Parenting an Adolescent: The Case of the Avoidant Highly Sensitive Mother

Abstract

This research examines parental practices of Israeli highly sensitive mothers toward their adolescent children and the role of attachment avoidance as a moderator between the associations of high sensitivity and parenting practices. One hundred and one mother–adolescent dyads completed self-report questionnaires assessing mothers’ degree of high sensitivity, mothers’ adult attachment, and mothers’ parenting practices. Results showed that highly sensitive mothers were described by their adolescent children as inconsistent and intrusive parents. Further, attachment avoidance was found to moderate the association between mothers’ high sensitivity and inconsistent and psychological intrusiveness. Findings suggest that attachment avoidant highly sensitive mothers experience this period of raising adolescents as especially stressful and challenging, which contributes to the practice of negative parenting. Thus, interventions focused on regulating those mothers’ emotions to better cope with parental challenges could buffer negative parenting practices.