How can different parenting styles reduce anxiety?

Most parents grasp the fact that the same parenting style does not work on every child.  That being said, in a recent study, researchers found that the correct parenting style matched with a child's personality led to half as many anxiety and depression symptoms in school aged children. However, if they were mismatched, the child had twice as many depression and anxiety symptoms. 

At the end of the three-year study, the researchers found that:

• Children with greater effortful control had fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression compared with other kids in the study, and those symptoms usually remained low regardless of parenting style;
• When children were higher in effortful control but their parents used higher levels of guidance or provided little autonomy, those children showed higher levels of depression and anxiety;
• Children with low effortful control had less anxiety when mothers provided more structuring and less autonomy;
• Children low in effortful control doubled their anxiety symptoms if they had mothers who provided little control.

For some kids, particularly those who have trouble regulating their emotions, more help is good. But for kids who have pretty good self-control, too much parental control can lead to more anxiety and depression.

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology