Journal of Child and Family Studies https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01598-z ORIGINAL PAPER Child–Mother Reappraisal and Child’s Anxiety Among Anxious and Non-Clinical Groups Nava Wald 1,2,3 ● Yael Tadmor-Zisman 1,4 ● Vered Shenaar-Golan 3 ● Uri Yatzkar 2 ● Tal Carthy 4,5 ● Alan Apter 1,4 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019 Abstract Objectives Reappraisal is a major target of cognitive therapy for anxiety disorders because the absence or a low level of reappraisal ability has been identified among highly anxious adults and children. Not enough is known, however, about the development of this ability, although family processes have been implicated. The current study investigated reappraisal ability of anxious children and their mothers by (1) comparing clinical and non-clinical populations, (2) analyzing reap- praisal correlations and contribution to child anxiety level, and (3) comparing pre-and post-cognitive behavioral therapy. Methods Participants were 49 children with a primary diagnosis of anxiety disorder and 42 children from a non-clinical population and their mothers. The children completed self-report measures of anxiety. Reappraisal ability was measured using a real-time computer test where children and mothers were asked to react to the content of negative valence pictures. The anxiety disorder group was reassessed again following CBT. Results The clinical and non-clinical groups differed significantly on measures of reappraisal. Furthermore, mothers’ and children’s reappraisals were significantly correlated, and both predicted the child’s anxiety level. Following treatment, the mothers, but not the children, showed significant improvement in reappraisal. Conclusions The current study highlights the need to target parent reappraisal as an important factor in the development of child anxiety and reappraisal ability. Keywords Anxiety/Anxiety disorders ● Maternal-child ● Child/Adolescent ● CBT/cognitive behavior therapy ● Cognition Anxiety disorders are common forms of psychopathology in children and adolescents (Polanczyk et al. 2015), Anxious children and adolescents characteristically present exag- gerated levels of fear, worry, physical complaints, and avoidant behaviors (Beesdo et al. 2009). Anxiety disorders are associated with impairment in psychosocial functioning and academic performance (Last et al. 1997; Mychailyszyn et al. 2010) as well as lower self-esteem, decreased well- being, and increased risk for physical illnesses, substance abuse, and other types of psychopathology, especially clinical depression (Bittner et al. 2007). Anxiety disorders do not tend to remit unless treated (Connolly and Bernstein 2007). Child cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been found to be an effective intervention in the treatment of childhood anxiety disorders, with systematic reviews, meta- analyses and research syntheses indicating recovery rates of approximately 60% (James et al. 2013; Seligman and Ollendick 2011; Walkup et al. 2008). The etiology of childhood anxiety disorders has long suggested that both temperamental and environmental (e.g., family emotional environment) factors are associated with development and maintenance of anxiety (Degnan et al. 2010; Rapee 2012; Suveg et al. 2010). Specific family emotional environment variables that have been examined in the context of child anxiety are: parental cognitive biases towards threat and threatening interpretations, which were found to be asso- ciated with the child’s over interpreting threat with con- sequent and exaggerated levels of fear (Creswell et al. 2005; Gifford et al. 2008; Hudson and Rapee 2004; Lester et al. 2010; Turner et al. 2003), parental overprotection and low * Nava Wald nava.wald@gmail.com 1 Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel 2 Ziv Medical Center, Zfat, Israel 3 Tel-Hai College, Qiryat Shemona, Israel 4 Schneider’s Children Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tikva, Israel 5 Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Hertsliya, Israel 1234567890();,: 1234567890();,: