Examining pathways linking maternal depressive symptoms in infancy to children’s behavior problems: The role of maternal unresponsiveness and negative behaviors

The extent to which maternal depressive symptoms in the first 6 months of life is linked with internalizing and externalizing behaviors in childhood through specific insensitive maternal behaviors (unresponsive and overtly negative behaviors) was examined in a sample of 259 mother-infant dyads. In addition, the extent to which these paths were moderated by infant negative emotionality was also examined. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed prenatally and when infants were 6 months and 2 years old. Maternal unresponsive and overtly negative behaviors and infant negative emotionality were observed when infants were 6 months old. Mothers reported on infant’s internalizing and externalizing behaviors when infants were 2 years old. Maternal depressive symptoms were directly associated with higher internalizing behaviors; this path was not mediated by maternal behaviors. Depressive symptoms were unrelated to externalizing symptoms. Infant negative emotionality did not moderate these effects, but was related positively to overtly negative maternal behaviors, and temperament interacted with maternal depressive symptoms to predict unresponsive maternal behaviors. Results suggest that early maternal depressive symptoms, infant negative emotionality, and negative maternal behavior pose risk for infants’ later internalizing behaviors, but the proposed moderated mediation model was not supported.     

Implications of Mothers' Personality for Their Parenting and Their Young Children's Developmental Outcomes

ABSTRACT Using.a recent model (Watson, Clark, & Harkness, 1994), we examined implications of mothers' personality ( N = 103) for parenting and children's developmental outcomes, using multiple personality self-reports, lengthy, repeated naturalistic observations, and mothers' reports about-parenting and their child. Mothers high in negative emotionality and disagreeable-ness showed more negative affect and their chidren were more defiant and angry; they also reported more power assertive and less nurturant parenting, as well as less secure attachment, more behavioral problems, and.lower internalizatton of rules in their children. Mothers high in constraint and California Psychological Inventory (CPI) socialization reported more secure attachment and better internalization of rules; CPI socialization also correlated negatively with observed maternal verbal power assertion and children's defiance and anger, and positively with compliance. Regression analyses indicated that mothers' personality, particularly negative emotionality and socialization, influenced broadly conceptualized adaptive child outcomes, even after the influence of parenting was controlled.     

Parenting anxiety and stress: does gender play a part at 3 months of age?

In this study, the authors compared 90 pairs of mothers and fathers with respect to aspects of negative emotionality experienced in the early parenting role. Mothers and fathers of 90 healthy 3-month-old infants completed questionnaires pertaining to parenting stress and separation anxiety. Mothers reported significantly higher levels of negative emotionality than did fathers. An interaction effect of parent with child gender on the level of parenting stress was indicated. Mothers of sons reported more stress than did mothers of daughters. The child's gender was not related to the level of separation anxiety expressed by mothers and fathers. The findings suggested that, at 3 months of age, the child's gender plays a role in the parenting experience, but the impact is (a) moderated by the parent's gender and (b) construct-specific (e.g., stress). These findings are in line with a multidetermined model of parenting.     

On the association of interparental conflict with developing behavioral inhibition and behavior problems in early childhood.

Associations between interparental conflict and the development of temperament characteristics have seldom been addressed; moreover, studies on the impact of interparental conflict on developing behavior problems in infancy and early childhood are relatively rare. The authors therefore aimed to contribute to the study of these issues. A sample of 64 families was investigated longitudinally. At the infant age of 4 months, negative emotionality was measured with a laboratory routine. When infants were 4, 8, and 12 months old, maternal sensitivity was assessed during home observations, and interparental conflict was measured by means of questionnaires. When infants were 30 months old, behavioral inhibition was measured in 2 laboratory fear episodes, and behavior problems were assessed with a structured clinical interview of the primary caregiver. Interparental conflict and infant negative emotionality were significantly and independently associated with subsequent behavioral inhibition. The association of interparental conflict with behavior problems was moderated by infant negative emotionality. Infants high in negative emotionality developed more serious behavior problems when exposed to high interparental conflict, whereas the association was not significant in infants low in negative emotionality.     

Infants' vagal regulation in the still-face paradigm is related to dyadic coordination of mother-infant interaction

The authors investigated relations between mother-infant dyadic coordination and infants' physiological responses. Mothers (N=73) and 3-month-old male and female infants were observed in the still-face paradigm, and mothers' and infants' affective states were coded at 1-s intervals. Synchrony and levels of matching between mother-infant affective states were computed, and infants' heart rate and vagal tone were measured. Infants showed increased negative affect and heart rate and decreased vagal tone during mothers' still-face, indicating physiological regulation of distress. Infants who did not suppress vagal tone during the still-face (nonsuppressors) showed less positive affect, higher reactivity and vagal suppression in normal play and reunion episodes, and lower synchrony in normal play with mothers. The results indicate that infants' physiological regulation in social interaction differs in relation to dyadic coordination of affective behaviors.     

