Associations of family functioning and parental styles with anxiety symptoms among high grade primary school students / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the prevalence of anxiety symptoms among high grade primary school students in Guangzhou and their correlation with family functioning and parental parenting styles, so as to provide theoretical basis and guidance for family based interventions for children s anxiety symptoms.@*Methods@#From June to September 2022, a multi stage cluster random sampling method was employed to select 5 396 students from grades 4 to 6 in 13 primary schools in Guangzhou. The Family Functioning Assessment Scale for Children, Parental Bonding Instrument, and Spence Children s Anxiety Scale Short Version were used for the survey. Inter group comparison was analysed by t test or analysis of variance. Linear regression analysis was used to explore the effects of family function and parental parenting styles on anxiety symptoms in primary school students.@*Results@#The average score for anxiety symptoms among high grade primary school students in Guangzhou was (11.63±10.88). In terms of parenting styles, mothers scored higher than fathers in the dimensions of "care" (25.63±4.92) and "control" (5.08±2.58) compared to fathers ( 24.74± 5.50, 5.00±2.51) ( t =15.80, 4.21, P <0.01). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the scores of parents on the dimension of "encouragement of independence"（12.98±4.06,13.05±3.95)( t =-1.77， P >0.05）. After adjusting for general demographic characteristics, the results of linear regression analysis showed that primary school students family functioning ( B =0.47) and parental "control" ( B =0.67, 0.75) were positively associated with anxiety symptoms scores ( P <0.01). Meanwhile, parental "care" ( B =-0.53,-0.55) and "encouragement of independence" ( B =-0.62,-0.68) were negatively associated with anxiety symptom scores ( P <0.01). These associations remained statistically significant even after further adjusting for family functioning ( P <0.01).@*Conclusions@#Family functioning, parenting styles are closely associated with anxiety symptoms among high grade primary school students. Positive family functioning and parenting styles may mitigate childhood anxiety symptoms, whereas excessive parental control may increase the risk of childhood anxiety symptoms.