Intergenerational Transmission of Social Anxiety: The Role of Paternal and Maternal Fear of Negative Child Evaluation and Parenting Behaviour

Abstract

Parents' fear of negative child evaluation (FNCE) by others has been proposed as a mechanism explaining the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety. Parents' FNCE may result in child social anxiety through various learning processes, including those associated with parenting. To test these ideas, 109 fathers and 110 mothers completed the Fear of Negative Child Evaluation-Questionnaire (FNCE-Q) when their child was 4 months old. Social anxiety disorder (ADIS-A) and social anxiety symptoms (short SPAI) of both parents were measured before the birth of the child. At 1 year of age, early signs of infants' social anxiety were assessed using the Revised Infant Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ-R, combined father mother report), and both parents' over-involved and negative parenting behaviour were measured using the Comprehensive Parenting Behavior Questionnaire (CPBQ). Fathers' FNCE prospectively predicted infant social anxiety and FNCE predicted over-involved (mothers) and negative (both parents) parenting. The relation between maternal social anxiety (disorder) and over-involved and negative parenting was substantially mediated by FNCE. Our results suggest that already during infancy FNCE plays a role in the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety and that this role differs between parents.