Child negative emotionality and parenting from infancy to preschool: a meta-analytic review

This meta-analytic review (k = 62 studies; N = 7,613 mother-child dyads) shows that effect sizes for the association between child negative emotionality and parenting were generally small and were moderated by sample and measurement characteristics. The association between more child negative emotionality and less supportive parenting was relatively strong in lower socioeconomic status families, reversed in higher socioeconomic status families, and limited to studies with relatively high percentages of participants from ethnic minorities and studies using parent report to assess negative emotionality. Higher levels of child negative emotionality were associated with more restrictive control in samples with less than 75% 1st-born children, as well as in infants and preschoolers, and in studies using parent report or composite measures to assess both negative emotionality and restrictive parenting. Finally, more child negative emotionality was associated with less inductive control.     

Effectiveness of primiparae and multiparae at soothing their newborn infants

To examine the effectiveness of new parents at soothing their infants, the authors filmed primiparae (20 mothers, 20 fathers) and, for comparison, multiparae (25 mothers, 25 fathers) during an interaction with their crying 2- to 3-day-old infants. Data were derived from loudness ratings of the infants' distress signals and by measuring the time it took parents to quiet their infants. In addition, specific parental behaviors were coded by microanalysis. From these data, measures of soothing effectiveness and behavioral profiles were derived. Data analyses showed that most primiparae were effective at soothing their infants' cries and that there were no parity effects on measures of soothing effectiveness. However, mothers, regardless of parity, were more effective at quieting their infants than were fathers, and there were significant differences in mothers' and fathers' caregiving behaviors. These data suggest that primiparae are effective at quickly soothing their newborns and that their skill, as measured, does not depend on parenting experience. Moreover, the data point to significant differences in mothers' and fathers' competence at quieting their newborns whether or not they are experienced at parenting.     

The relations of effortful control and reactive control to children's externalizing problems: a longitudinal assessment

In this study, we examined the role of negative emotionality as a moderator of the relations of effortful control and overcontrol (versus undercontrol) with children's externalizing problem behaviors; we also examined the longitudinal relations among these variables. Teachers' and parents' reports of children's negative emotionality, effortful control, overcontrol and externalizing problem behaviors were obtained at T1 (N=199; M age=89.51 months) and again 2 (T2) and 4 years (T3) later. In addition, children's effortful control was assessed with an observed measure of persistence. In a T3 concurrent structural equation model, effortful control, but not overcontrol, was negatively related to children's T3 externalizing problem behaviors. In regression analyses, the negative relation between T3 effortful control and externalizing problem behaviors was strongest at high levels of T3 negative emotionality. In the best-fitting longitudinal structural equation model, both T1 effortful control and T1 overcontrol negatively predicted externalizing problems at T1, whereas T3 effortful control (but not T3 overcontrol) was significantly negatively related to T3 externalizing problem behaviors when controlling for T1 externalizing problem behaviors.     

Maternal Responsiveness,Intrusiveness, and Negativity During Play with Infants: Contextual Associations and Infant Cognitive Status in A Low‐Income Sample

Maternal parenting behaviors during a mother–infant play interaction were examined in a sample of 160 low‐income mothers and their 15‐month‐old infants. Maternal responsive/didactic, intrusive, and negative behaviors were coded from videotapes and examined in relation to mothers’ age, marital status, stressful life events, and depressive symptoms, and infants’ cognitive scores at 15 and 25 months. Younger maternal age and increases in stressful life events were associated with increases in mothers’ negative behaviors whereas being married was positively associated with mothers’ responsive/didactic behaviors and inversely associated with their negative and intrusive behaviors. Mothers’ depressive symptoms were inversely associated with both responsive/didactic and intrusive behaviors and predicted lower cognitive scores in infants at 15 months, but not 25 months. Maternal responsive/didactic behaviors predicted infant cognitive scores at both ages after controlling for maternal characteristics and other parenting behaviors. Intrusiveness moderated associations between both responsive/didactic and negative parenting behaviors and infant 25‐month cognition. Maternal age, marital status, psychological resources, and contextual sources of stress play a central role in the quality of parenting among low‐income mothers, and positive mother–infant interactions are strong predictors of infants’ early cognitive status.     

Do Early Difficult Temperament and Harsh Parenting Differentially Predict Reactive and Proactive Aggression?

The goal of this study was to examine the links between difficult temperament (i.e., negative emotionality) and harsh parental discipline during toddlerhood, and reactive and proactive aggression in kindergarten. These links were assessed on a longitudinal population-based study of 1516 boys and girls followed longitudinally from the age of 17 months through the age of 72 months. Two possible models were tested to examine the interplay between negative emotionality and harsh parenting in predicting later reactive aggression compared to proactive aggression. The first was an additive model where both aspects make unique contributions in predicting later reactive aggression. The second model was an interactive model where harsh parenting exacerbates the link between negative emotionality and reactive aggression. Results showed a specific contribution of negative emotionality to reactive aggression. The results relative to harsh parenting are more mixed but nonetheless in line with developmental models stressing different pathways to reactive and proactive aggression.     

Infant frontal EEG asymmetry moderates the association between maternal behavior and toddler negative affectivity

Relatively little work has examined potential interactions between child intrinsic factors and extrinsic environmental factors in the development of negative affect in early life. This work is important because high levels of early negative affectivity have been associated with difficulties in later childhood adjustment. We examined associations between infant frontal electroencephalogram (EEG), maternal parenting behaviors, and children’s negative affect across the first two years of life. Infant baseline frontal EEG asymmetry was measured at 5 months; maternal sensitivity and intrusiveness were observed during mother-child interaction at 5 and 24 months; and mothers provided reports of toddler negative affect at 24 months. Results indicated that maternal sensitive behaviors at 5 months were associated with less negative affect at 24 months, but only for infants with left frontal EEG asymmetry. Similarly, maternal sensitive behaviors at 24 months were associated with less toddler negative affect at 24 months, but only for infants with left frontal EEG asymmetry. In contrast, maternal intrusive behaviors at 5- and 24-months were associated with greater toddler negative affect, but only for infants with right frontal EEG asymmetry at 5-months. Findings suggest that levels of negative affect in toddlers may be at least partially a result of interactions between children’s own early neurophysiological functioning and maternal behavior during everyday interactions with children in the first two years of life.     

Dyadic parent-child interaction during early childhood: contributions of parental and child personality traits

Individual differences in personality play a major role for functioning in a multitude of important life domains, including one's interpersonal relationships. The present study examined the effects of parental personality and child temperament traits on dyadic parent-child interaction during early childhood. Participants were a community sample of 145 mothers, 145 fathers, and their 3- to 6-year-old children. Child traits were assessed using standardized laboratory paradigms, parents reported on their own traits, and parent-child interaction was assessed observationally. Parental positive emotionality, negative emotionality, and constraint subtraits were related to parental responsiveness; the number and type of parental bids and the quality of parental responsiveness were also a function of child positive emotionality and effortful control subtraits and, for mothers, child negative emotionality subtraits. Child traits were related to their own interaction behaviors; children higher on positive emotionality subtraits made more social bids, and children higher on effortful control subtraits made more influence attempts and fewer negative bids; child positive emotionality and effortful control subtraits were associated with higher quality child responsiveness. Findings speak to coherence in personality constructs across the life span, with comparable traits measured in adults and early childhood-aged children demonstrating remarkably consistent effects on dyadic interaction behavior.     

Parenting style as a mediator between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior in early childhood

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the difficult temperament concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting style (authoritative and authoritarian) in a community sample of 196 3-year-old children and their mothers. The authors assessed maternal perception of child negative emotionality using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (M. K. Rothbart, S. A. Ahadi, K. L. Hershey, & P. Fisher, 2001) and assessed problematic child behavior by means of maternal report using the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1992). The results showed that the relations between child negative emotionality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were partially mediated by mothers' authoritative parenting style. Moreover, when the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to decontaminate possible overlap in item content between measures assessing temperament and problematic behavior, the association between negative emotionality and internalizing behavior was fully mediated by authoritative parenting.     

Empathy and parenthood: The moderating role of maternal trait empathy on parental burnout

The ability to empathize with others enables us to effectively interact with each other and may have specifically evolved to support parental roles and caregiving. The relationship between parenting and trait empathy is little understood as previous research focused on empathy exclusively in the context of parenting, for example parental sensitivity. Here we aimed to understand how trait empathy may moderate the association between child's negative emotionality and parental burnout. Two cohorts were examined (1) parents of infants (10–18 months old; N = 203) and (2) parents of children (3–10 years old, N = 201). Parents filled out a battery of online questionnaires assessing maternal empathy, parental burnout and child temperament. We found that the relationship between higher levels of negative emotionality and parental burnout is moderated by specific aspects of maternal emotional empathy. Our findings suggest that maternal emotional empathy acts as a buffer against parental burnout when faced with a child's characteristics that incur higher parental demands.     

