New research reveals that how parents respond to their own anxiety can have a measurable impact on their teenager’s brain—especially during emotionally charged moments.

We all know that kids pick up habits from their parents—speech patterns, attitudes, even emotional responses. But a groundbreaking study published in Development and Psychopathology shows this goes deeper than we thought. It turns out that a parent’s anxiety sensitivity—the fear of physical symptoms associated with anxiety, like a racing heart or shallow breathing—can actually shape how their child’s brain responds to stress.

What Is Anxiety Sensitivity?

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is different from general anxiety. It’s not just about feeling anxious—it’s the fear of the physical symptoms that come with anxiety. People with high AS might worry that their pounding heart is a sign of something serious or that feeling dizzy means they’ll faint. This hyper-focus on bodily sensations can fuel a cycle of fear and avoidance.

AS tends to run in families, but until now, we didn’t fully understand how it might influence kids neurologically—especially during their critical developmental years.

Inside the Study: Teen Brains Under the fMRI

Researchers from the University of Delaware and University of Nebraska-Lincoln studied 146 adolescents (average age 12) and their parents—mostly moms.

Here’s what they did:

  • Both parents and teens filled out anxiety sensitivity questionnaires.
  • Teens then underwent brain scans while viewing emotionally neutral and negative images.
  • During these scans, teens were asked to either:
    • “React” naturally to the images, or
    • “Regulate” their emotions using distancing techniques (e.g., “This image doesn’t affect me”).

This setup allowed researchers to measure how the teens’ brains responded both emotionally and cognitively.

The Results: A Parent’s Sensitivity, A Teen’s Brain Response

1. Parental AS → Greater Brain Activity During Emotional Reactivity

Teens with high-AS parents showed heightened activation in key areas of the brain:

  • Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (dlPFC) – involved in attention and planning
  • Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) – plays a role in emotional conflict monitoring
  • Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC) – associated with decision-making and emotion evaluation

This means that teens may be unconsciously mirroring their parent’s emotional hypervigilance.

2. Emotional Regulation Is Less Affected

Interestingly, when teens tried to regulate their emotions using distancing strategies, the impact of parental AS was less pronounced—except in one area (right OFC), which flipped its activation pattern depending on whether the teen was reacting or regulating.

3. Teen AS Doesn’t Explain It All

Even after accounting for the adolescent’s own anxiety sensitivity, parental AS still significantly predicted how their teen’s brain responded—highlighting just how powerful the parent-child emotional dynamic can be.

Why This Matters

This study gives scientific weight to something many therapists, teachers, and parents have suspected for years: our emotional habits are contagious—especially within families.

Children of anxiety-sensitive parents may develop a sort of emotional radar, becoming more sensitive to distressing stimuli and more likely to engage in over-monitoring or overreacting to emotional situations. Over time, this can increase their risk for anxiety disorders.

What Parents Can Do

If you’re a parent who tends to worry about physical symptoms of anxiety, here are a few ways to help reduce the impact on your child:

  • Practice self-awareness: Notice how you respond to stress or bodily discomfort.
  • Model calm coping: Use relaxation techniques and talk openly about managing feelings.
  • Encourage emotional conversations: Help your child name and regulate their emotions.
  • Consider parent-focused interventions: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or mindfulness training can be valuable tools.

Remember: It’s not about being perfect—it’s about being present and intentional.

Final Thoughts

Your emotional habits don’t just affect you—they ripple outward. This new research underscores how important it is for parents to recognize and manage their own anxiety sensitivity—not only for their well-being but for their children’s developing brains.

The next time you take a deep breath to calm yourself, know that you might be helping your child’s brain grow a little stronger, too.

Source:
Church, L. D., Bounoua, N., Stumps, A., Matyi, M. A., & Spielberg, J. M. (2024). Examining the unique contribution of parent anxiety sensitivity on adolescent neural responses during an emotion regulation task. Development and Psychopathology. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579424000219