Anxious Kids With Poor Emotion Regulation May Prompt More Family Accommodation

A study found that anxious children who struggle more with emotional regulation tend to have families that make more changes to ease their anxiety.

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A recent study examined how emotional regulation in children with anxiety relates to the ways families respond to that anxiety. Researchers analyzed assessments from 90 children ages 7 to 17 with anxiety disorders or obsessive-compulsive disorder and their parents. Children with greater anxiety symptoms tended to have families reporting more family accommodation, meaning relatives changed their own behavior to reduce the child’s distress or help the child avoid anxiety-provoking situations. The study also found that poorer emotional regulation was associated with more accommodation even after accounting for anxiety symptoms and demographic factors. Distress tolerance appeared to matter too, with the relationship between anxiety severity and family accommodation stronger among children who had more difficulty tolerating distress. Family accommodation can include repeated reassurance, helping a child avoid feared situations, or changing routines to make anxiety easier to manage. These responses may reduce distress in the short term, but researchers note that reducing accommodation can be a potential treatment target. Importantly, the study used assessments collected at the beginning of a larger treatment study, so its cross-sectional design cannot establish that family accommodation causes anxiety or emotional dysregulation. The relationship may run in both directions, with more severe anxiety also prompting parents to provide more help.

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