Psychological Development and Education ›› 2024, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (5): 675-686.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2024.05.08

Previous Articles    

The Relation between Maternal Depression and Children’s Social Adjustment: The Mediating Roles of Maternal Distress Reaction and Parent-child Conflict

ZHU Jingjing, ZHANG Zhenzhen, LI Yan   

  1. Early Childhood Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234
  • Published:2024-09-19

Abstract: To explore the relationship between maternal depression and children’s social adjustment, as well as the serial mediating effect of maternal distress reaction to children’s negative emotions and parent-child conflict, the present study randomly selected 205 preschoolers from two kindergartens in Shanghai. The results were as follows: (1) Maternal depression significantly and positively predicted children’s emotional symptoms, and significantly and negatively predicted prosocial behaviors; (2) Maternal distress reaction played a fully mediating effect on the relationship between maternal depression and children’s conduct problems; parent-child conflict had a fully mediating effect on the relationship between maternal depression and children’s hyperactive distraction and conduct problems, and had a partial mediating effect on the relation between maternal depression and emotional symptoms; (3) Maternal distress reaction and parent-child conflict had a serial mediating effect in the relation between maternal depression and children’s hyperactive distractibility, emotional symptoms, and conduct problems. The results further revealed the internal mechanisms of the links between maternal depression and young children's social adjustment.

Key words: maternal depression, maternal distress reaction, parent-child conflict, social adjustment, young children

CLC Number: 

