Der elterliche Einfluss auf Kinderängste: Zugrundeliegende Mechanismen und Konsequenzen für die Behandlung

Anxiety disorders are common across the lifespan, cause severe distress and impairment, and usually have their onset in childhood. Substantial clinical and epidemiological research has highlighted important parental influences in the development, maintenance and clinical course of these disorders. Research on the pathways and mechanisms underlying these influences has pointed to both behavioral and biological systems. Elucidating these links has potentially important clinical implications and can drive the development of novel parent-based treatment to enhance outcomes for clinically anxious youth. This review synthesizes and summarizes several major aspects of this research. The Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) Program targets family accommodation, a particular pattern of parental responses to child anxiety associated with more severe symptoms, greater impairment and poorer treatment outcomes in other forms of therapy. The SPACE Program is discussed and illustrates how identifying specific parent influences on child anxiety can inform novel theory-driven interventions.