The role of mother-child relationship in the association between maternal parenting stress and emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children
HE Hai-Yan, YU Min, NING Man, CUI Xiao-Chen, JIA Li-Yuan, LI Ruo-Yu, WAN Yu-Hui
Department of Maternal, Child & Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University/MOE Key Laboratory of Population Health Across Life Cycle/Anhui Provincial Key Laboratory of Population Health & Aristogenics, Hefei 230032, China (Wan Y-H, Email: 2004500039@ahmu.edu.cn)
Abstract Objective To study the moderating effect of mother-child relationship in the association between maternal parenting stress and emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children, and to provide reference for the prevention and control of emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children. Methods Using a stratified cluster sampling method, 2 049 preschool children were surveyed from November to December 2021, who sampled from 12 kindergartens in Wuhu City, Anhui Province. The emotional and behavioral problems of preschool children were assessed with the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Pearson correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship of maternal parenting stress and mother-child relationship with children's emotional and behavioral problems. The PROCESS Macro was used to analyze the moderating effect of conflicted and dependent mother-child relationships in the association between maternal parenting stress and emotional and behavioral problems in these preschool children. Results Among these preschool children, maternal parenting stress was positively correlated with the scores of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems subscales and total difficulty scores (P<0.001); intimate mother-child relationships were negatively correlated with the scores of conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems subscales and total difficulty scores (P<0.001); conflicted and dependent mother-child relationships were positively correlated with the scores of emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, and peer problems subscales and total difficulty scores (P<0.001). After controlling for relevant confounding factors, conflicted mother-child relationship (β=0.05, P=0.001) and dependent mother-child relationship (β=0.04, P=0.012) were found to have a moderating effect on the association between maternal parenting stress and total difficulty scores in these preschool children. Conclusions Negative mother-child relationships play a moderating role in the association between maternal parenting stress and emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children. Prevention of emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children should focus on reducing maternal parenting stress and improving negative mother-child relationships. Citation:Chinese Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics, 2023, 25(4): 394-400
HE Hai-Yan,YU Min,NING Man et al. The role of mother-child relationship in the association between maternal parenting stress and emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children[J]. CJCP, 2023, 25(4): 394-400.
HE Hai-Yan,YU Min,NING Man et al. The role of mother-child relationship in the association between maternal parenting stress and emotional and behavioral problems in preschool children[J]. CJCP, 2023, 25(4): 394-400.
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