  • B844
Acar, I. H., Uçuş, Ş., & Yıldız, S. (2019). Parenting and Turkish children’s behaviour problems: The moderating role of qualities of parent-child relationship. Early Child Development and Care, 189(7), 1072-1085.
Ahmetoglu, E., Ilhan Ildiz, G., Acar, I. H., & Encinger, A. (2018). Children’s emotion regulation and attachment to parents: Parental emotion socialization as a moderator. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 46(6), 969-984.
Baker, C. E., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Gouskova, N. (2020). Reciprocal relations between maternal depression and child behavior problems in families served by Head Start. Child Development, 91(5), 1563-1576.
Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective.Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2(1), 21-41.
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. International Universities Press.
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961).An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4(6), 561-571.
Bödeker, K., Fuchs, A., Führer, D., Kluczniok, D., Dittrich, K., Reichl, C., … Resch, F. (2019). Impact of maternal early life maltreatment and maternal history of depression on child psychopathology: Mediating role of maternal sensitivity? Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 50(2), 278-290.
Bowlby, J. (1982). Attachment and loss: Retrospect and prospect.American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 52(4), 664-678.
Brennan, P. A., Le Brocque, R., & Hammen, C. (2003). Maternal depression, parent-child relationships, and resilient outcomes in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 42(12), 1469-1477.
Brook, J. S., & Newcomb, M. D. (1995). Childhood aggression and unconventionality: Impact on later academic achievement, drug use, and workforce involvement. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 156(4), 393-410.
Caemmerer, J. M., & Keith, T. Z. (2015). Longitudinal, reciprocal effects of social skills and achievement from kindergarten to eighth grade. Journal of School Psychology, 53(4), 265-281.
Carlone, C., & Milan, S. (2021). Maternal depression and child externalizing behaviors: The role of attachment across development in low-income families. Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, 49(5), 603-614.
Caspi, A. (2000). The child is the father of man: Personality continuities from childhood to adulthood.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78(1), 158-172.
Cavell, T. A. (1990). Social adjustment, social performance, and social skills: A tri-component model of social competence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 19(2), 111-122.
Chen, X., & French, D. C. (2008). Children’s social competence in cultural context. Annual Review of Psychology, 59(1), 519-616.
Chen, X., Dong, Q., & Zhou, H. (1997). Authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices and social and school performance in Chinese children. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 21(4), 855-873.
Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (2003). Understanding families as systems. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(5), 193-196.
Cummings, M., & Kouros, C. D. (2009). Maternal depression and its relation to children’s development and adjustment. In R. E. Tremblay, M. Boivin, & R. Peters (Eds.), Encyclopedia on early childhood development [online]. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.567.5290&rep=rep1&type=pdf.
Cummings, E. M., Schermerhorn, A. C., Keller, P. S., & Davies, P. T. (2008). Parental depressive symptoms, children’s representations of family relationships, and child adjustment. Social Development, 17(2), 278-305.
Cummings, E., Keller, P. S., & Davies, P. T. (2005). Towards a family process model of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms: Exploring multiple relations with child and family functioning. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(5), 479-489.
Darke, S., Ross, J., & Lynskey, M. (2003). The relationship of conduct disorder to attempted suicide and drug use history among methadone maintenance patients. Drug and Alcohol Review, 22(1), 21-25.
Davies, P. T., & Cummings, E. M. (1994). Marital conflict and child adjustment: An emotional security hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 116(3), 387-411.
De Wolff, M. S., & Van Ijzendoorn, M. H. (1997). Sensitivity and attachment: A meta-analysis on parental antecedents of infant attachment. Child Development, 68(4), 571-591.
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.
Dora, B., & Baydar, N. (2020). Transactional associations of maternal depressive symptoms with child externalizing behaviors are small after age 3. Development and Psychopathology, 32(1), 293-308.
