Does fathers’ warmth or encouragement of brave behavior mediate the relationship between fathers’ fear of negative child evaluation and child social anxiety?
University of Amsterdam
Graduate School of Childhood Development and Education
Masterthesis Orthopedagogics Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences University of Amsterdam Kiki Stoker (10386564) Supervisor: Mw. Dr. M. Nikolic Second reviewer: Mw. Dr. W. de Vente Amsterdam, August 2018
Abstract
Fathers’ fear of negative child evaluation (FNCE) plays a role in the intergenerational transmission of social anxiety. Fathers’ FNCE may influence their parenting behaviors when interacting with their children. This study investigates the relationship between fathers’ FNCE and later child social anxiety, and whether fathers’ warmth and encouragement of brave behavior mediates this relationship. One hundred eighteen children aged 4,5 and their fathers participated in the study. FNCE was measured with a questionnaire completed by the father. Fathers’ warmth was also measured with a questionnaire and fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior was measured with an observation during a singing task of their child. Child social anxiety was measured at the age of 7,5 with a questionnaire completed by both mothers and fathers as well as a questionnaire completed by the child. Fathers’ FNCE did not prospectively predict child social anxiety at the age of 7,5. Also, fathers’ warmth and encouragement did not mediate the
relationship between FNCE and child social anxiety. Higher scores of fathers’ FNCE were related to less paternal warmth. Also, less encouragement of brave behavior was related to more child social anxiety as reported by the child. Fathers’ warmth and encouragement of brave
behavior seemed to have a role in child social anxiety and fear of negative child evaluation, albeit not in the relationship between FNCE and child social anxiety itself.
Key Words: fear of negative child evaluation, social anxiety, warmth, encouragement of brave behavior, fathers
Introduction
Experiencing an intense fear or anxiety of social situations in which someone may be scrutinized by others is the core feature of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). People with social anxiety are afraid that they will be embarrassed or humiliated by
something they say or do (Stein & Stein, 2008) and will be negatively evaluated by others as a result (Schreier & Heinrichs, 2010). This may lead to avoidance of speaking in public and engaging in relationships with peers (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Social anxiety is one of the most common of the anxiety disorders, with a lifetime prevalence of 7-13% (Furmark, 2002). The exact etiology of this disorder is not clear, but social anxiety is at least partly heritable (Stein et al., 2017). Up to 50% of social anxiety predisposition is inherited (Kendler, Neale, Kessler, Heath, & Eaves, 1992), but the estimated heredity of social anxiety disorders is around 30-40% (Eley et al., 2003; Kendler et al., 1992). Beside genetics, environmental factors also play a role in the development of child social anxiety.
The family environment plays a crucial role in children’s social development. The main environmental factors during early and middle childhood are parental behaviors toward the child (i.e., parenting). Parenting can contribute to an increased risk for anxiety disorders in children. Studies show, for instance, that parental control and rejection are related to child anxiety (McLeod, Wood, & Weisz, 2007). Theoretical models propose that anxious parents engage in less anxiety-reducing behavior and in more anxiety-provoking behavior compared to non-anxious parents. Many of the characteristic features of anxiety, such as a cognitive bias to threat and avoidance, have been hypothesized to be transmitted in the family context by reinforcement and modeling (e.g., Barrett, Rapee, Dadds, & Ryan, 1996). Consequently, parental social anxiety can be seen as a risk factor for child social anxiety (Bögels & Brechman-Toussaint, 2006).
Parents with social anxiety tend to be less warm, smile less, show less regard, are more critical and doubtful about their child’s social competence compared to parents without social anxiety (Crosby Budinger, Drazdowski, & Ginsburg, 2013; Whaley, Pinto, & Sigman, 1999). Parents with social anxiety also experience high levels of distress when their children are engaged in normal age appropriate activities (Turner, Beidel, Roberson-Nay, & Tervo, 2003). Children, at their turn, decide how to interpret new social situations on the basis of their own information but also on parental reactions (Morren, Muris, Kindt, Schouten, & van der Hout, 2008). It is hypothesized that when children recognize anxious parental reactions they might
overestimate the danger of the social situation (Schreier & Heinrichs, 2010). When children perceive the situation as more dangerous they can become more anxious about that social
situation. Bögels, Stevens and Majdandžić (2011) found that socially anxious children gave more weight to their father’s signals compared to their mother’s signals. The reaction of the father, anxious or confident, to an ambiguous social situation influenced the child’s social anxiety.
