Maternal Decentering and Child Maladjustment: A Mediated Maternal Psychological Distress and Parenting Model

Abstract

Negative parenting, which exacerbates children’s maladjustment, could result from poor mental health in parents. Therefore, factors that improve parental mental health may also facilitate positive parenting. One such factor is decentering (i.e., the capacity to observe internal experiences as passing mental phenomena that do not reflect self or reality). However, little research has examined the indirect association between parental decentering and children’s maladjustment. This cross-sectional study investigated whether parental decentering was associated with child maladjustment through the mediation of parental psychological distress and parenting quality. Japanese mothers (N = 2,522) participated in an online survey assessing parenting quality, maternal decentering levels, maternal psychological distress, and the oldest child’s maladjustment level as reported by the mothers. A parallel mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect effect. Mothers with greater decentering demonstrated lower psychological distress and more positive and less negative parenting. These characteristics were related to lower maladjustment in their children as reported by the mothers. This is the first study to demonstrate the link between decentering and positive maternal parenting. Therefore, decentering may be a possible factor to promote better parenting.