Poster #152 - Maternal Separation Anxiety and Parenting Concerns During Preschool Years: Do Child’s Characteristics Make a Difference?

• In Event: 1-061 - Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

The increase in woman’s participation in the labor market (OECD, 2011) poses new challenges related to mother-child separation during early childhood (Robin, 2009). Portugal is one of the OECD countries with the highest employment rates among mothers of young children (OCDE, 2016).
To date, few studies have examined the mother-child separation from a maternal perspective (Cooklin et al., 2013; Pessoa-Costa et al., 2015). Defined as “an unpleasant emotional state tied to the separation experience” (Hock et al., 1989, p. 174), maternal separation anxiety is an adaptive feature of all attachment relationships (Benedek, 1970; Hock et al., 1984). However, higher levels of maternal separation anxiety are associated with more negative parenting experiences, namely more intense worries (Hock et al., 1984; Hsu, 2004). It remains unknown whether the strength of these associations depends on child’s characteristics. This study aimed to examine the relationship between maternal separation anxiety and parenting concerns, depending on child’s age, gender and temperament.
The sample consisted of 238 preschool children and their mothers. Children’s ages ranged from 36 to 60 months (M = 49.19, SD = 6.39) and 55% (n = 130) were girls. Mothers’ ages ranged from 21 to 48 years old (M=33.87, SD=5.00). Mothers’ education ranged from 4 to 21 years (M=12.14, SD=3.85). The majority of mothers were employed full-time (n = 165, 72%), whereas 48 (21%) were not working and 15 (7%) were employed half-time. Mothers worked outside home between 0 and 16 hours per day (M = 6.34, SD = 2.97). Mothers completed the Portuguese versions of the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale (MSAS; Hock et al., 1989), the Parent Role Quality Scale (Palkovitz, 1984) and the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (Bates et al., 1979).
As shown in Table 1, a significant Maternal Separation Anxiety x Child’s Gender was found (β = -.19, p = .034). Simple slopes analyses revealed that the increase in parenting concerns as maternal separation anxiety became higher was more accentuated for boys (t = 4.45***) than for girls (t = 1.91┼). A significant Maternal Separation Anxiety x Child’s Age was found (β = -.116, p = .033). Parenting concerns increased as maternal separation anxiety became higher at all ages but the slope was higher at medium (t = 6.17***) and higher (t = 4.99***) than at lower (t = 3.51***) ages. A significant Maternal Separation Anxiety x Child’s Unsociability was found (β = -.143, p = .029). Parenting concerns increased as maternal separation anxiety became higher at all levels of unsociability but the slope was higher at low (t = 4.84***) and medium (t = 5.28***) than at high levels (t = 2.57**) of unsociability.
The findings suggest that the levels of maternal separation anxiety may have a greater influence on the intensity of parenting concerns, when the child is a boy, older and less unsociable. Contrary to mothers with lower maternal separation anxiety, mothers with higher maternal separation anxiety seem to display greater parenting concerns, even when the child has characteristics that may facilitate the separation process.

Authors

• Maryse Guedes, William James Center for Research, ISPA- Instituto Universitário
  Presenting Author

• Flávia Veppo, William James Center for Research, ISPA- Instituto Universitário
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ligia Monteiro, ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa; CIS-IUL
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nuno Torres, ISPA- Instituto Universitário
  Non-Presenting Author

• Manuela Veríssimo, ISPA - Instituto Universitário
  Non-Presenting Author