Unlike other anxiety disorders, social anxiety disorder is highly prevalent in men too (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, Merikangas, & Walters, 2005). One of the core elements of SAD is fear of negative evaluation (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). When this is present in parents, it is assumed that it can also lead to a fear of negative child evaluation (FNCE; Schreier &
Heinrichs, 2010). Lester, Field, Oliver, and Cartwright-Hatton (2009) argue that parents extend their own fear of the environment to their child. Therefore FNCE is presented as a potential mediator between parental social anxiety and child social anxiety (De Vente, Majdandžić, Colonnesi, & Bögels, 2011). Because children’s beliefs are strongly tied to the beliefs of their parents, it may be expected that parents’ belief that others will negatively evaluate their child will affect the FNE of the children themselves. Socially anxious parents fear negative child evaluation more, which may lead to an increase of fear of negative evaluation in the child and to the
development of social anxiety in their offspring.
Avoiding potentially threatening situations, which could potentially increase their anxiety is something children with anxiety often do (Rapee, 2002). They feel less self-efficacy compared to non-anxious children in coping with these anxiety-provoking situations (Kortlander, Kendall, & Panichelli-Mindel, 1997). The way parents encourage their children and learn them how to deal with potentially threatening situations is very determining (Barrett et al., 1996). Silk et al. (2013) found that fathers encourage brave behavior less when their child has social anxiety. When parents are anxious themselves, they may be less likely to encourage brave behavior also, through deminished modeling of brave behavior (Whaley, Pinto, & Sigman, 1999) or because of their own discomfort with distress of their child (Turner, Beidel, Roberson-Nay, & Tervo, 2003).
Parents with high FNCE tend to have social anxieties themselves, which will reflect upon their behavior when interacting with their child. Therefore it would be expected that fathers with high FNCE are less warm and encourage their children less when their children are faced with a social anxiety challenge. Parental fear of negative child evaluation can lead to parental avoidance
reinforcement of anxiety-provoking situations that the child encounters or reinforcement of safety-seeking behavior of the child (Hedtke, Kendall, & Tiwari, 2009). Research suggests that when fathers are not warm to their children, the child can be at risk for anxiety symptoms (e.g., Arrindell, Kwee, Methorst & Van der Ende, 1989). In this study, we investigate not only if FNCE predicts less parental warmth and encouragement of brave behavior of their child, but also if FNCE predicts social anxiety at age 7,5 directly and indirectly through these parenting behaviors during a social performance task of the child when the child is 4,5 years old.
Specifically, this research is aimed to answer the question how fathers’ fear of negative child evaluation influences their warmth and encouragement of brave behavior of their child and how these behaviors may influence child social anxiety. Bögels and Phares (2008) state that fathers have a specific role in encouraging their child to explore the external world and thereby help their child overcome anxiety. Fathers play a great role in introducing children to the social world outside of the family (Bögels & Brechman-Toussaint, 2006) and fathers with anxiety disorders have a more negative effect on their children compared to mothers with anxiety disorders (Bögels, 2006). Also, there is a lot of research on the influence of mothers on child social anxiety. Fathers are neglected when it comes to their influence on child social anxiety. Therefore, it is important to investigate fathers in particular.
In conclusion, this research investigates whether fathers’ warmth or encouragement of brave behavior mediates the relationship between FNCE and later child social anxiety. The expectation is that parents with high FNCE show less warmth and encouragement of brave behavior, which in turn leads to more social anxiety of the child.
Method Participants
The current study represents secondary analysis of data collected within a longitudinal study on the development of anxiety. The available data was used for this study. The sample consisted of 118 children (64, 54 boys) and their fathers and mothers. Couples were recruited during their first pregnancy through several methods, such as brochures provided by midwives, at pregnancy courses, at baby shops, and through advertisements in nationally available magazines and websites on parenthood. Couples who did not have an adequate command of the Dutch or English language were excluded from the study. Parents were mostly Caucasian (93%) with
middle- and high-class backgrounds and a relatively high educational level (M = 6.97, SD = 1.17, on a scale of 1 [primary education] to 8 [university]). Fathers’ mean age was 39.13 years, SD = 5.35 (range 27-64 years) at the 4,5 year measurement and 41.58 years, SD = 4.68 (range 30-66 years) at the 7,5 year measurement. Children’s mean age at the 4,5 year measurement was 53.88 months, SD = 0.05 (range 52-56 months) and 91.15 months, SD = 0.17 (range 88-93 months). Design and procedure
The participants were invited to visit the Family Lab at the University of Amsterdam with their parents when they were approximately 4,5 years old. For this study, only the data on the child visit with the father was used. During the visit to the family lab, the child was asked to perform on stage and sing a song in front of his/her father, a camerawoman and the test leader. Fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior of their child was observed during this social performance task. Also, fathers’ warmth was measured with a questionnaire. Fear of fathers’ negative child
evaluation was also measured with a questionnaire when the child was 4,5 years old.
