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An Investigation of Control Among Parents of Selectively Mute, Anxious, and Non-Anxious Children

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Abstract

The authors examined parent–child interactions among three groups: selectively mute, anxious, and non-anxious children in different contexts. The relation between parental control (granting autonomy and high power remarks), child factors (i.e., age, anxiety, verbal participation), and parent anxiety was investigated. Parental control varied by context but parents of children with SM were more controlling than parents in the comparison groups in all contexts. Regression analyses indicated that child and parent anxiety predicted parental control, with increased anxiety associated with increased control. Older child age predicted less parent control. Group categorization moderated the relation between age and high power remarks, such that age was not a significant predictor for children with SM. Finally child-initiated speaking predicted high power remarks over and above other variables. These results support previous theories that parents take over for their children when they fail to meet performance demands, especially when the child or parent is anxious.

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Notes

  1. With the highest income earners removed from the no-anxiety group (such that there were no significant differences in income levels between groups), all analyses were re-calculated. No differences were found in the pattern or significance of results.

  2. Spontaneous speaking was chosen as the verbal participation variable, as correlations were stronger with this variable in comparison to total speaking.

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Acknowledgments

This paper is based on the first author’s Ph.D. thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Guelph. This research was supported by a grant from the Ontario Mental Health Foundation. We thank Lindsay Bennett, Jenny Macsween, Sue McKee, Renee Nossal, and Chantal Regis for their assistance with data collection; Cristina Andreescu, Nila Mulpuru, and Gillian Stanley for their assistance with observational coding; and Yvonne Chen and Diana Urajnik for their assistance with statistical analyses. Finally, we thank the families who participated in this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Shannon C. Edison, Angela E. McHolm, Charles E. Cunningham & Michael Boyle

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada

    Mary Ann Evans

  3. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Matilda E. Nowakowski & Louis A. Schmidt

  4. Child and Youth Mental Health Program, Chedoke Site, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton, ON, L8N 3Z5, Canada

    Shannon C. Edison

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  1. Shannon C. Edison
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  2. Mary Ann Evans
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  3. Angela E. McHolm
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  4. Charles E. Cunningham
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  5. Matilda E. Nowakowski
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  6. Michael Boyle
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  7. Louis A. Schmidt
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Correspondence to Shannon C. Edison.

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Edison, S.C., Evans, M.A., McHolm, A.E. et al. An Investigation of Control Among Parents of Selectively Mute, Anxious, and Non-Anxious Children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 42, 270–290 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-010-0214-1

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