(PS8-B39) Parental Anxiety Sensitivity as a Predictor of Treatment-seeking in Childhood Anxiety Disorders

Between 2016 and 2020, there was a 27% increase in diagnosed childhood anxiety disorders. Despite this, rates of treatment access for these disorders have not increased (Lebrun-Harris et al., 2022). This calls into question the barriers around children accessing treatment for anxiety disorders. Because children must rely on their parents/caregivers to access treatment on their behalf, one barrier is parental recognition of a problem, which could be affected by cognitive traits such as parental anxiety sensitivity, or PAS (Francis, 2014; Reardon et al., 2017). The current study investigated the relation between PAS (a parent’s fears or anxieties about the potentially harmful outcomes of their child’s anxiety) and treatment-seeking behaviors and intentions of parents on behalf of their children. It was hypothesized that at high levels of child anxiety, higher PAS would lead to higher rates of help-seeking for one’s child, over and above parent anxiety.

Data from a larger longitudinal study were used. One-hundred twenty-five mothers who participated in the longitudinal study at child age 4 (Time 1) were invited to participate in a Qualtrics follow-up study about 5 years later (Time 2). At Time 1, mothers reported on their PAS using the Parental Anxiety Sensitivity and Reactivity scale (a modification of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-3; Taylor et al., 2007), parental anxiety using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond, 1995), and child anxiety using the BASC-2 Parent Rating Scale (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004). At Time 2, past help-seeking behaviors were measured by the Actual Help-Seeking Questionnaire (AHSQ; Rickwood et al., 2005) and help-seeking intentions (one’s attitudes towards seeking help from various sources) were measured by the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire (GHSQ; Wilson et al., 2005); both measures were modified to be about help-seeking for one’s child’s anxiety.

Bivariate correlations revealed expected interrelations among variables of interest. Maternal PAS related to child anxiety (r = .23, p = .023) and maternal anxiety (r = .60, p < .001). Child anxiety related to maternal anxiety (r = .22, p = .035) and the number of sources of actual help seeking (r = .36, p = .003). Intention to seek social support related to intention to seek professional support (r = .48, p < .001). Only intentions to seek professional support related to actual help seeking (r = .32, p = .004). PAS did not interact with child anxiety to predict help-seeking intentions or behavior. In main effects models, child anxiety predicted number of actual help-seeking behaviors above and beyond PAS (t = 2.81, p = .007) and maternal anxiety.

Mothers with higher PAS reported their children to have more anxiety symptoms, and maternal perception of anxiety predicted actual help-seeking behavior. These results are consistent with the notion that PAS heightens awareness of child anxiety in a way that facilitates actual help-seeking behavior. However, PAS did not, itself, relate to help-seeking. Future research could specify whether relations unfold over time in a mechanistic manner, and whether the relation between PAS and child anxiety is actually recognition or a false alarm.