Examining the Relationship Between Anxiogenic Parenting Practices and Cognitive Flexibility in Youth.

Elle et al. (2018) asked if anxious-making parenting hurts kids' set-shifting skills. They tested youths aged 9 to 17. Most studies look at autism or ADHD; this one looked at general community families.

Parents filled out a survey about pressuring or overprotective behaviors. Kids completed a card-sort task that scores how well they switch rules. The team ran stats to see if anxious parenting predicted worse flexibility.

Anxious parenting did not predict poorer flexibility. Age alone explained almost all the difference in set-shifting scores. Older kids simply performed better, regardless of parenting style.

The null result held for both boys and girls. The authors conclude that, in typical youths, developmental stage outweighs parenting style for this skill.

Harrop et al. (2024) and Baker et al. (2025) seem to disagree. Both found that inflexibility strongly predicts anxiety in autistic teens. Elle's group found no link. The key difference is diagnosis: the positive links appear only in autism, not in the general population.

Memari et al. (2013) supports Elle's focus on age. In autistic children, older kids also made fewer perseverative errors on the same card-sort task. Age matters across groups.

Albein-Urios et al. (2018) used a quasi-experimental design like Elle and also found null results. They tested if ASD traits predict flexibility in neurotypical adults. Together these studies warn that weak or null findings are common when traits are measured in typical samples.

If you work with typically developing clients, don't assume parent coaching alone will boost flexibility. Target the skill directly and expect older clients to progress faster. For autistic clients, keep measuring behavioral rigidity—it does forecast anxiety, so flexibility training can double as anxiety prevention.