The relationship between paternal anxiety and risky play in childhood: does child anxiety mediate this relationship?

Parental facilitation of exploration in childhood through play activities has been shown to be different for mothers and fathers, with fathers tending to encourage risky play behaviour more than mothers. Furthermore, risky play behaviour in children has been linked to positive child developmental outcomes. Given that parental anxiety has been shown to negatively impact upon the parent-child relationship, it is possible that paternal anxiety may have a detrimental effect on risky play behaviour in children. This study investigates the relationship between paternal anxiety and child risky play behaviour and anxiety in 42 children aged 17-25 months. Results demonstrated that paternal anxiety is related to risky play behaviour and child anxiety, but has different effects depending on the gender of the child. Paternal anxiety facilitates risky play behaviour for girls, but inhibits it for boys. The implications of this study including early intervention for families with parental psychopathology are discussed.