Examining a developmental pathway from early behavioral inhibition to emotion regulation and social anxiety: The moderating role of parenting.

Abstract

We examined the longitudinal relation between behavioral inhibition (BI) and social anxiety symptoms and behavior and the mediating role of emotion regulation (ER). Moreover, we investigated the influence of parenting behavior on the development of ER strategies. Participants were 291 children (135 male) followed longitudinally from 2 to 13 years. Mothers were predominantly well educated and non-Hispanic Caucasian. Children were screened for BI using maternal report and observational measures (ages 2 and 3), parenting behavior was observed while children and their mothers participated in a fear-eliciting task (age 3), ER strategies were observed while children completed a disappointment task (age 5), and socially anxious behavior was measured via multimethod assessment at 10 and 13 years. Children who exhibited high BI in early childhood exhibited more socially anxious behavior across ages 10 and 13, and there was a significant indirect effect of BI on socially anxious behavior through ER strategies. Children who were high in BI demonstrated less engaged ER strategies during the disappointment task, which in turn predicted more socially anxious behavior. Furthermore, parenting behavior moderated the pathway linking early BI and ER strategies to social anxiety outcomes such that children who exhibited high BI and who received more affectionate/oversolicitous behavior from their mother displayed less engaged ER strategies and more socially anxious behavior than children low in BI or low in oversolicitous parenting behaviors. These findings expand on our understanding of the role that ER strategies and parenting play in the developmental pathway linking early BI to future social anxiety outcomes.

Annual Research Review: Developmental pathways linking early behavioral inhibition to later anxiety

“…Likewise, parental oversolicitous behaviors, which are closely related to accommodation, strengthen the relation between BI and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (i.e. less engaged/active emotion regulation), which in turn led to greater social anxiety (Suarez et al., 2021). In clinical samples, almost all parents of children with anxiety problems have reported frequent use of accommodations to alleviate child distress (Lebowitz et al., 2013; Storch et al., 2015).…”

Social versus non‐social behavioral inhibition: Differential prediction from early childhood of long‐term psychosocial outcomes

“…To investigate whether social and non-social BI are dissociable constructs, we assessed these two forms of inhibition using both behavioral and parent-reported questionnaire measures (Lahat et al, 2014;Suarez et al, 2021;Troller-Renfree et al, 2019). The use of peer were observed at 24 and 36 months (Degnan et al, 2014;Fox et al, 2001).…”

Preventing anxiety in the children of anxious parents – feasibility of a brief, online, group intervention for parents of one‐ to three‐year‐olds

“…The vast majority of participants were female, meaning that the results may not be generalisable to fathers (Beato, Pereira, Barros, & Muris, 2016) Minimal demographic data, apart from age, were collected about the children so we are unable to ascertain generalisability of this aspect of the sample. Information on child behavioural inhibition and on potential social determinants of anxiety would be particularly salient in evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention in particularly at‐risk groups (Burris et al., 2022; Suarez et al., 2021). Future research may benefit from seeking ways to overcome these barriers and target recruitment in specific communities in order to further understand feasibility and acceptability across the range of backgrounds and contexts that exist within the population of the UK, and beyond.…”