Effects of early maternal distress and parenting on the development of children's self-regulation and externalizing behavior

Abstract

Emotional distress experienced by mothers increases young children's risk of externalizing problems through suboptimal parenting and child self-regulation. An integrative structural equation model tested hypotheses that mothers' parenting (i.e., low levels of inductive discipline and maternal warmth) would mediate adverse effects of early maternal distress on child effortful control, which in turn would mediate effects of maternal parenting on child externalizing behavior. This longitudinal study spanning ages 3, 6, and 10 included 241 children, mothers, and a subset of teachers. The hypothesized model was partially supported. Elevated maternal distress was associated with less inductive discipline and maternal warmth, which in turn were associated with less effortful control at age 3 but not at age 6. Inductive discipline and maternal warmth mediated adverse effects of maternal distress on children's effortful control. Less effortful control at ages 3 and 6 predicted smaller relative decreases in externalizing behavior at 6 and 10, respectively. Effortful control mediated effects of inductive discipline, but not maternal warmth, on externalizing behavior. Findings suggest elevated maternal distress increases children's risk of externalizing problems by compromising early parenting and child self-regulation.

Interaction processes as a mediating factor between children's externalized behaviour difficulties and engagement in preschool

“…Children's engagement must be seen in the light of the dynamic interaction between the characteristics of the individual child -i.e. behaviour, temperament, gender, biological age, mother tongue, cognitive level (Beijers, RiksenWalraven, Putnam, de Jong, & de Weerth, 2013) -and social interactions with peers and teachers (Birch & Ladd, 1998;Choe, Olson, & Sameroff, 2013). For effective child development to take place, positive interactions need to occur fairly often over an extended period of time (Bronfenbrenner & Evans, 2000).…”

Effect of Prematurity, Birthweight, Maternal Stress, Socio-economic Status, and Mother-Child Intimacy on the Development of Preschool Children in Surakarta

“…Stres pada ibu menyebabkan anak mengalami tekanan emosional sehingga anak lebih tergantung pada orang lain dan lebih besar mengalami gangguan asosiatif. Penelitian ini sejalan dengan penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Choe et al, (2013), yang menyatakan bahwa stres yang dialami ibu berhubungan dengan kehangatan yang diciptakan oleh ibu yang nantinya akan mempengaruhi kedekatan yang terjalin pada ibu dan anak.…”

Diversity in Unity: Perspectives from Psychology and Behavioral Sciences

“…However, a contradictory result is shown by Choe, Olson, and Sameroff (2013) who found that maternal stress is mediated by inductive discipline and maternal warmth and does not correlate directly with children's emotion regulation. Nevertheless, all of those studies only involved low-middle SES families in the US, and most of the participants are of African-American, European-American, and Hispanic origins.…”

“…The mothers tend to be more controlling, give negative feedbacks, and show aggressive behaviors towards their children (Rice, 1999;Blandon, Calkins, Keane & O'Brien, 2008). Maternal stress also correlates with less warmth and inductive discipline techniques during a mother-child interaction (Choe, Olson & Sameroff, 2013).…”