Questionnaire data from both parents and the child was used when the child was 7,5 years old. The social anxiety of the child was measured by questionnaires filled out by the parents and the child. Written informed consent was obtained parents prior to participation and the study was approved by the ethics committee at the University of Amsterdam.
Measures
Fear of negative child evaluation. Fear of negative child evaluation was measured with
the Fear of Negative Child Evaluation-Questionnaire (FNCE-Q; De Vente et al., 2011) completed by the father. The FNCE-Q consists of 10 items assessing fears and worries regarding negative evaluation of one’s child (e.g. “I worry about other people’s opinion of my child”). Fathers were asked to give an indication to the extent to which the items suits them on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = not at all characteristic of me to 4 = extremely characteristic of me). The internal consistency of the FNCE-Q was high for fathers (Cronbach’s alpha = .93).
Warmth. Paternal warmth was measured with a questionnaire. The subscale warmth of the
Dutch parenting questionnaire consists of 24 items distributed over the categories attention, affection, acceptance, and responsivity (e.g. “I comfort and show understanding for my child when he/she is upset”). Fathers were asked to rate these items on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = not
applicable at all to 5 = fully applicable). The internal consistency of the warmth subscale of the Dutch parenting questionnaire was high for fathers (Cronbach’s alpha = .84).
Encouragement of brave behavior. Fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior of their
child was measured with an observation. The observation took place during a social performance task of the child. The child had to perform on a stage and sing a song in front of three people: the father, the test leader and a camerawoman. The child was told that his/her performance was filmed as a gift for his/her mother. Fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior was coded by two trained master’s students. There was no known coding system for encouragement, so based upon literary research a new coding system was made for this particular behavior. Encouragement of the father was divided into two subcategories: verbal and non-verbal encouragement. Verbal encouragement consisted of encouraging comments (e.g. “you can do it”), cheering (e.g. “yeey”), and praise (e.g. “well done”). Non-verbal encouragement consisted of smiling, gestures (e.g. raising a thumb), clapping and nodding. The frequency of these behaviors of the father were coded second-by-second during the social performance task of the child. The coders started to code when the test leader had introduced the child and ended coding when the performance of the child was finished. A final score for fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior of their child was calculated by summing up the scores of the observed verbal and non-verbal encouragement. The interrater reliability for the coders was high (Cronbach’s alpha = .82).
Social anxiety. Social anxiety of the child was measured with two instruments: the social
phobia subscale of the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders-71 (SCARED-71; Bodden, Bögels, & Muris, 2009) completed by the parents and the social phobia subscale of the Picture Anxiety Test (PAT; Dubi, Lavallee, & Schneider, 2012) completed by the child. The social phobia subscale of the SCARED-71 consists of 9 items (e.g. “I’m shy with people I don’t know well”). The parents were asked to give an indication how frequently the child experiences each anxiety symptom using a 3-point Likert scale (0 = almost never, 1 = sometimes, and 2 = often). This resulted in two scores, one for father report and one for mother report. For this study, the scores were aggregated. There was strong, positive correlation between father report and mother report on the SCARED-71, which was statistically significant (r = .615, p = .001). This resulted in one total score for both parents (n = 106). Because of missing data, some total scores were based only on mother (n = 16) or father report (n = 6). The internal consistency of this subscale was high (.88). The social phobia subscale of the PAT consists of 3 items. For each
item, two pictures depicting children engaging in responses to the feared situation are presented simultaneously, one depicting a neutral response and the other depicting fear and avoidance. The child was asked to give an indication which child he or she resembles and to then indicate the strength of his or her choice on a scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very much). The internal consistency of the anxiety subscale was high (Cronbach’s alpha = .69).