Vocabularies

Negative emotionality is considered to be the core of the difficult temperament concept (J. E. Bates, 1989; R. L. Shiner, 1998). In this correlational study, the authors examined whether the relations between children's negative emotionality and problematic behavior (internalizing and externalizing) were partially mediated by parenting style (authoritative and authoritarian) in a community sample of 196 3-year-old children and their mothers. The authors assessed maternal perception of child negative emotionality using the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (M. K. Rothbart, S. A. Ahadi, K. L. Hershey, &; P. Fisher, 2001) and assessed problematic child behavior by means of maternal report using the Child Behavior Checklist (T. M. Achenbach, 1992). The results showed that the relations between child negative emotionality and internalizing and externalizing behaviors were partially mediated by mothers' authoritative parenting style. Moreover, when the authors used confirmatory factor analysis to decontaminate possible overlap in item content between measures assessing temperament and problematic behavior, the association between negative emotionality and internalizing behavior was fully mediated by authoritative parenting.     

Personality, family history, and competence in early adult romantic relationships

The present investigation tested how well family characteristics and the personality traits assessed by the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (A. Tellegen, 1982) measured in late adolescence predict aspects of romantic relationships in early adulthood. Nurturant-involved parenting practices and personality traits were related to observed negative interactions and to couples' reports of relationship quality. These results from a prospective longitudinal study suggest that the origins of competence in romantic relationships can be found both in individual differences in personality (especially in negative emotionality) and in differences in developmental experiences. Discussion further develops an account of relationship success and dysfunction that integrates proximal factors, such as couple interactions, with more distal factors such as personality and socialization experiences.     

Maternal and Infant Temperament Characteristics as Contributors to Parenting Stress in the First Year Postpartum

Although prominent models emphasize that maternal, child, and situational variables are associated with parenting stress, previous research has often neglected to examine associations between maternal and infant temperament characteristics and stress experienced in the parenting role. Additionally, while predictors of global parenting stress have been examined, predictors of stress related to specific aspects of the parenting role have been largely unexplored. The present study examined maternal and infant temperament characteristics as predictors of parenting stress, both globally and specifically. Mothers (n = 159) completed measures of depressive and anxiety symptoms and a measure of adult temperament when their infants were 4 months old. At 6 months postpartum, caregivers completed a measure of infant temperament, and at 8 months postpartum, a measure of parenting stress. Results indicated that maternal effortful control and infant negative emotionality predicted global maternal parenting stress. Additionally, all maternal and infant temperament variables, with the exception of maternal negative affectivity and infant surgency/extraversion, were uniquely predictive of at least one specific aspect of parenting‐related stress. Findings emphasize the importance of considering maternal and infant temperament characteristics as contributors to parenting stress in the first year postpartum. Implications of these findings for future research and intervention are discussed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mothers’ self-reported emotion dysregulation: A potentially valid method in the field of infant mental health

In the current study, we evaluated the extent to which mothers reported emotion dysregulation on the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (DERS) (a) converged with physiological indices of emotion dysregulation while parenting, (b) correlated with maternal sensitivity, and (c) predicted infant attachment disorganization and behavior problems in a sample of 259 mothers and their infants. When infants were 6 months old, mothers’ physiological arousal and regulation were measured during parenting tasks and mothers completed the DERS. Maternal sensitivity was observed during distress-eliciting tasks when infants were 6 and 14 months old. Infant attachment disorganization was assessed during the Strange Situation when infants were 14 months old and mothers reported on infants’ behavior problems when infants were 27 months old. Mothers who reported greater emotion regulation difficulties were more physiologically dysregulated during stressful parenting tasks and also showed lower levels of maternal sensitivity at 6 months. Mother-reported dysregulation predicted higher likelihood of infant attachment disorganization and more behavior problems. Results suggest that the DERS is a valid measure of maternal emotional dysregulation and may be a useful tool for future research and intervention efforts aimed toward promoting positive parenting and early child adjustment.     

Predicting toddler temperamental approach-withdrawal: Contributions of early approach tendencies,parenting behavior,and contextual novelty

Research suggests that temperamental approach-withdrawal is subject to parenting influences, but few studies have explored how specific parenting behaviors and contextual novelty contribute to the observed pattern of effects. The present study examined associations between infant temperamental approach, mother behavior while introducing novel objects (12 months) and temperamental approach-withdrawal in toddlerhood (18 months) in a sample of 132 infants (68 males). Maternal positive affect predicted more toddler approach-withdrawal for high-approach infants and maternal stimulation predicted less toddler approach-withdrawal for low-approach infants; however, these patterns varied with intensity of novelty in both parenting and toddler outcome contexts. Thus, maternal behavior may lead to stronger associations between earlier and later measures of approach-withdrawal; however, these effects are tied to contexts of measurement.