Authors
Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Asja Abron, Dashiell Sacks, Caroline M Kesley, Charles A Nelson
Published in
Development and psychopathology. Pages 1-13. Jul 09, 2026. Epub Jul 09, 2026.
Abstract
Although the intergenerational transmission of anxiety is well documented, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In a community sample of mother-child dyads (N = 541; 54% male, 72% non-Hispanic White), we examined whether child behavioral inhibition (BI), a temperament characteristic that increases anxiety risk, mediated and/or moderated associations between maternal and child symptoms in early childhood. Greater maternal symptoms in infancy and at 3 years were associated with greater child symptoms at 3 years and 5 years (rs = .15-.23, ps < .01), but not with child BI at 3 years (rs = .00-.01, ps > .92). Thus, evidence for mediation was not observed. Moderation analyses revealed an interactive effect at 3 years (β = -0.13, p = .009): Among children with high BI, child symptoms were elevated regardless of maternal symptoms. Among children with moderate to low BI, greater maternal symptoms were associated with greater child symptoms. A similar pattern was observed at 5 years (β = -0.10, p = .113). Such associations were not observed when testing maternal depressive symptoms as predictor or child externalizing symptoms as outcome, supporting specificity for BI in intergenerational anxiety processes. Sex-specific effects in relation to BI were not observed. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of child BI in the intergenerational transmission of anxiety in early childhood.
PMID:
42422990
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 09 Jul 2026.
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