Psychological Development and Education ›› 2023, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (5): 702-709.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2023.05.11

Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Relationship between Maternal Parenting Stress and Preschool Children's Anxiety: The Mediating Effect of Mother-child Conflict and the Moderating Effect of Maternal Mindfulness

WANG Yingjie1, LUAN Jinxin2, LI Yan2   

  1. 1. School of Teacher Education, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000;
    2. Shanghai Early Childhood Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234
  • Published:2023-09-11
  • Supported by:
    The project was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFC1905301);National Natural Science Foundation of China (22078115,21776108,21690083,22008078).

RichHTML

PDF (PC)

Abstract: This study selected 480 mothers of 4~6-year-old children from four public kindergartens in Shanghai, and we used a series of questionnaires to explore the relationship between mother's parenting stress and preschool children's anxiety, as well as the role of parent-child relationship and maternal mindfulness. The results show that: (1) mother's parenting stress significantly positively predicts preschool children's anxiety; (2) parent-child conflict plays a mediating role between mother's parenting stress and preschool children's anxiety; (3) maternal mindfulness moderates the relationship between parenting stress and preschool children's anxiety and parent-child conflict in the mediation model, that is, at a high level of mindfulness, maternal parenting stress has less effect on children's anxiety through parent-child conflict, and maternal parenting stress has also less effect on preschool children's anxiety. The results reveal the mechanism of maternal parenting stress on preschool children's anxiety, it provides a theoretical basis for practical intervention from the perspective of family context in the future.

Key words: mothers, parenting stress, preschool children's anxiety, parent-child conflict, mindfulness

CLC Number: 

