Child internalizing problems and mother–child discrepancies in maternal rejection: Evidence for bidirectional associations.

Objectives: Mindful parenting, measured by the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting scale (IMP), is beneficial for parents and children. However, the IMP has not been validated in English-speaking parents. Further, little is known about whether mindful parenting is similar in parents of children vs. infants, or how it reduces child internalizing problems. We sought to validate the IMP in English-speaking mothers of children and infants, and to examine relationships between the facets of mindful parenting, child internalizing problems and parent variables related to internalizing.Methods: Using confirmatory factor analyses, we examined the fit of various models of mindful parenting in English-speaking community-recruited mothers of children aged 3–18 years (n = 396) and infants aged 0–2 years (n = 320). We used regression analyses to investigate relationships between the facets of mindful parenting, child internalizing problems, and parent variables including parental experiential avoidance, unhelpful beliefs about child anxiety and accommodation of child anxiety.Results: Mindful parenting can be measured in English-speaking mothers, using either a 5- or 6-factor, 29-item version of the IMP. These versions of the IMP operate similarly for mothers of children and infants. Child internalizing problems and related parent variables were best predicted by non-judgmental acceptance of parenting in mothers of children, and emotional self-awareness and non-reactivity in mothers of infants.Conclusions: The IMP is a valid measure of mindful parenting in English-speaking mothers of children and infants. Mindful parenting predicts child internalizing problems and related parent variables, suggesting that mindful parenting programs could benefit families of children with internalizing problems, potentially by reducing parental experiential avoidance, unhelpful beliefs about or accommodation of child anxiety.

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Child Internalizing Problems Scale

PsycTESTS Dataset ◽

10.1037/t32062-000 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Jun-Li Chen ◽

Xiaodong Liu

Keyword(s):

Internalizing Problems ◽

Child Internalizing Problems

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Association of prenatal exposure to benzodiazepines and child internalizing problems: A sibling-controlled cohort study.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.727841098.793536608 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Thalia Robakis

Keyword(s):

Cohort Study ◽

Prenatal Exposure ◽

Internalizing Problems ◽

Child Internalizing Problems

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Associations between maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems

Early Child Development and Care ◽

10.1080/03004430.2020.1794860 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Alexandra N. Davis ◽

Cathy H. Qi

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Internalizing Problems ◽

Maternal Depressive Symptoms ◽

Child Internalizing Problems

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Longitudinal associations between mother–child conflict and child internalizing problems in mid-childhood

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579420000863 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Jessica P. Lougheed ◽

Robert J. Duncan ◽

Gizem Keskin ◽

Kristine Marceau

Keyword(s):

Middle Childhood ◽

Internalizing Problems ◽

Correlated Errors ◽

Future Studies ◽

Child Internalizing Problems ◽

Panel Model ◽

Mother Child Relationships ◽

Longitudinal Associations ◽

Statistical Approaches ◽

Family Associations

Abstract Several aspects of mother–child relationships are associated with children's internalizing problems. We examined longitudinal associations between mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems in middle childhood. Specifically, we examined whether conflict and children's internalizing problems predict each other longitudinally in a sample of children from 3rd through 6th grade (N = 1,364) and their mothers using a cross-lagged panel model with random intercepts. In line with expectations, we found stable between-family differences in both mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems. Contrary to expectations, we did not find that mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems showed significant cross-lagged associations. However, mother–child conflict and children's internalizing problems had correlated errors at each wave, indicating that these two constructs covary with each other concurrently at multiple times across development, independent of stable between-family associations (i.e., as one increases, so does the other, and vice versa). The results of this study point to the importance of using statistical approaches that can disentangle between-family differences from within-family processes. In future studies, shorter time scales (e.g., weeks or months) may better capture dynamic associations between parent–child conflict and internalizing problems.

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