Father takes anything if distressed (7)
I believe the answer is:
fraught
'distressed' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'father takes anything' is the wordplay.
'father' becomes 'fr'.
'takes' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'anything' becomes 'aught' (I've seen this before).
'fr'+'aught'='FRAUGHT'
'if' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for fraught that I've seen before include "great anxiety" , "Burdened with anxiety" , "Tension-filled" , "Charged (with); tense" , "Distressed" .)