Poster #53 - Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Maternal Intergenerational transmissions of child maltreatment and emotion dysregulation

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a type of emotional and behavioral disorder characterized by a recurrent pattern of angry/irritable, argumentative/defiant, and vindictive behavior toward authority figures (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and commonly occurs during childhood (Lavigne, LeBailly, Hopkins, Gouze, & Binns, 2009; Sun, Su, & Liu, 2001). Considerable research have revealed that children with ODD have greater possibility of being maltreated by their parent (Boden, et al., 2010; Burnette, 2013; Ford, et al., 2000), and that one of the core characteristics of ODD is the great deficit of emotion regulation (i.e., emotion dysregulation) (e.g., Cavanagh et al., 2017). Both child maltreatment and emotion regulation are involved the issue of intergenerational transmission (Bariola, Gullone, & Hughes, 2011; Schelbe & Geiger, 2017). This study jointly examined the intergenerational transmissions of child maltreatment and emotion dysregulation in children with and without ODD. A sample of 155 children with ODD (Mage = 9.56, SD = 1.59; 27.4% girls) and 180 children without ODD (Mage = 9.12, SD = 1.55; 46.8% girls) and their mothers from China was involved. Maternal history of childhood maltreatment, emotion dysregulation, and current child maltreatment were reported by mothers, while child emotion dysregulation was reported by both mothers and teachers. Results revealed that child maltreatment and emotion dysregulation did act as mutual mediators in the intergenerational transmissions among both children with and without ODD. Particularly, maternal emotion dysregulation was found as a critical factor for the intergenerational transmissions of child maltreatment and emotion regulation among children with ODD. On one hand, it is a critical mediator in the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment (Schelbe & Geiger, 2017). In terms of this point, it echoes Sigeil’s (2013) perspective about the significance of parental emotion regulation in breaking the intergeneration transmission of violence. On the other hand, it is a critical prerequisite of child emotional development (Bariola, et al., 2011; Yap, et al., 2007). These findings of this study agree with Rutherford et al. (2015)’s notion that “successful emotion regulation is critical to parenting” (p. 3). For mothers in the face of caring for their distressed child, such as child with ODD, the common challenge is to manage their own emotions in balanced ways. For mothers with greater emotion regulation, the intergenerational transmission of child maltreatment may be more likely to not occur and their child’s regulation can be facilitated either directly or indirectly through positive parenting practices. Limitations and implications of this study were then discussed.

Authors

• Yongqiang Jiang, Beijing Normal University
  Presenting Author

• Xiuyun Lin, Beijing Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author