Du, Y., Kou, J., & Coghill, D. (2008). The validity, reliability and normative scores of the parent, teacher and self-report versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in China. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 2(1), 1-15.
Eisenberg, N., & Fabes, R. A. (1994). Mothers’ reactions to children’s negative emotions: Relations to children’s temperament and anger behavior. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 40(1), 138-156.
Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998). Parental socialization of emotion. Psychological Inquiry, 9(4), 241-273.
Elgar, F. J., McGrath, P. J., Waschbusch, D. A., Stewart, S. H., & Curtis, L. J. (2004).Mutual influences on maternal depression and child adjustment problems. Clinical Psychology Review, 24(4), 441-459.
Essex, M. J., Klein, M. H., Miech, R., & Smider, N. A. (2001). Timing of initial exposure to maternal major depression and children’s mental health symptoms in kindergarten. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 179(2), 151-156.
Fabes, R. A., Poulin, R. E., Eisenberg, N., & Madden-Derdich, D. A. (2002). The Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES): Psychometric properties and relations with children’s emotional competence. Marriage & Family Review, 34(3-4), 285-310.
Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (1998). Early conduct problems and later life opportunities. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39(8), 1097-1108.
Godleski, S. A., Eiden, R. D., Shisler, S., & Livingston, J. A. (2020).Parent socialization of emotion in a high-risk sample. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 489-502.
Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38(5), 581-586.
Goodman, R. (2001).Psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(11), 1337-1345.
Goodman, S. H. (2007).Depression in mothers. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 3(1), 107-135.
Goodman, S. H., & Gotlib, I. H. (1999). Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: A developmental model for understanding mechanisms of transmission. Psychological Review, 106(3), 458-490.
Goodman, S. H., & Tully, E. (2006). Depression in women who are mothers: An integrative model of risk for the development of psychopathology in their sons and daughters. In C. L. M. Keyes & S. H. Goodman (Eds.), Women and depression: A handbook for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences (pp. 241-280). Cambridge University Press.
Grace, S. L., Evindar, A., & Stewart, D. E. (2003). The effect of postpartum depression on child cognitive development and behavior: A review and critical analysis of the literature. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 6(4), 263-274.
Gravener, J. A., Rogosch, F. A., Oshri, A., Narayan, A. J., Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (2012). The relations among maternal depressive disorder, maternal expressed emotion, and toddler behavior problems and attachment. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 40(5), 803-813.
Hentges, R. F., Graham, S. A., Fearon, P., Tough, S., & Madigan, S. (2020). The chronicity and timing of prenatal and antenatal maternal depression and anxiety on child outcomes at age 5.Depression and Anxiety, 37(6), 576-586.
Jaffee, S. R., & Poulton, R. (2006). Reciprocal effects of mothers’ depression and children’s problem behaviors from middle childhood to early adolescence. In A. C. Huston & M. N. Ripke (Eds.), Developmental contexts in middle childhood: Bridges to adolescence and adulthood (pp. 107-129). New York: Cambridge University Press.
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), 337-353.
Koehn, A. J., & Kerns, K. A. (2018). Parent-child attachment: Meta-analysis of associations with parenting behaviors in middle childhood and adolescence. Attachment & Human Development, 20(4), 378-405.
Labella, M. H., Ruiz, S. K., Harris, S. J., & Klimes-Dougan, B. (2021). Emotion socialization in mothers with mood disorders: Affective modeling and recollected responses to childhood emotion. Development and Psychopathology, 33(4), 1156-1169.
Leerkes, E. M., Bailes, L. G., & Augustine, M. E. (2020). The intergenerational transmission of emotion socialization. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 390-402.
Leight, K. L., Fitelson, E. M., Weston, C. A., & Wisner, K. L. (2010). Childbirth and mental disorders. International Review of Psychiatry, 22(5), 453-471.
Letourneau, N. L., Kozyrskyj, A. L., Cosic, N., Ntanda, H. N., Anis, L., Hart, M. J., … Giesbrecht, G. F. (2017). Maternal sensitivity and social support protect against childhood atopic dermatitis. Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, 13(1), 1-14.
Madigan, S., Wade, M., Plamondon, A., & Jenkins, J. (2015). Maternal abuse history, postpartum depression, and parenting: links with preschoolers’ internalizing problems.Infant Mental Health Journal, 36(2), 146-155.
