Date
11-13-2024
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)
Chair
Angela Rathkamp
Keywords
child anxiety disorder, parent’s psychopathology risk, stress, parental secure attachment, attachment theory, quantitative research
Disciplines
Psychology
Recommended Citation
Tran, Diep, "Beyond Children’s Vulnerability: Secure Attachment Mediates the Relationship between Child Anxiety Disorder and Parents’ Psychopathology Risk" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 6157.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/6157
Abstract
Anxiety is one of children's most common mental health disorders. Many studies emphasize the effect of anxiety on young children, especially social abilities and other impairments across contexts throughout the child’s development. Along with this issue, studies have also shown that secure attachment is a powerful predictor of children’s later social and emotional outcomes. However, there is limited literature about child anxiety disorder and its unintended negative consequences on parents. Evidence for the association between anxiety in young children, secure attachment, and parental stress was not well understood. Thus, this proposed study offered a comprehensive literature review of past and current studies on the investigated topics. Mediation analysis, model 4, version 4.2 of the PROCESS macro program extension in SPSS, was used to conduct the analysis. The result suggested a direct relationship between CAD and parental stress; however, findings were unable to statistically demonstrate that the proposed mediator, secure attachment, significantly explains the mechanism through which CAD influences parental stress. Although the results were not as expected, this research study provided a clearer understanding of each variable related to parents’ psychopathology risk, which will result in earlier implementation of treatment and the need for additional research about the mediation effect of secure attachment. Ultimately, exploring the experience of parents of children under the age of 10 with CAD as it relates to parental stress and how it is affecting children’s mental development could aid professionals and clinicians in understanding the need for the development of educational resources about parenting from a Christian perspective.
