety among children. Different styles will be taken into account. Al Rub (2013), Manoochehri & Mofidi (2014),Gupta & Mehtani (2015), andSanjeevan & Zoysa (2018) have identified three parenting styles which are authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive. Authoritative parenting supports their children in a firm and respective manner with less punitive measures (Al Rub, 2013). This style promotes a better mental health since anxiety levels are kept to a minimum (Gupta &Mehtani, 2015). An authoritarian style is associated with parents who have low regard for their children (Al Rub, 2013). Al Rub (2013) is in agreement with the claim that children reared by authoritarian family tend to exhibit anxiety. Responsive style is associated with a supportive household where child’s needs and actions are understood (Al Rub, 2013). Manoochehri and Mofidi (2014) have also noted that children of permissive parent’s project weakness regarding autonomy, curiosity, and self-confidence which are constituents of anxiety. Therefore; this study will seek to find out to what extent parenting styles influence anxiety among children.

Research Question

This study is aimed at establishing the relationship between the effects of parenting styles and anxiety among children. The following question has been posed. What are the perceived effects of parenting styles on the manifestation of anxiety disorders among children?

Research Hypothesis

This study utilizes both null and alternative hypotheses in ultimately testing the relation between perceived effects of parenting styles and anxiety disorders among children:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There are no significant perceived effects of parenting styles on anxiety disorders among children at 95% confidence level.

Alternative hypothesis (H1): There are significant perceived effects of parenting styles on anxiety disorders among children at 95% confidence level.

Research Variables

This study will be guided by independent and dependent variables. Independent variables will be authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles while the dependent research variable will be levels of anxiety in children between the ages of 8-15.