Intergenerational Transmission of Anxiety: Effects of Parental Anxiety on Child Personality and Co-Anxiety

Pulwasha Anwar; Aqsa  Batool; Anam  Waheed; Jawaria Afzal

doi:10.63056/ACAD.004.04.1194

Authors

Pulwasha Anwar Ph.D. Student, Department of Psychology, Institute of Social Sciences, Bursa Uludağ University, Bursa, Turkey. Author
Aqsa Batool Student, Masters of Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Lahore Garrison University, Lahore, Pakistan. Author
Anam Waheed Department of Applied Psychology, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan. Author
Jawaria Afzal Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice & Online Consultation, Pakistan Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63056/ACAD.004.04.1194

Keywords:

intergenerational transmission, parental anxiety, child neuroticism, co-anxiety, personality mediation

Abstract

This study investigates the intergenerational transmission of the anxiety among 350 Pakistani mother and child dyads (adolescents aged 10–18 years; 52% girls) with the paternal data available for 112 dyads. Using Urdu-validated instruments and we examined the influence of parental trait anxiety on the child neuroticism, emotional stability, and co-anxiety. We also assessed the mediating role of the child personality and the moderating effects of parenting warmth autonomy support and the child gender. Results revealed that the higher parental anxiety particularly maternal predicted increased child neuroticism decreased emotional stability and elevated co-anxiety. Child personality fully mediated the anxiety and co-anxiety link while the supportive parenting buffered direct effects. Girls exhibited the stronger effects than boys and dual parental anxiety produced the additive risk. Findings emphasize that personality as a key transmission pathway the supportive parenting as protective and the gender as a moderator that highlighting the need for the early parental screening and the culturally sensitive interventions in the collectivist contexts.