Mind-mindedness and preschool children’s behavioral difficulties: The moderating role of maternal parenting distress

Abstract

Mind-mindedness (MM) is a caregiver’s tendency to appreciate their infant’s internal mental states. This longitudinal study investigated whether maternal MM (10 months) was linked with children’s later behavioral problems (51 months) and the moderating role of maternal parenting distress (PD; 36 months) in a sample of 91 mother–infant dyads. Appropriate MM comments were coded from video-recorded, semi-structured play interactions between mothers and their infants; PD was obtained from maternal completion of the PD subscale of the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form (PSI-SF); and child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were gathered from maternal report on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Moderated regression analyses revealed higher early appropriate MM was associated with significantly fewer internalizing emotional problems at 51 months among mothers with lower PD at 36 months, and higher early appropriate MM was associated with lower conduct problems at 51 months in mothers with higher PD at 36 months. Findings demonstrated the importance of considering nuanced contexts such as at-risk mothers and differential presentations of child difficulties in the analysis of the relationship between MM and child behavioral difficulties and the development of MM interventions.

The Chinese Parenting Stress Scale for Preschoolers’ Parents: Development and Initial Validation

“…Meanwhile, due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, illness anxiety-related stress and increased baseline stress may also have contributed to increased parenting stress (e.g., Daly & Robinson, 2022; Duan et al, 2020). In addition, consistent with previous findings (e.g., Hobby et al, 2022; Lim & Shim, 2021; Luo et al, 2021), parenting stress as measured by the CPSS was positively related to the child’s emotional symptoms and hyperactive–inattention, and negatively related to the child’s prosocial behavior. This provides further support that a high level of parenting stress is related to more problems in the child’s adjustment and that parenting stress may be a robust risk factor for a preschool-aged child’s maladjustment and problem behavior (e.g., Haskett et al, 2006; Liu & Wang, 2015).…”

“…In addition, we expected the CPSS total and domain scores to correlate negatively with conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and extraversion (e.g., Mulsow et al, 2002; Vermaes et al, 2008). Furthermore, previous studies have shown that parenting stress is closely related to hyperactive–inattention, emotional symptoms, and prosocial behavior in children (e.g., Hobby et al, 2022; Lim & Shim, 2021; Luo et al, 2021). We expected the same in this study.…”

“…However, an overview of parenting stress scales (see Supplemental Table S1) indicates that the conceptual structure of parenting stress is unclear. The most commonly used scale is the PSI–Short Form (e.g., Crum & Moreland, 2017; Hobby et al, 2022; Lim & Shim, 2021; Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2019), which measures parenting stress including both parenting stressors and stress reactions in the parent–child system. However, it has been criticized for not measuring the construct of stress, as well as challenged as to whether it should be interpreted as unidimensional (e.g., McKelvey et al, 2009).…”

“…In terms of convergent, discriminant, and criteria validity, we expected the new measure to show high convergence with the PSI-SF-15. Also, we expected the CPSS total and domain scores to correlate positively with neuroticism, somatization, depression, and anxiety (e.g., Hobby et al, 2022; Sánchez-Rodríguez et al, 2019; Si et al, 2020). In addition, we expected the CPSS total and domain scores to correlate negatively with conscientiousness, openness to experience, agreeableness, and extraversion (e.g., Mulsow et al, 2002; Vermaes et al, 2008).…”

“…Early childhood stressors have been found to affect children's lifelong health through both biological and behavioral pathways (E. Chen et al, 2017). On the biological end, there are several ways (e.g., biological embedding model, pathways model) by which early childhood parenting stress may manifest to create enduring physical health effects on children which can continue into adulthood (e.g., Miller et al, 2011;Repetti et al, 2011), and several longitudinal studies have demonstrated that earlier parenting stress relates to later child behavior problems (e.g., Gerstein & Poehlmann-Tynan, 2015;Hobby et al, 2022;Neece et al, 2012). The preschool age is a critical period in a child's growth and development.…”