  • B844
Abidin, R. R., & Brunner, J. F. (1995). Development of a Parenting Alliance Inventory. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 24(1), 31-40.
Anthony, L., Anthony, B., Glanville, D., Naiman, D., Waanders, C., & Shaffer, S. L. (2005). The relationships between parenting stress, parenting behaviour and preschoolers' social competence and behaviour problems in the classroom. Infant and Child Development, 14(2), 133-154.
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness.Assessment, 13(1), 27-45.
Barlow, D. H. (2002).Anxiety and its disorders: The nature and treatment of anxiety and panic (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Bayer, J., & Sanson, A. (2003). Preventing thedevelopment of emotional mental health problems from early childhood: Recent advances in the field. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 5(3), 4-16.
Bögels, S. M., Hellemans, J., Deursen, S. V., Römer, M., & Meulen, R. T. (2014). Mindful parenting in mental health care: Effects on parental and child psychopathology, parental stress, parenting, coparenting, and marital functioning. Mindfulness, 5(5), 536-551.
Bradford, A. B., Burningham, K. L., Sandberg, J., & Johnson, L. N. (2017). The association between the parent-child relationship and symptoms of anxiety and depression: The roles of attachment and perceived spouse attachment behaviors. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 43(2), 291-307.
Bränström, R., Duncan, L., & Moskowitz, J. (2011). The association between dispositional mindfulness, psychological well-being, and perceived health in a Swedish population-based sample.British Journal of Health Psychology, 16 (Pt 2), 300-316.
Bronfenbrenner,U. (1979). Contexts of child rearing: problems and prospects. American Psychologist, 34(10), 844-850.
Chan, T. O., & Lam, S. F. (2017). Mediator or moderator? The role of mindfulness in the association between child behavior problems and parental stress.Research in Developmental Disabilities, 70, 1-10.
Choi, J. K., & Becher, E. H. (2019). Supportive coparenting, parenting stress, harsh parenting, and child behavior problems in nonmarital families. Family Process, 58(2), 404-417.
Cox, M., & Paley, B. (1997). Families as systems.Annual Review of Psychology, 48(1), 243-243.
Daundasekara, S. S., Beauchamp, J. E., & Hernandez, D. C. (2021). Parenting stress mediates the longitudinal effect of maternal depression on child anxiety/depressive symptoms.Journal of Affective Disorders, 295, 33-39.
Deng, Y. Q., Liu, X. H., Rodriguez, M. A., & Xia, C. Y. (2011). The five facet mindfulness questionnaire: Psychometric properties of the Chinese version.Mindfulness, 2(2), 123-128.
Denham, S.A., Mitchell-Copeland, J., Strandberg, K., Auerbach, S., & Blair, K. (1997). Parental contributions to preschoolers' emotional competence: Direct and indirect effects.Motivation and Emotion, 21(1), 65-86.
Dennis, M. L., Neece, C. L., & Fenning, R. M. (2018). Investigating the influence of parenting stress on child behavior problems in children with developmental delay: The role of parent-child relational factors. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2(2), 129-141.
Dunbar, J. P., Mckee, L., Rakow, A., Watson, K. H., Forehand, R., & Compas, B. E. (2013). Coping, negative cognitive style and depressive symptoms in children of depressed parents. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 37(1), 18-28.
Egger, H. L., & Angold, A. (2006). Common emotional and behavioral disorders in preschool children: Presentation, nosology, and epidemiology.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatrby, 47(3-4), 313-337.
Garland, E., Gaylord, S., & Park, J. (2009). The role of mindfulness in positive reappraisal.Explore, 5(1), 37-44.
Gouveia, M. J., Carona, C., Canavarro, M. C., & Moreira, H. (2016). Self-compassion and dispositional mindfulness are associated with parenting styles and parenting stress: The mediating role of mindful parenting. Mindfulness, 7(3), 700-712.
Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J., & Rapson, R. L. (1993). Emotional contagion.Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2(3), 96-100.
Hayes, A. F. (2013).Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989). Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. The American Psychologist, 44(3), 513-524.
Kerns, K. A., Mathews, B. L., Koehn, A. J., Williams, C. T., & Siener-Ciesla, S. (2015). Assessing both safe haven and secure base support in parent-child relationships. Attachment & Human Development, 17(4), 1-17.