Masten, A. S., & Garmezy, N. (1985). Risk, vulnerability, and protective factors in developmental psychopathology. In Advances in Clinical Child Psychology (pp. 1-52). Springer, Boston, MA.
Nancy, E., Fabes, R., & Spinrad, T. (2010). Prosocial development. International Social Science Journal, 51(162), 593-598.
Nelson, J. A., O’Brien, M., Blankson, A. N., Calkins, S. D., & Keane, S. P. (2009). Family stress and parental responses to children’s negative emotions: Tests of the spillover, crossover, and compensatory hypotheses.Journal of Family Psychology, 23(5), 671-679.
Neppl, T. K., Wedmore, H., Senia, J. M., Jeon, S., & Diggs, O. N. (2019). Couple interaction and child social competence: The role of parenting and attachment.Social Development, 28(2), 347-363.
Pianta, R. C. (1992).Child-parent relationship scale (Unpublished measure). University of Virginia.
Pitzer, M., Jennen-Steinmetz, C., Esser, G., Schmidt, M. H., & Laucht, M. (2011). Differential susceptibility to environmental influences: The role of early temperament and parenting in the development of externalizing problems. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 52(6), 650-658.
Premo, J. E., & Kiel, E. J. (2016). Maternal depressive symptoms, toddler emotion regulation, and subsequent emotion socialization. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(2), 276-285.
Radke-Yarrow, M., Nottelmann, E., Martinez, P., Fox, M. B., & Belmont, B. (1992). Young children of affectively ill parents: A longitudinal study of psychosocial development. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 31(1), 68-77.
Roubinov, D. S., Epel, E. S., Adler, N. E., Laraia, B. A., & Bush, N. R. (2022). Transactions between maternal and child depressive symptoms emerge early in life.Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 51(1), 61-72.
Sanders, W., Zeman, J., Poon, J., & Miller, R. (2015). Child regulation of negative emotions and depressive symptoms: The moderating role of parental emotion socialization. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(2), 402-415.
Silberg, J., & Rutter, M. (2002). Nature-nurture interplay in the risks associated with parental depression. In S. H. Goodman & I. H. Gotlib (Eds.), Children of depressed parents: Mechanisms of risk and implications for treatment (pp. 13-36). American Psychological Association.
Stone, L. L., Otten, R., Engels, R. C., Vermulst, A. A., & Janssens, J. M. (2010). Psychometric properties of the parent and teacher versions of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for 4- to 12-year-olds: A review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 13(3), 254-274.
Thompson, S. F., Zalewski, M., Kiff, C. J., Moran, L., Cortes, R., & Lengua, L. J. (2020). An empirical test of the model of socialization of emotion: Maternal and child contributors to preschoolers’ emotion knowledge and adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 56(3), 418-430.
Tolliver-Lynn, M. N., Marris, A. M., Sullivan, M. A., & Armans, M. (2021). The role of the parent-child relationship in fostering resilience in American Indian/Alaskan native children. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(2), 419-431.
Tompson, M. C., McKowen, J. W., & Asarnow, J. R. (2008). Adolescent mood disorders and familial processes. In N. B. Allen & L. Sheeber (Eds.), Adolescent emotional development and the emergence of depressive disorders. London, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tronick, E., & Reck, C. (2009).Infants of depressed mothers. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 17(2), 147-156.
Van Der Waerden, J., Galéra, C., Larroque, B., Saurel-Cubizolles, M. J., Sutter-Dallay, A. L., Melchior, M., & EDEN Mother-Child Cohort Study Group. (2015). Maternal depression trajectories and children’s behavior at age 5 years. The Journal of Pediatrics, 166(6), 1440-1448.
Waslin, S. M., Kochendorfer, L. B., Blier, B., Brumariu, L. E., & Kerns, K. A. (2022). Parental emotion socialization: Relations with adjustment, security, and maternal depression in early adolescence. Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001099.
Xu, L., Liu, L., Li, Y., Liu, L., & Huntsinger, C. S. (2018). Parent-child relationships and Chinese children’s social adaptations: Gender difference in parent-child dyads. Personal Relationships, 25(4), 462-479.
Yan, N., & Dix, T. (2014). Mothers’ early depressive symptoms and children’s first-grade adjustment: A transactional analysis of child withdrawal as a mediator. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(5), 495-504.
Zhang, H., Song, J., & Hong, X. (2019). The relation between Chinese parents’ child-based worth and young children’s behavioral problems: A serial multiple mediator model. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 27(6), 902-917.
