Mothers’ parental acceptance-rejection in childhood, parental attitudes, and emotional and behavioral difficulties of their children

Abstract

This study examined whether perceived parental acceptance and rejection of mothers and their parental attitudes predict emotional and behavioral challenges in their children and whether and which parental attitudes mediate the relationship. One hundred eighty-eight mothers with children between 4 and 6 years old participated in the study. Mothers completed demographic questions as well as self-report measures, including the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire Short Form (PARQ), Parental Attitudes Research Inventory (PARI), and Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Regression analyses indicate that the PARQ mother warmth subscale and PARI democratic attitude subscale negatively predict emotional and behavioral problems of children, whereas the PARI overprotection subscale positively predicts emotional and behavioral problems of children. In other words, when mothers perceive receiving warmth from their own mothers and when they exhibit more democratic attitudes, it tends to be linked with fewer emotional and behavioral difficulties in their children, whereas when mothers display overprotective behaviors, it tends to be associated with a higher likelihood of emotional and behavioral difficulties in their children. Mediation analyses show that democratic attitude and overprotectiveness subscales partially mediate the link between the mother warmth subscale and total difficulties scores (behavioral and emotional difficulties combined) of children. Democratic attitude, and overprotectiveness, help clarify how a mothers’ remembrances of warmth from their own mothers is linked to the current emotional and behavioral challenges faced by their children. These findings might enhance our understanding of the process of intergenerational transmission of parenting and its current implications as well as provide helpful information for parent–child mental health programs. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.