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Parental factors have been linked to childhood anxiety, hence, parental involvement in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxious children has been examined. However, findings do not consistently show added effects of parent-enhanced CBT, longitudinal investigations are scarce and long-term effects unclear. In the present study, 40 out of 54 families who, 3 years previously, completed one of two types of CBT treatment: with limited or active parental involvement, were assessed using semi-structured diagnostic interviews. Diagnostic status at 3-years follow-up was compared between groups. Changes in diagnostic status across assessment points: posttreatment, 6-month and 3-year follow-up were analyzed within groups. Diagnostic change from 6-month to 3-year follow-up was compared between groups. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed no significant difference in diagnostic status between groups at 3-year follow-up. Nonetheless, children whose parents actively participated in treatment showed significantly more remission from 6-month to 3-year follow-up than children with limited parental participation.

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Children's and parents' attachment patterns have been linked with the presence of pediatric anxiety disorders. The present study examined the role of attachment in predicting cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) treatment outcomes. A total of 69 children aged 7-13 years were assessed using a semi-structured interview, and treated with CBT. Differences between responders and nonresponders with regard to pretreatment characteristics were explored, and the predictive power of factors significantly different between groups was assessed using binominal logistic regression. Responders and nonresponders did not significantly differ with regard to child's attachment to parent. Maternal attachment anxiety was found to be the strongest predictor of treatment outcome, remaining significant after controlling for symptoms severity. Results suggest that clinicians should pay more attention to how the relationships formed between anxious children and their anxiously attached mothers may prohibit a positive treatment response, and augment treatment appropriately.

This systematic review summarizes the results of 43 studies that explored the potential role of fathers in emotion regulation (ER) development in children. Following a tripartite model, this review investigates the paternal modelling of ER strategies, emotion‐related paternal parenting practices, father–child emotional climate, and fathers' characteristics, by identifying 16 specific themes of paternal factors that could play a role in the child's ER development. Results show that while a large number of studies investigated father–child emotional climate and fathers' characteristics and their association with children's ER, the effects of paternal modelling and the father's emotion‐related parenting practices on children's ER are still understudied. This review reveals that several factors—fathers' modelling of ER strategies; positive reactions and support in responding to their child's expression of emotions; better quality of the father–child relationship; higher father–child attachment security; and positive parenting in terms of sensitivity, engagement, and expressiveness—had significant associations with children's higher ER skills. Conversely, fathers' psychopathology and harsh parenting were associated with poorer ER skills in children. Highlights This study summarized existing literature that explored the association between paternal factors and ER in children. The review showed some evidence supporting the paternal role in children's ER development. Fathers' role in the development of child's ER is most prominent in infancy and toddlerhood. Most paternal factors significantly associated with a child's ER reflected previous findings examining maternal factors.