Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Preschoolers' Helping, Sharing, and Comforting: The Moderating Role of Child Attachment

Association between Mothers' Emotional Problems and Autistic Children's Behavioral Problems: The Moderating Effect of Parenting Style

Mothers' emotional problems are associated with autistic children's behavioral problems. We aim to test whether parenting styles moderate associations between mothers' mood symptoms and autistic children's behavioral problems. A sample of 80 mother-autistic child dyads were enrolled at three rehabilitation facilities in Guangzhou, China. The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) were used to collect the autistic symptoms and behavioral problems of the children. Mothers' depression and anxiety symptoms were measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and the General Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale, respectively, and parenting styles were measured using the Parental Behavior Inventory (PBI). Our results show that mothers' anxiety symptoms were negatively associated with their children's prosocial behavior scores (β = -0.26, p < 0.05) but positively related to their social interaction scores (β = 0.31, p < 0.05). Supportive/engaged parenting styles positively moderated the effects of mothers' anxiety symptoms on their prosocial behavior score (β = 0.23, p = 0.026), whereas hostile/coercive parenting styles had a negative moderation (β = -0.23, p = 0.03). Moreover, hostile/coercive parenting styles positivity moderated the effects of mothers' anxiety symptoms on social interaction problems (β= 0.24, p < 0.05). The findings highlight, where mothers adopted a hostile/coercive parenting style while experiencing high anxiety, their autistic child may have more serious behavioral problems.

Pathways to emotion regulation in young Black children: An attachment perspective

Attachment theory proposes that a central function of caregivers is to provide protection and co-regulation of children's distress in the context of threat, and that children's secure attachment (confidence in a secure base/safe haven when needed) precipitates positive developmental cascades in part by supporting children's emotion regulation. Yet the field of attachment has rarely considered the unique experiences of African American families, including the context of systemic racism in which caregivers must provide physical and emotional protection for their children, and in which children must learn to regulate emotion across different sociocultural contexts (emotional flexibility and "code-switching"; Dunbar et al., 2022a; Lozada et al., 2022; Stern et al., 2022b). This chapter brings attachment theory into conversation with the field of positive Black youth development to explore pathways to emotion regulation in African American children during early childhood. In doing so, we (a) highlight the strengths of African American caregivers in providing unique and specific forms of protection via racial and emotional socialization; (b) review research on predictors and consequences of secure caregiver-child relationships in Black families, with a focus on the outcome of child emotion regulation; (c) present a theoretical framework for understanding cascades of positive Black youth development via healthy relationships and emotion regulation; and (d) outline promising new directions for more inclusive and just attachment research.

Parental Self-Compassion and Child Adjustment: The Mediating Role of Parental Depressive Symptoms

Previous research suggests that self-compassion is associated with mental health and well-being. However, little has been done to understand the role of self-compassion in the family context. Hence, the present study investigated the associations between parents’ self-compassion, parent’s depressive symptoms, and child adjustment. A total 189 Chinese parents (101 mothers) whose children were 2–8 years old were recruited to complete a questionnaire, including measures of parents’ self-compassion, depressive symptoms, and children’s prosocial behavior, internalizing problems, and externalizing problems. Findings indicated mediation effects, in that parents’ depressive symptoms mediated the association between their self-compassion and child adjustment outcomes, namely children’s internalizing and externalizing problems, after controlling for the effects of monthly family income, child gender, and parent gender. Competing hypothesis suggested that parents’ self-compassion did not moderate between parents’ depressive symptoms and child adjustment outcomes. Hence, the association between parental depressive symptoms and child adjustment was not dependent on the level of parents’ self-compassion. As an implication, researchers and practitioners should be made aware of the benefits of parents’ self-compassion on parents’ mental health and child adjustment.

Destined for Greatness: A Family-Based Stress Management Intervention for African-American Mothers and their Children

RATIONALE

African-American mothers in the U.S. experience high rates of stress, placing them at risk for depression, anxiety, and preterm births, and their children at risk for poor social-emotional development later in childhood. Yet, few studies have developed and tested family-based interventions that target optimal management of stress in this population.