Data analyses
First, data was checked for normality and outliers using a statistical method. A preliminary correlation analyses tested if all the constructs – fear of negative child evaluation, child social anxiety, paternal warmth and fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior – were related. Subsequently, with the use of a mediation analyses it was studied if fathers’ warmth or
encouragement mediates the relationship between fear of negative child evaluation and later child social anxiety.
Mediation analyses were conducted in SPSS 23.0 using the PROCESS macro for
mediation (Model 4; (Hayes, 2013)). Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was used to obtain an estimate of the indirect effect given that a minimum of 5000 is recommended (Hayes, 2009). Mediation was calculated by determining the significance of the indirect effect. Four mediation analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. The predictor being fathers’ fear of negative child evaluation, the mediator was paternal warmth and encouragement and the outcome the social anxiety of the child at the age of 7,5. Since there were two mediators and two measures of social anxiety of the child, this resulted in four analyses. The various analyses that were executed will be further explained in the results section.
Results Preliminary analyses
Preliminary analyses were conducted to check for normality and correlation between the constructs. First, the presence of outliers was checked visually using a stem-and-leaf plot and a boxplot. However, the score was only deemed an outlier when it was more than three standard deviations away from the mean. The cut-off score for the outliers were manually calculated. Based on this, four outliers were found. Two outliers were found in the measures for social anxiety, one in the questionnaire completed by the parents (SCARED) and one questionnaire
completed by the child (PAT). Also, two outliers were found in fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior (ENCOUR). The outliers were winsorized to a score within the range of three standard deviations from the mean (Field, 2013). Then, an examination of standardized skewness and kurtosis values (see Table 1) and a visual inspection of the histograms showed that the scores on four variables were not normally distributed.
Table 1
Skewness and kurtosis values of the original data and transformed data
Variables Skewness OD (SE) Kurtosis OD (SE) Skewness TD (SE) Kurtosis TD (SE)
SCARED .922 (.235) .147 (.465) .520 (.235) -.648 (.465)
PAT .671 (.254) -.430 (.503) .171 (.254) -1.167 (.503)
FNCE .996 (.241) .400 (.478) -.533 (.241) -.499 (.478)
WARMTH -.194 (.244) .167 (.483)
ENCOUR 1.464 (.263) 2.017 (.520) -.251 (.263) -.137 (.520)
Notes: OD: original data, TD: transformed data
The data for SCARED, PAT, FNCE and ENCOUR were all skewed to the right, which was indicative for a non-normal distribution. Running a log-10 transformation, two of the variables were now normally distributed and for two variables the distribution was improved. Improved scores almost reached values between -2 en +2, namely 2.21, that are considered acceptable for a normal distribution (George & Mallery, 2010). All subsequent analyses were run using the transformed variables. Descriptive statistics and correlations are provided in Table 2. As shown, there was a positive correlation between social anxiety measured by parent report and child report at the age of 7.5, which was statistically significant. Also, a statistically significant small,
negative correlation between fear of negative child evaluation and fathers’ warmth was found. This indicated that higher fear of negative child evaluation results in less warm behavior of the father.
Table 2
Correlation matrix
1. SCARED 106 0.14 (0.10) - 0.351** 0.136 -0.017 0.002
2. PAT 90 0.21 (0.16) - - -0.066 -0.092 -0.191
3. FNCE 99 0.80 (0.40) - - - -0.235* 0.171
4. WARMTH 98 4.10 (0.36) - - - - -0.216
5. ENCOUR 85 0.71 (0.31) - - - - -
Notes: SCARED: social anxiety reported by the father, PAT: social anxiety reported by the child,
FNCE: fathers’fear of negative child evaluation, WARMTH: subscale of the Dutch parenting
questionnaire reflecting the warmth of the father, ENCOUR: observed paternal encouragement of brave behavior of the child * p < 0.050 ** p < 0.010
In conclusion, there were only correlations between the measures of social anxiety and between FNCE and fathers’ warmth (WARMTH). No significant correlations were found between FNCE and child social anxiety nor between fathers’ warmth and encouragement of brave behavior and child social anxiety.