高健, 张靓, 葛文静, 刘荣华. (2021). 家务劳动与幼儿多动行为:亲子亲密度与幼儿动作协调能力的链式中介作用. 中国特殊教育, 258(12), 82-89.
李丹. (2000).影响儿童亲社会行为的因素的研究. 心理科学, 23(3), 285-288+381.
李燕, 贺婷婷, 俞凯, 刘佩丽. (2010). 父母对孩子消极情绪的反应方式及其与幼儿社会技能关系的研究. 心理科学, 33(2), 452-455.
李燕,朱晶晶, 贺婷婷. (2016).母亲情绪调节与幼儿情绪理解能力:母亲应对方式的中介作用. 心理科学, 39(5),1130-1136.
梁宗保, 严嘉新, 张光珍. (2020). 父母元情绪理念与儿童社会适应: 父母情绪反应的中介作用. 心理科学, 43(3), 608-614.
梁宗保,吴安莲, 张光珍. (2022). 父母消极养育方式与学前儿童社会适应的关系:亲子冲突的中介作用. 学前教育研究, 327(3), 43-52.
刘丽莎, 李燕芳. (2013). 母亲抑郁和惩罚对儿童早期问题行为的影响及父亲的保护作用. 心理发展与教育, 29(5), 533-540.
马爽, 孔祥蕾, 王义卿, 屈智勇, 王晓华. (2021). 西北农村地区母亲抑郁与幼儿社交退缩:母亲回应性的中介作用. 心理发展与教育, 37(2), 167-173.
马心宇, 陈福美, 玄新, 王耘, 李燕芳. (2019). 父亲、母亲抚养压力在母亲抑郁和学龄前儿童内外部问题行为间的链式中介作用. 心理发展与教育, 35(1), 103-111.
宋广文, 何文广. (2011). 青少年亲子冲突研究的现状与展望. 南京师大学报(社会科学版), 176(4), 105-110.
晏妮, 于尧. (2017). 在美国样本中母亲抑郁症状与儿童退缩的关系: 教养行为的中介作用. 心理发展与教育, 33(1), 1-10.
杨逸群, 陈亮, 纪林芹, 张文新. (2017). 母亲抑郁对青少年抑郁的影响:亲子关系的中介作用与青少年消极情绪性的调节作用. 心理发展与教育, 33(3), 368-377.
叶枝, 曾柏洁, 刘芃佳, 刘杨, 张树东. (2021). 母亲抑郁情绪与儿童问题行为的关系:情感虐待和忽视的中介作用. 中国特殊教育, 251(5), 73-80.
张晓, 陈会昌, 张桂芳, 周博芳, 吴巍. (2008). 亲子关系与问题行为的动态相互作用模型:对儿童早期的追踪研究. 心理学报, 40(5), 571-582.
张雨新, 王燕, 钱铭怡. (1990). Beck 抑郁量表的信度和效度. 中国心理卫生杂志, 4(4), 164-168.
[1] LIU Qianwen, GAO Hanjing, WANG Zhenhong. The Interaction Effect of Parent-child Relationships and the CLOCK rs1801260 Polymorphism on Preschoolers’ Prosocial Behaviors: The Moderating Role of Sex [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2024, 40(5): 625-635.
[2] 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.
[3] WANG Yingjie, LUAN Jinxin, LI Yan. 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 [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(5): 702-709.
[4] LIU Shuang, LI Mei, FENG Xiaohang, ZHANG Xiangkui. A Longitudinal Study of Mastery Motivation and Competence in Early Childhood: The Moderating Effects of Types of Task and Temperament [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2023, 39(2): 161-172.
[5] LIANG Xi, WANG Zhengyan, YU Jie. Family Socioeconomic Status and Toddlers' Social Adjustment in Rural-to-urban Migration and Urban Families: The Roles of Maternal Sensitivity and Attachment Security [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2021, 37(6): 792-799.
[6] ZHANG Guangzhen, LIANG Miao, LIANG Zongbao. A Longitudinal Study of the Influence of Parenting Styles on Social Adjustment of Preschool Children: Mediating Effects of Self-control [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2021, 37(6): 800-807.
[7] LIU Tiantian, LI Yan, LI Youjia, JIANG Xinmiao. Co-parenting and Preschool Children's Social Behavior: The Chain Mediating Effects of Parent-child Relationship and Sibling Relationship Quality [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2021, 37(5): 638-647.
[8] MA Shuang, KONG Xianglei, WANG Yiqing, QU Zhiyong, WANG Xiaohua. The Relationship between Maternal Depression and Pre-school Children's Social Withdrawal in Rural Area of Northwestern China: The Mediating Role of Maternal Responsiveness [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2021, 37(2): 167-173.
[9] NIU Gengfeng, LI Zhanxing, WANG Chenxiao, MA Xiaotong, SUN Xiaojun, ZHOU Zongkui. The Influence of Online Parent-child Communication on Left-behind Junior High School Students' Social Adjustment: A Moderated Mediation Model [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2019, 35(6): 678-685.
[10] 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.
[11] ZHAO Baobao, JIN Cancan, ZOU Hong. Relations among Parent-adolescent Relationship, Negative Social Adjustment and Internet Addiction of Adolescents: A Mediated Moderation Effect [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2018, 34(3): 353-360.
[12] LIU Yan, WANG Jing, ZHANG Xiaoyan. The Impact of Self-Projection on Episodic Foresight in Young Children: Evidence from Typically Developing Children and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2017, 33(6): 649-657.
[13] YANG Yiqun, CHEN Liang, JI Linqin, ZHANG Wenxin. The Intergenerational Transmission of Maternal Depression: The Mediating Role of Mother-adolescent Relationship and The Moderating Role of Adolescents' Negative Affectivity [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2017, 33(3): 368-377.
[14] SONG Xiaolei, LI Yangyang, ZHANG Shiyi, ZHANG Junting. The Influence Mechanism of Interpersonal Situations on the Joint Simon Effect of Young Children [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2017, 33(3): 273-281.
[15] YANG Lizhu, LI Miao, CHEN Jinghan, SHEN Yue. The Influence of Teacher Expectations on Young Children's Personality: Mediating Effect of Teacher-Children Relationship [J]. Psychological Development and Education, 2016, 32(6): 641-648.
Viewed
Full text


Abstract

Cited

  Shared   
  Discussed   
No Suggested Reading articles found!