Laible, D. J., Carlo, G., & Raffaelli, M. (2000). The differential relations of parent and peer attachment to adolescent adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 29(1), 45-59.
Liu, L., & Wang, M. (2015). Parenting stress and children's problem behavior in China: The mediating role of parental psychological aggression.Journal of Family Psychology, 29(1), 8-20.
Maalouf, F. T., Haidar, R., Mansour, F., Elbejjani, M., El Khoury, J., Khoury, B., & Ghandour, L. (2022). Anxiety, depression and PTSD in children and adolescents following the Beirut port explosion.Journal of Affective Disorders, 302, 58-65.
Middlebrook, J. L., & Forehand, R. (1985). Maternal perceptions of deviance in child behavior as a function of stress and clinic versus nonclinic status of the child: An analogue study. Behavior Therapy, 16(5), 494-502.
Miller-Perrin, C., Perrin, R., & Kocur, J. (2009). Parental physical and psychological aggression: Psychological symptoms in young adults.Child Abuse & Neglect, 33(1), 1-11.
Ortiz, R. M. R., & Barnes, J. (2018). Temperament, parental personality and parenting stress in relation to socio-emotional development at 51 months.Early Child Development and Care, 189(12), 1978-1991.
Parent, J., McKee, L. G., Anton, M., González, M. A., Jones, D. J., & Forehand, R. (2016). Mindfulness in parenting and coparenting. Mindfulness, 7(2), 504-513.
Shapiro, S. L., Oman, D., Thoresen, C. E., Plante, T. G., & Flinders, T. (2008). Cultivating mindfulness: Effects on well-being. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(7), 840-862.
Siu, A., Ma, Y., & Chui, F. W. (2016). Maternal mindfulness and child social behavior: The mediating role of the mother-child relationship. Mindfulness, 7(3), 577-583.
Spence, S. H., Rapee, R. M., McDonald, C., & Ingram, M. (2001). The structure of anxiety symptoms among preschoolers. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 39(11), 1293-1316.
Stone, L. L., Mares, S. H. W., Otten, R., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Janssens, J. M. A. M. (2016). The co-development of parenting stress and childhood internalizing and externalizing problems.Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 38(1), 76-86.
Tsotsi, S., Broekman, B. F., Shek, L. P., Tan, K. H., Chong, Y. S., Chen, H.,& Rifkin-Graboi, A. E. (2019). Maternal parenting stress, child exuberance, and preschoolers’ behavior problems. Child Development, 90(1), 136-146.
Wang,M., Wang, X., & Liu, L. (2016). Paternal and maternal psychological and physical aggression and children's anxiety in China. Child Abuse & Neglect, 51, 12-20.
Weeks, M., Coplan, R. J., & Kingsbury, A. (2009). The correlates and consequences of early appearing social anxiety in young children. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 23(7), 965-972.
Xing, X., & Wang, M. (2013). Sex differences in the reciprocal relationships between mild and severe corporal punishment and children's internalizing problem behavior in a Chinese sample.Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 34(1), 9-16.
Yeh, C. H., Chen, M. L., Li, W., & Chuang, H. L. (2001). The Chinese version of the parenting stress index: A psychometric study.Acta Paediatrica, 90(12), 1470-1477.
Zhu, J., Ooi, L. L., Li, Y., Coplan, R. J., Xie, Q., Zhang, Y., & Xu, P. (2017). Concomitants and outcomes of anxiety in Chinese kindergarteners: A one-year longitudinal study.Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 52, 24-33.
Zvara, B., Mills-Koonce, W. R., Heilbron, N., Clincy, A. R., & Cox, M. (2015). The interdependence of adult relationship quality and parenting behaviours among African American and European couples in rural, low-income communities. Infant and Child Development, 24(3), 343-363.
高鑫,丁碧蕾, 冯姝慧, 邢淑芬. (2018). 父母心理控制和儿童消极情绪性对学前儿童问题行为的共同作用:“素质-压力”还是“差别易感性”. 心理发展与教育, 34(1), 28-37.
侯莉敏, 罗兰兰, 吴慧源. (2019). 祖辈教养方式与农村留守幼儿问题行为的关系:师幼关系的调节作用. 学前教育研究, (7), 54-68.
宋煜静. (2021). 父母教养压力对儿童青少年问题行为的影响:有调节的中介模型 (硕士学位论文).山西大学, 太原.
陈语, 赵鑫, 黄俊红, 陈思佚, 周仁来. (2011). 正念冥想对情绪的调节作用:理论与神经机制. 心理科学进展, 19(10), 1502-1510.
刘俊升, 季晓芹, 李丹. (2014). 夫妻冲突对儿童心理适应的影响:教养行为的中介效应. 心理研究, 7(1), 51-58.
刘亚鹏, 邓慧华, 张光珍, 梁宗保, 陆祖宏. (2015). 父母养育压力对儿童问题行为的影响:养育方式的中介作用. 心理发展与教育, 31(3), 319- 326.
申青慧. (2014). 亲子关系与幼儿抗挫折能力的相关研究(硕士学位论文). 西南大学, 重庆.
汪芬, 黄宇霞. (2011). 正念的心理和脑机制. 心理科学进展, 19(11), 1635-1644.
王美芳, 赵金霞, 白文. (2009). 学前儿童焦虑量表中文版的测量学分析. 中国临床心理学杂志, 17(1), 21-23.
王萌孟, 张清瑶, 任立文, 徐夫真. (2019). 焦虑的代际传递: 亲子关系的中介作用[摘要].第二十二届全国心理学学术会议摘要集 (pp.140-141).全国心理学大会.
王天竹, 张野. (2020). 正念教养在儿童养育中的应用. 当代教育实践与教学研究, (5), 231-232.
