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Effortful Control Moderates the Relation Between Negative Emotionality and Child Anxiety and Depressive Symptom Severity in Children with Anxiety Disorders

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Abstract

The present study investigated the interactive effect of reactive (negative emotionality) and regulatory (effortful control) aspects of temperament in the prediction of child anxiety and depressive symptoms. Clinically anxious children and their mothers completed a battery of questionnaires that included self- and mother-ratings of child effortful control, negative emotionality, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the moderating effect of effortful control on the relation between negative emotionality and child anxiety and depressive symptom severity. The interaction between negative emotionality and effortful control was statistically significant and simple slopes revealed that as effortful control increased, the relationship between negative emotionality and anxiety and depressive symptoms weakened. Among anxious children high in negative emotionality, greater effortful control was related to less severe anxiety and depressive symptoms. Future work should evaluate whether targeting effortful control leads to reductions in internalizing symptoms among clinically anxious youth.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health [R21-MH101309-01A1; NCT02095340; PI: Viana]. The views articulated in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health or National Institute of Mental Health.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Instutute of Mental Health (R21-MH101309-01A1; NCT02095340).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Elizabeth M. Raines, Andres G. Viana, Erika S. Trent, Haley E. Conroy, Karina Silva & Michael J. Zvolensky

  2. Texas Institute of Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Andres G. Viana

  3. Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA

    Michael J. Zvolensky

  4. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Eric A. Storch

  5. Child Temperament, Thoughts, and Emotions Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Health and Biomedical Sciences Building, Room 373, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Andres G. Viana

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  1. Elizabeth M. Raines
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Correspondence to Andres G. Viana.

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Raines, E.M., Viana, A.G., Trent, E.S. et al. Effortful Control Moderates the Relation Between Negative Emotionality and Child Anxiety and Depressive Symptom Severity in Children with Anxiety Disorders. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 54, 17–25 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01218-2

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