Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

PhD

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Tracy L. Morris.

Abstract

The present study examined the association between parenting style and anxiety in children with asthma. Participants included 60 children with asthma and 60 controls, aged 9-12 years. At least one of the children's parents participated. The children and their parents completed self-report measures of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Children reported on their parent's style of parenting, while parent's reported on parent-child relationship quality. Parents and physicians completed asthma severity reports. Results partially replicated previous findings. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) demonstrated that children with asthma obtained significantly higher scores than controls on the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children (MASC). Further, a multiple regression analysis showed that significant beta values emerged for parenting style on MASC scores. A chi-square demonstrated no differences between asthma and control groups on four parenting styles: optimal, neglectful, affectionate restraint, and affectionless control. A MANOVA showed that children with asthma and controls did not differ significantly on the Involvement, Communication, and Autonomy subscales of the PCRI. Implications of this study, including areas to target for prevention and early intervention, are discussed.

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