Mediation analyses
In testing the hypothesis that fathers’ warmth or encouragement of brave behavior mediates the relationship between fear of negative child evaluation and child social anxiety, mediation analyses were conducted. The predictor (X) was fathers’ fear of negative child evaluation, the mediator (M) was fathers’ warmth and encouragement, and the outcome (Y) was the social anxiety of the child. Two sources of data were used for the social anxiety of the child and there were two mediators, resulting in multiple models. In total, four mediation analysis were
conducted. In the first mediation model, paternal warmth (WARMTH) and child social anxiety as reported by the parents (SCARED) were used. The second mediation analysis included paternal warmth (WARMTH) and child social anxiety as reported by the child (PAT). The third mediation analysis included fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior (ENCOUR) and child social anxiety as reported by the parents (SCARED). And final, the fourth mediation model included fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior (ENCOUR) and child social anxiety as reported by the child (PAT).
Figure 1: Model of mediation: the relation between fathers’ fear of negative child evaluation and child social anxiety are mediated by fathers' warmth and encouragement of brave behavior
In the first model, there was no total effect (c-path) of FNCE on child social anxiety [β = 0.04, SE = 0.03, t (85) = 1.39, p = 0.184]. There was a significant effect of FNCE on fathers’ warmth [a-path; β = -0.26, SE = 0.10, t (85) = -2.72, p = .008], but fathers’ warmth did not predict child social anxiety reported by the parents [b-path; β = 0.01, SE = 0.03, t (84) = 0.29, p = 0.773]. Also, there was no significant direct effect (c’-path) between FNCE and child social anxiety as reported by the parents [β = .04, SE = 0.03, t (84) = 1.40, p = .164]. Results of the Sobel test suggest that the association between FNCE and child social anxiety as reported by the parents was not mediated by fathers’ warmth (Z-Test Statistic = -0.27, p = .787). In sum, we did not find a relation between FNCE and child social anxiety reported by the parents nor the mediation effect of fathers’ warmth in this relation. However, a significant negative effect of FNCE on fathers’ warmth was found.
In the second model, there was also no total effect (c-path) of FNCE on child social anxiety reported by the child [β = -0.02, SE = 0.05, t (73) = -0.46, p = .648]. There was a significant effect of FNCE on fathers’ warmth [a-path; β = -0.25, SE = 0.10, t (73) = -2.43, p = .017]. No effect was found between fathers’ warmth on child social anxiety reported by the child [b-path; β = -0.05, SE = 0.06, t (72) = -0.69, p = .492]. A direct effect (c’-path) between FNCE and child social anxiety as reported by the child was not found [β = 0.03, SE = 0.05, t (72) = -0.69, p = .492]. Results of the Sobel test suggested that the association between FNCE and child report of child social anxiety was not mediated by fathers’ warmth (Z-Test Statistic = 0.73, p = .465). As in the model 1, there was a significant negative effect of FNCE on fathers’ warmth. Higher FNCE scores were related to less paternal warmth.
In the third model, there was no total effect (c-path) of FNCE on child social anxiety reported by the parents [β = 0.05, SE = 0.04, t (62) = 1.31, p = .194]. Also, FNCE had no effect on fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior [a-path; β = 0.12, SE = 0.10, t (62) = 1.23, p = .223] nor had fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior an effect on child social anxiety as reported by the parents [b-path; β = -0.05, SE = 0.05, t (61) = -1.01, p = .318]. There was no direct effect (c’-path) found between FNCE and child social anxiety as reported by the parents [β = 0.06, SE = 0.04, t (61) = 1.44, p = .155]. Results of the Sobel test suggest that the association between FNCE and child social anxiety as reported by the parents was not mediated by fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior (Z-Test Statistic = -0.66, p = .509).
In the fourth and last model, there was no total effect (c-path) of FNCE on child social anxiety reported by the child [β = -0.03, SE = 0.06, t (54) = -0.46, p = .647]. Also, FNCE had no effect on fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior [a-path; β = 0.08, SE = 0.11, t (54) = 0.71, p = .483]. But fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior had a negative effect on child social anxiety as reported by the child [b-path; β = -0.18, SE = 0.06, t (53) = -3.05, p = .004]. No direct effect (c’path) was found between FNCE and child social anxiety reported by the child [β = -0.02, SE = 0.06, t (53) = -0.26, p = .794]. Results of the Sobel test suggest that the association between FNCE and child social anxiety as reported by the child was not mediated by fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior (Z-Test Statistic = -0.66, p = .513). In sum, less encouragement of the father was related to more child social anxiety.