王玮, 王胜男, 程华斌, 王云鹤, 李永鑫. (2021). 父亲养育倦怠在养育压力与青少年心理健康之间的中介作用. 中国临床心理学杂志, 29(4), 858-861.
王英杰, 张美霞, 朱晶晶, 李燕. (2020). 母亲亲职压力与学前儿童社会能力的关系: 教养方式的中介作用. 中国临床心理学杂志, 28(3), 571-575.
徐慰, 符仲芳, 王玉正, 王晓明, 安媛媛. (2017). 日常生活中压力对愤怒情绪的动态影响:特质正念的调节作用. 中国临床心理学杂志, 25(3), 485-488.
项紫霓, 张兴慧, 黎亚军, 王耘, 李燕芳. (2014). 3～5岁儿童母亲抚养压力类型特点及其影响因素. 心理发展与教育, 30(4), 427-434.
翟培鑫, 胡玉香, 刘莉. (2021). 父母严厉管教与儿童焦虑的关系:家庭亲密度的中介作用. 心理与行为研究, 19(2), 201-208.
朱晶晶, 张云, 李燕, 彭汝贞, 冯旼. (2018). 母亲依恋风格和幼儿焦虑: 亲子依恋的中介作用.中国临床心理学杂志, 26(4), 763-766.
[1] ZHAO Jingwei, CHEN Xiaoxu, REN Liwen, GENG Zhe, XU Fuzhen. Parental Psychological Control and Children’s Anxiety: A Moderated Mediating Model [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2024, 40(1): 93-102.
[2] WANG Yimeng, WANG Zhendong, WANG Fengyan. Solution to “Being in the Game”——A Mindfulness Intervention Study on Wisdom: The Role of Personal Growth Initiative and Reflection [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2024, 40(1): 142-152.
[3] CHEN Bizhong, ZHENG Xue, SUN Xiaojun. The Relationship between Problematic Social Media Use and Online Social Anxiety: The Roles of Social Media Cognitive Overload and Dispositional Mindfulness [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(5): 743-751.
[4] XIONG Jie, FAN Cuiying, WEI Hua, YANG Xiujuan, LIAN Shuailei. The Effect of Mindfulness on Cyberbullying: A Moderated Mediation Model [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(5): 752-760.
[5] WANG Yingjie, ZHANG Yi, ZHANG Meixia, LI Yan. The Relationship between Maternal Mindfulness and Child Problem Behaviors: The Chain Mediating Effect of Mindful Parenting and Parent-child Relationship [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(2): 184-191.
[6] LI Xingkai, WU Junsheng, YAO Xiaotong, LIU Yingshan, REN Jie, CHEN Suiqing. The Relationship between Autistic and Intellectual Disabled Children's Behavior Problems and Parental Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Parenting Stress and the Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(1): 77-84.
[7] YU Si, ZHANG Chunyang, XU Wei. The Relationship of Dispositional Mindfulness to Anxiety and Aggressiveness among College Students: The Mediation of Resilience and Moderation of Left-behind Experience [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2022, 38(5): 711-719.
[8] WANG Yue, ZHANG Bao, ZHOU Hui. Mindful Awareness and Mental Health among Primary and Middle School Students: The Cross-time Mediating Effect of Emotion Regulation and Positive Appraisal [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2022, 38(5): 692-702.
[9] YAN Yixia, LIU Yanying, DING Fang. The Effects of Theory of Mind and the Pattern of Social Interactions on the Development of Social Mindfulness in Junior High School Students [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2022, 38(4): 485-494.
[10] MA Li, WANG Tao. Effects of Mental Health of Disabled Children on Parenting Stress: A Moderated Mediation Model [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2022, 38(1): 126-133.
[11] YANG Xiujuan, FAN Cuiying, ZHOU Zongkui, LIU Qingqi, LIAN Shuailei. The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Mobile Phone Addiction Tendency: The Roles of Boredom Proneness and Future Time Perspective [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2021, 37(3): 419-428.
[12] GAO Wen, ZHU Jinhui, FANG Zhen. Negative Prediction of Father Involvement on Aggressive Behaviors among Primary School Students: The Partial Mediating Effect of Maternal Parenting Stress [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2020, 36(1): 84-93.
[13] MA Xinyu, CHEN Fumei, XUAN Xin, WANG Yun, LI Yanfang. The Effect of Maternal Depression on Preschooler's Problem Behaviors: Mediating Effects of Maternal and Paternal Parenting Stress [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2019, 35(1): 103-111.
[14] LIU Yapeng, DENG Huihua, ZHANG Minghao, ZHANG Guangzhen, LU Zuhong. The Effect of 5-HTTLPR Polymorphism and Early Parenting Stress on Preschoolers' Behavioral Problems [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2019, 35(1): 85-94.
[15] YAN Ni, YU Yao. The Relation between Mothers' Depressive Symptoms and Child Withdrawal in a U.S. Sample: The Mediational Role of Parenting Behavior [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2017, 33(1): 1-10.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited
  Shared   
  Discussed   
No Suggested Reading articles found!
Copyright 2018 © Editorial office of Psychological Development and Education
Supported by Beijing Magtech Co.Ltd