Children are nearly three times more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety if a parent of the same sex, but not opposite sex, has an anxiety disorder, Canadian psychiatrists have found.

Results from their study, which is the first to document same-sex transmission of anxiety, also point to a stronger association in mother–daughter pairs compared with father–son pairs.

“Treating parents with anxiety disorders may protect their offspring, especially their same-sex offspring, from developing an anxiety disorder regardless of parental mood disorder,” the authors reported in JAMA Network Open.

In their cross-sectional study, the Dalhousie University-led team in Halifax used data from 398 children (mean age 10) and their parents who were involved in a broader family health project.