OBJECTIVE

The current mixed methods study examined whether a six-week family-based intervention (e.g., cognitive behavioral stress management intervention component for mothers and mindfulness-based kindness curriculum for their children) was effective in improving psychosocial outcomes among low-income African-American mothers and increasing prosocial behaviors in their children.

METHOD

Seventy-two mothers (28% pregnant, 72% postpartum) completed pre- and post-intervention assessments of stress, depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy for stress management. Prosocial behaviors for 38 of their children (3-10 years of age) were also assessed via mother's self-report and two observational child assessments of sharing and helping behaviors. Qualitative interviews at post-intervention and reunion focus groups (up to two years later) were also conducted.

RESULTS

Mothers showed significant reductions in perceived stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety, as well as improved self-efficacy for stress management at post-intervention. Although observational assessments of children's sharing and helping behaviors did not change, mothers' qualitative responses indicated improvements in their child's prosocial behaviors at home. Qualitative responses also revealed unique stressors that mothers experienced, the short- and long-term impact of these interventions on mothers and their children, and program recommendations.

CONCLUSIONS

These results support the efficacy of family-based stress management interventions in this at-risk population.

Maternal depressive symptoms and early childhood development: the role of mother-child interactions among mother-child dyads in rural areas of Central and Western China

Background

The associations among maternal depressive symptoms (MDS), mother–child interactions and early child development are poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the role of mother–child interactions on the associations between MDS and child development.

Methods

A cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling method was conducted in rural areas of Central and Western China. MDS, child development outcomes (communication, gross motor function, fine motor function, problem solving and personal social skills) and mother–child interactions were assessed by The Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, the Chinese version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, respectively. Regression-based statistical mediation and moderation were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.

Results

A total of 2,548 participants (mothers: 1,274; children: 1,274) were included in our analyses. MDS was negatively associated with child development outcomes and mother–child interactions partly mediated these associations. The proportion of the mediating effect of mother–child interactions was 7.7% for communication, 8.2% for gross motor, 10.3% for fine motor, 10.1% for problem-solving and 9.5% for personal social domains. In addition, the interaction effects of MDS and mother–child interactions on the communication domain were significant (β = 0.070, 95% CI 0.016, 0.124; p = 0.011). The associations between MDS and child communication abilities were weaker at the high level (simple slope = −0.019, t =  − 0.458, p = 0.647) of mother–child interactions than at the mean level (simple slope = −0.089, t =  − 3.190, p = 0.002) and the low level (simple slope = −0.158, t =  − 4.231, p < 0.001). Similar moderating effects were not observed in the other child development outcomes.

Conclusion

Our results suggest the important role of mother–child interactions on the associations between MDS and early childhood development. Due to the cross-sectional design of this study, these associations require further investigation in prospective studies.

Maternal Depression and Child Externalizing Behaviors: The Role of Attachment Across Development in Low-income Families

Early attachment quality may be a lasting source of vulnerability or protection in children's development. In this study, we examine whether attachment quality at age three moderates the impact of subsequent exposure to maternal depression (at age five or nine) on children's externalizing symptoms at age nine. The sample included 1,917 low-income families (mean child age = 9.28; 55.9% African-American, 20.6% White, 20.0% Latina, 3.5% Other) from the Fragile Families and Child Well Being Study. At age three, 23.9% of children were categorized as insecurely attached based on maternal report of their child's attachment behaviors. At age nine, mothers, teachers, and children reported on the child's externalizing behaviors. Mothers also completed measures of maternal depression at child age three, five, and nine. Controlling for age three externalizing (by maternal report) and age three maternal depression as well as various demographic factors, attachment quality interacted with exposure to subsequent maternal depression in predicting externalizing behaviors at age nine. Interaction effects were evident in mother, teacher, and child report of externalizing. Across all three reporters, exposure to maternal depression was associated with greater externalizing behaviors in children who exhibited insecure attachment behaviors at age three. These findings highlight the potential benefit of interventions to improve early parent-child relationships for families at elevated risk because of maternal mental health.