# Time Lag as a Moderator of Parental Control and SES on Child Anxiety Outcomes

> **NIH NIH F31** · TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $35,554

## Abstract

Project Summary
Roughly one-third (31.8%) of adolescents will be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder1, with as many as 20% of
young children already showing symptoms that will predict problems across their lifetime2,3. Substantial time
and effort have resulted in a growing literature on the development of anxiety in childhood. Multiple contextual
contributors to risk for anxiety problems have been identified, including parental behaviors15,16, developmental
age17, and socioeconomic status18. Parenting behaviors15,19,20, parental control in particular15, and
socioeconomic disadvantage18,21,22, predict increased risk for anxiety problems across development and
comprise a substantial portion of the available literature evaluating the influence of context on childhood
anxiety. Yet, the search continues for precisely how environment-based risk for anxiety unfolds across
childhood, ultimately manifesting in child symptoms12,15. Significant effort has been placed on understanding
the mechanisms of anxiety risk23–25 and how to either treat or modify these mechanisms8,10. Critically, the
timing by which context “gets under the skin” and ultimately results in elevated anxiety in children has been
relatively ignored, perhaps as a result of adopting standard time lags in developmental research (6-12 months
between assessments) and/or the absence of sophisticated statistical techniques that allow for tests of time lag
as a key variable. The absence of such work has likely resulted from limited methods for considering the ways
that temporal lag can moderate effects sizes. The work of this fellowship will include testing the role of
temporal lag in the link between parental control (study aim #1) and SES (study aim #2) and anxiety symptoms
during more and less sensitive periods of development. This work will also provide an important basis for
understanding anxiety development across childhood and inform both subsequent empirical designs and the
development of targeted programs of prevention in schools, homes, and communities.
The current project is designed with an integrated training plan that will prepare the fellowship applicant for a
future career as an independent interdisciplinary researcher. The three overarching training goals are: (1)
Learn to conduct and disseminate work rooted in lag as a moderator meta-analysis (LAMMA), (2) build a
foundational knowledge in adolescent development, and (3) advance Tristin’s professional development to
facilitate an interdisciplinary researcher career. These training goals will effectively prepare the applicant for a
future research career and lay the foundation for future research using LAMMA and examining anxiety
trajectories across childhood as this development is related to contextual factors.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10067132
- **Project number:** 1F31MH124342-01
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Tristin Nyman-Mallis
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $35,554
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10067132

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10067132, Time Lag as a Moderator of Parental Control and SES on Child Anxiety Outcomes (1F31MH124342-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10067132. Licensed CC0.

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