Discussion
This study aimed to investigate whether fathers’ FNCE is related to child social anxiety and whether paternal warmth or encouragement of brave behavior mediates this relationship. It was hypothesized that fathers with high FNCE show less warm behavior and encouragement toward their child, which in turn leads to more social anxiety of the child. We will explore the
relationships between these four constructs in this chapter.
First, the results show that fathers’ FNCE in this study was not related to later child social anxiety. This is contrary to the findings of De Vente et al. (2011). De Vente et al. found that fathers’ FNCE at 4 months predicted infants’ social fear at 1 year. During this time in life, an infant is dependent on his parents and will interact more with his parents than other people. In this study, the anxiety of the children was measured when they were 7,5 years old. At this age
children are becoming increasingly independent and they gain more experience of the world outside their family. The impact of fathers’ FNCE might be less when children are more exposed to the outside world. Furthermore, the relationship between FNCE and social anxiety was not mediated by the warmth or encouragement of the father.
Second, fathers’ FNCE was related to less paternal warmth. As noted before, fathers with high FNCE are likely to be anxious themselves. Anxious parents are less warm to their children (Crosby Budinger, Drazdowski, & Ginsburg, 2013; Whaley, Pinto, & Sigman, 1999). Rapee (1997) states that a lack of warmth can be seen as an example of negative parenting behavior. Thus, our results support the finding of De Vente et al. (2011) that FNCE is related to negative parenting. Although FNCE was related to paternal warmth, paternal warmth itself was not related to child social anxiety. This means that in everyday life fathers with high FNCE may be less warm to their children, but this does not influence their social anxiety at a later age. It might be that the fathers are not the primary caretaker, so it does not influence their children as much. It was not taken into account in this study how much time the father spends with the child. For future research, this in combination with the temperament of the child, might be included in the study.
Third, less paternal encouragement of brave behavior predicts higher child social anxiety three years later. This suggests that the degree of paternal encouragement seems to have a role in the development of social anxiety of the child. It seems here that the encouragement of the father was not influenced by his own social anxieties, but the behavior of the child influenced the degree of encouragement. Children’s behaviors probably play an important role in fathers’ tendencies to encourage brave behavior. For example, anxious children may be less likely to elicit encouragement from their fathers as a result of transactional processes. When an anxious child becomes difficult to manage and for instance cries and screams when the father pushes them, but ceases these behaviors when the father ceases pushing, the child is negatively
reinforcing the father’s tendency to avoid pushing or encouraging brave behavior. Also, parents of anxious children have lower expectations of their ability to cope with their anxiety (Kortlander et al., 1997), this may also contribute to lesser encouragement of brave behavior for these
children. Silk et al. (2013) found that parents of anxious youth encouraged their children less during a discussion whether or not to complete an optional speech task compared to parents of non-anxious youth. The desire to protect their child from potentially negative outcomes, such as
failure or distress, could lead to failure to encourage brave behavior of the child. It might be distressing for parents of anxious children to observe their child during anxiety-provoking situations.
The extent to which fathers encourage anxious children to approach anxiety-provoking situations may be an important factor in the treatment of social anxiety. Silk et al. (2013) found that children who were more encouraged for their bravery by their parents did better in treatment than children whose parents did not encourage them. In everyday life fathers of anxious children tend to reinforce avoidance when it comes to anxiety-provoking situations. This is important to take into account in the treatment of children with social anxiety. Early treatment for social anxiety is important, because the earlier the age of children getting social anxiety the less likely the chance of recovery (Beidel & Alfano, 2011). Fathers should be made aware of their influence of their behavior on their child and their social anxieties.
A strength of this study was the multi-method approach and prospective data. Multiple methods were used to measure social anxiety of the child, namely a parent and a child
questionnaire. One of the limitations of this study was the homogeneity of the education of the participants. The fathers had a middle- to highly educated background and were mostly
Caucasian. This is not a good representation of the general population. Therefore, we must be cautious with the generalization of the results. Also, there are limitations inherent to lab-based research, such as compromised external validity.
In conclusion, no prospective relationship has been found between fathers’ FNCE and child social anxiety. Also, fathers’ warmth and encouragement did not mediate the relationship between FNCE and child social anxiety. However, a significant negative relation was found between FNCE and paternal warmth and between fathers’ encouragement of brave behavior and child social anxiety. Fathers’ warmth and encouragement seems to be of importance in the relationship with child social anxiety. More research is needed to investigate these behaviors in the clinical population and in naturalistic settings.
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