Poster #154 - Parenting the Difficult Child is More Difficult for the Dysregulated Parent

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

Maternal emotion regulation has been suggested as a key component of parenting that warrants increased investigation in the literature (Rutherford et al., 2015; Dix, 1991). There is evidence for an association between maternal emotion dysregulation and poor parenting practices, including maternal negativity (Deater-Deckard, Li, & Bell, 2015), and greater risk of child maltreatment (Crandall, Deater-Deckard, & Riley, 2015). While there is evidence that difficult child behavior is associated with less optimal parenting in general (Kiff, Lengua, & Zalewski, 2011), it is unclear how maternal emotion dysregulation may impact parenting in mothers who are parenting children with emotional or behavioral problems. The purpose of the current study was to examine how child behavior and maternal emotion dysregulation interact to predict parenting quality. A multimethod approach that included both self-report and observational data was employed.
Participants were 68 dyads of mothers and their children (aged 3-4). Forty dyads returned for time 2 when children were aged 5-6. Maternal emotion dysregulation was measured using the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (Gratz & Roemer, 2004). Child emotion dysregulation was measured using the locked box task, an observational task designed to elicit frustration (Laboratory Assessment Battery; Goldsmith & Rothbart, 1996). Child internalizing and externalizing behaviors were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000). A five-minute long parent-child interaction task was coded to measure child noncompliance as well as maternal negativity, rejection, and invalidation (manual adapted from Cowan & Cowan, Lindahl, Malik, & Malik, and Rubin & Cheah). Maternal supportiveness of child’s emotions was measured using the Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scale (CCNES; Fabes, Poulin, Eisenberg, & Madden-Derdich, 2002).
Moderation analyses were conducted to examine how child behavior and maternal emotion dysregulation interacted to predict maternal negativity and supportiveness. Figure 1 shows that maternal emotion dysregulation moderated the relationship between child internalizing (β = .42, p = .001) and externalizing behaviors (β = .32, p = .001) when children were aged 3-4 and maternal negativity two years later. This relationship between difficult child behavior and poor parenting practices was more pronounced for mothers who reported higher levels of emotion dysregulation.


Findings of this study demonstrate that maternal emotion dysregulation may negatively impact parenting. Mothers who struggle with emotion dysregulation may be especially vulnerable to engaging in parenting that is negative, rejecting, and invalidating in response to difficult behavior in their children. Findings indicate the clinical need for parenting interventions to focus on improving parents’ emotion regulation as mothers with emotion dysregulation are not adequately served by existing interventions (Maliken and Katz, 2013). In order to engage in learning effective parenting strategies, it may be necessary to first increase mothers’ ability to cope with their own difficult emotions. These findings also highlight the importance of increasing the effectiveness of mental health practitioners in serving adult clients who are parents. Given the potential for maternal emotion dysregulation to impact not only the client but also her child, modifying practice to more effectively serve parents may improve client as well as child outcomes.

Authors

• Nicole Diane Musser, University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Maureen Zalewski, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jennifer Lewis, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author

• Yoel Everett, University of Oregon
  Non-Presenting Author