Patterns of Associations Between Maternal Symptoms and Child Problem Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Mentalization, Neg
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Patterns of Associations Between Maternal Symptoms and Child Problem Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Mentalization, Negative Intentionality, and Unsupportive Emotion Socialization Gizem Arikan1 · Asiye Kumru1
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract We examined how maternal depression, anxiety, hostility, mentalization, negative intentionality (NI), and unsupportive emotion socialization (UES) predict child internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors (CIEPB). Mothers (N = 537) of toddlers (Mage = 23.26 months, Range 10–44 months) completed the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, the Infant Intentionality Questionnaire, the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale, and the Child Behavior Checklist. All maternal symptoms negatively predicted mentalization and positively predicted NI, UES, and CIEPB. NI and UES mediated the relationship between maternal symptoms and CIEPB. Negative intentionality mediated the link between maternal hostility and internalizing behaviors, indicating a possible intervention area. Mentalization had an effect on externalizing behaviors only for high-SES, anxious mothers, underscoring the role of SES. Thus, the relationship between maternal symptoms, cognitive and behavioral parenting characteristics and CIEPB supports the multifinality principle for early childhood psychopathology development and shows the importance of screening for maternal symptoms and CIEPB. Keywords Maternal symptoms · Mentalization · Negative intentionality · Unsupportive emotion socialization · Child problem behaviors Early childhood problem behaviors are known to be the first indicators of adjustment issues [1, 2], which are leading factors in the development of various psychological problems such as depression [3], substance abuse, and anxiety [4]. Two categories of problem behaviors have been extensively explored—namely, internalizing and externalizing behaviors [5]. Externalizing behaviors involve aggressive behaviors and hyperactivity in children, triggered by anger, fear, and frustration, whereas internalizing behaviors typically indicate anxiety and depression in the form of social withdrawal and fearfulness [5]. These problem behaviors become detectable from as early as 12 months [6, 7] and are likely
* Gizem Arikan [email protected] Asiye Kumru [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology, Ozyegin University, Nisantepe Mah. Orman Sok. Cekmekoy, Istanbul, Turkey
to persist from early childhood [8] into adolescence [9] and adulthood [10]. A wide array of environmental factors and parental characteristics, such as personality [11] and parenting behaviors can contribute to the complexity of child development [12] and the occurrence of problem behaviors. Individual differences in parental psychopathology, cognitions about parenting, and emotion socialization are highly salient factors in child development. In the relevant literature, parental psychopathology, cognitions, and so
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