Comparative study of parenting styles and parenting self-efficacy in mothers of children with and without anxiety symptoms

Anxiety disorders are one of the most prevalent mental problems in children and could lead to major dysfunctions. Most family studies have found a large overlap between anxiety disorders in children and their family members. This study aimed to examine the relationship between parenting style and parenting self-efficacy in mothers of anxious and non-anxious children. This is a causal-comparative study, done in 2013. The sample consisted of 110 children and their mothers (55 in experimental and 55 in control groups). Anxious children were selected through convenience sampling and non-anxious children were matched and selected based on demographic variables of the experimental group from elementary schools of Mashhad. Inventories of quality of mother-child relationship scale, parenting self-efficacy, Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) of Achenbach System and demographic characteristics were used. Data analyzed by SPSS software, descriptive statistics and independent t-test was used for data analysis. Findings indicated that mothers of anxious children had significantly higher levels of conflict than mothers in the control group (P<0.001). They also showed significantly lower levels of accessibility, warmth, responsiveness, and self-efficacy in relation to their children (P<0.001). Findings of this study indicated that anxiety in children is strongly associated with parenting styles and parenting self-efficacy. Therefore, it is suggested that parenting factors should be considered in the evaluation, treatment, and prevention of anxiety in children.