Reducing children’s social anxiety symptoms through a parent-administered cognitive bias modification intervention: a feasibility randomised controlled trial

摘要

Social anxiety in young people is common and impairing. Maladaptive parenting has been associated with the onset and maintenance of anxiety in children and adolescents, but the extent and nature of this association with regard to social anxiety has not yet been comprehensively examined. A systematic review was conducted of studies investigating associations between parenting and social anxiety disorder and symptoms in children and adolescents, which identified 37 studies. The results of these studies were mixed, but overall provided support for an association between dimensions of parental control, rejection and anxious rearing and child and adolescent social anxiety. Methodological shortcomings of the studies and limitations of the review mean that these results should be interpreted with some caution. Future studies should be conducted in clinical populations, using longitudinal designs and independent assessment methods, in order to clarify the impact of maladaptive parenting on offspring social anxiety. This may further inform theoretical models and the development of effective treatments for social anxiety in children and adolescents.