Costina R. PĂSĂRELU, Anca DOBREAN*, Robert BALAZSI,
Ioana R. PODINA, Cristina MOGOAȘE
*anca.dobrean@ubbcluj.ro
Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Abstract
Objective. Despite the fact that worry is a common experience in children, its etiology is underinvestigated. The current study examines the intergenerational transmission of worry from mothers to offspring using a path analysis approach. Design. Four-hundred-and-seventy-seven children and adolescents (age range: 9 to 17 years) and their mothers filled in questionnaires regarding their general level of worry as well as their interpretation biases. Results. Data pointed in the direction of a complex model in which maternal worry is associated with children’s worry either directly, or via unique paths including mothers’ interpretation biases, mothers’ expectancies of children’s interpretations and children’s interpretation biases. Conclusions. These findings suggest that worry could be transmitted across generations via both direct and indirect pathways.
Keywords: worry, interpretation bias, intergenerational transmission
Published online: 2017/03/01
Published print: 2017/03/01
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