4. Discussion
The purpose of the present study was threefold: to examine the association between challenging parenting behaviour and childhood anxiety in both fathers and mothers; to examine the relationship between parent anxiety and challenging parenting behavior; and additionally, to consider the potential effects of child gender on these relationships. Overall, the findings showed that fathers reported more challenging parenting behaviour than mothers. For fathers, challenging parenting behaviour was associated with lower report of child anxiety, although only at the symptom level. For mothers, significant relationships were found between challenging parenting behaviour and child anxiety at both symptom and diagnostic levels; more challenging parenting behaviour was associated with less child anxiety. Contrary to expectations, no significant association was found between parents anxiety and challenging parenting behaviour. Additionally, child gender did not moderate the association between challenging parenting behaviour and children's anxiety.