Poster #59 - Maternal Negative Expressiveness and Infant Behavior Problems as Moderated by Inhibitory Control and Household Chaos

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Maternal negative expressiveness in the family has been associated with children's behavior problems. However, most studies have focused exclusively on preschoolers, with less attention paid to infants. What's more, there has been little understanding regarding the moderating processes underlying these associations. A major proposition in Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological theory of human development is that proximal influences on child development outcomes vary substantially as a joint function of individual characteristics and environmental contexts (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006). Mother-child interaction takes place in a broader home context, such that the interactions between maternal socialization behaviors and child characteristics are presumed to depend on home contextual features (Chen et al., 2014). Accordingly, the objective of the present study was to examine the associations between maternal negative expressiveness and infants' externalizing and internalizing behavior problems, and to further explore how maternal negative expressiveness interacted with infants' inhibitory control and household chaos to predict infants' behavior problems in mainland China. Participants were 188 mother-infant dyads (99 boys, 89 girls). Mothers competed the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS) to assess household chaos when infants were 6 months of age (T1), and reported on their own negative expressiveness using the Self-Expressiveness in the Family Questionnaire (SEFQ) and their infants' behavior problems using the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment (ITSEA) when infants were 14 months of age (T2). Infants' inhibitory control was assessed with an age-appropriate reverse categorization task at T2 (Johansson, Marciszko, Brocki, & Bohlin, 2016). Structural equation modeling with a bootstrap resample of 1000 was conducted in Mplus Version 7.4. Missing data was handled using full information maximum likelihood (FIML). All variables were standardized prior to analysis. Child gender was used as control variable in model. Correlation analyses indicated that maternal negative expressiveness was positively correlated with infants' externalizing and internalizing behavior problems. In line with our expectations, there was a significant three-way interaction between maternal negative expressiveness, infants' inhibitory control and household chaos in the prediction of internalizing problems (see Figure 1). Specifically, the interaction between maternal negative expressiveness and infants' inhibitory control was significant in chaotic homes. Maternal negative expressiveness was positively associated with infants' internalizing problems, only for infants who developed poor inhibitory control and grew up in chaotic homes (see Figure 2). In comparison to the results of internalizing problems, the association between maternal negative expressiveness and infants' externalizing problems was not moderated by either infants' inhibitory control or household chaos. These findings provide empirical support and a better understanding of the child characteristics by family environment interactions in the development of children' social maladjustment. Intervention focusing on strengthening infants' inhibitory control may be beneficial for reducing internalizing problems for those infants who live in family that is characterized by high levels of maternal negative expressiveness and household chaos.

Authors

• Siman Liu, Capital Normal University
  Presenting Author

• Nan Zhou, Capital Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Zhengyan Wang, Capital Normal University
  Non-Presenting Author