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The comparison and interdependence of maternal and paternal influences on young children's behavior and resilience

Lars-Erik Malmberg1, Eirini Flouri

  • 1Department of Education, University of Oxford, Oxford OX2 6PY, United Kingdom. lars-erik.malmberg@ education.ox.ac.uk

Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology : the Official Journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53
|May 3, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Maternal factors, including depressed mood and mother-child relationship quality, significantly impact preschooler problem behaviors more than paternal factors. The mother-child bond also buffers socioeconomic disadvantage effects on emotional symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychiatry
  • Family Studies

Background:

  • Parental mental health and relationship quality are crucial for child development.
  • Understanding differential parental influences on child problem behavior is essential.
  • The role of parent-child relationships in mediating or moderating risks requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the predictive roles of maternal and paternal depressed mood and relationship quality on preschool children's problem behavior.
  • To investigate potential mediation by relationship quality of parental depressed mood effects.
  • To explore the buffering effects of parent-child relationship quality against contextual risks like socioeconomic disadvantage.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from 11,286 two-parent biological families in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study.
  • Employed regression analyses to assess the predictive power of parental depressed mood and relationship quality.
  • Examined mediation and moderation effects, specifically focusing on internalizing problems and emotional symptoms.

Main Results:

  • Mother-child relationship quality and maternal depressed mood showed stronger associations with children's problem behavior than paternal factors.
  • Paternal depressed mood's effect on child behavior was fully mediated by father-child relationship quality.
  • Mother-child relationship quality buffered the impact of socioeconomic disadvantage on emotional symptoms, while father-child relationship quality did not buffer general contextual risks.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal factors play a more significant role in preschool children's problem behavior compared to paternal factors.
  • The quality of the mother-child relationship is a key protective factor against socioeconomic disadvantage for emotional well-being.
  • Father-child relationship quality mediates paternal depressed mood effects but shows limited buffering capacity for broader risks in this age group.

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