The role of mother-adolescent relationship quality in moderating the effect of adolescent anxiety on psychosocial functioning

ABSTRACT

Objective

The effects of anxiety on adolescents’ psychosocial outcomes are well established, but little consideration has been given to the potential influence of the parent-adolescent relationship in moderating these effects. This study examined the moderating role of parent-adolescent connectedness and hostility in the association between anxiety and adolescent psychosocial functioning (measured by positive development [PD] and oppositional defiant behaviour [ODB]) within a community sample of mothers of adolescents.

Method

Participants were 723 Australian mothers (M age = 44.05 years, SD = 5.97) of adolescents aged 11 to 17 years (M = 14.32 years, SD = 5.97; 49% male). Participants completed an online survey comprising measures of parent-adolescent relationships, parenting practices, parental psychological distress, and adolescent anxiety and psychosocial functioning.

Results

Consistent with the first hypothesis, results from hierarchical regression analyses revealed that adolescent anxiety, connectedness, and hostility were independent predictors of PD and ODB. Inconsistent with predictions, parent-reported anxiety had a stronger, negative association with PD when mothers viewed the relationship with their adolescents as more connected and less hostile. Neither parent-adolescent connectedness nor hostility moderated the association between maternal reported adolescent anxiety and ODB.

Conclusions

Further longitudinal research is needed to understand how the parent-adolescent relationship context might affect outcomes and inform family-based prevention and intervention efforts for at-risk youth with anxiety symptomatology.

KEY POINTS

What is already known about this topic:

1. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problems affecting adolescents.

2. Anxiety can have wide-reaching implications for adolescents, affecting their behavioural functioning and the development of positive developmental skills and competencies.

3. The quality of the mother-adolescent relationship plays a central role in influencing psychosocial outcomes for adolescents generally, but little is known how this important relationship influences psychosocial outcomes when an adolescent is experiencing anxiety.

What this topic adds:

1. This research extended previous research that focused on young people with diagnosed anxiety disorders by showing that even among a community sample, anxiety is associated with negative outcomes for adolescents’ behavioural functioning and positive development.

2. The study also emphasised the importance of considering adolescent anxiety and its effects on a young person’s psychosocial functioning within the context of the mother-adolescent relationship.

3. Specifically, the study provided additional evidence for the strong influence of parent-adolescent hostility on adolescent oppositional behaviour, while highlighting that interactions between parents and adolescents when responding to and coping with anxiety play a complex role in adolescent positive development.

KEYWORDS:

• Parent-adolescent relationship
• parenting
• anxiety
• adolescent psychosocial functioning
• youth
• positive development

Disclosure statement

Drs Burke and Dittman hold Honorary Appointments with the Parenting and Family Support Centre (PFSC), School of Psychology at the University of Queensland. The PFSC is partly funded by royalties stemming from published resources of the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, which is developed and owned by The University of Queensland (UQ). Royalties are also distributed to the Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences at UQ and contributory authors of published Triple P resources. Triple P International (TPI) Pty Ltd is a private company licenced by Uniquest Pty Ltd on behalf of UQ, to publish and disseminate Triple P worldwide. The authors of this report have no share or ownership of TPI. Dr Dittman is an author on a Triple P Program and receives royalties from TPI.

Author contributions

All authors contributed equally to the conceptualization, drafting and revising of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Compliance with ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and national ethical standards for research, and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Ethics approvals were obtained from the authors’ institutional HREC (The University of Queensland) and from the Education Departments of the Australian states of NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

Data availability statement

Data associated with this project is stored securely by The University of Queensland, Australia. Requests for access to the data can be made in writing to the corresponding author.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.