Anxiety Sensitivity Among Children of Parents With Anxiety Disorders: A Controlled High-Risk Study

When a parent has a mental health disorder, it may affect the environment in which children live, which may have certain effects on the children. Researchers interviewed 340 children and their parents with and without mood disorders, anxiety disorders, or both to evaluate whether parental mental health status predisposed children to elevated anxiety sensitivity. Results suggested that parental psychopathology did not predispose children to anxiety sensitivity.