School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences and Beijing Key Laboratory of Behavior and Mental Health, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Department of Psychology, Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
Dev Psychopathol. 2023 Oct;35(4):1929-1941. doi: 10.1017/S095457942200058X. Epub 2022 Jul 18.
This multi-method longitudinal study evaluated how changes in maternal sensitive parenting may operate as an indirect factor linking family instability and the development of child externalizing problems over time. This study also investigated how mothers' stress reactivity within the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) may moderate the association between family instability and the development of maternal sensitivity. Participants were 235 families with a young child (M = 2.97 years at the first measurement occasion) and these families were followed for two annual measurement occasions. Maternal sensitivity was observed during two discipline tasks (i.e., forbidden toy, discipline discussion tasks), and maternal SNS stress reactivity was indicated by their salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) reactivity to an interpersonal stressor. Findings revealed significant direct effects of family instability and family instability-x-sAA reactivity interaction in association with the change in maternal sensitivity over time. For both tasks, mothers with greater sAA reactivity exhibited stronger associations between family instability and the growth of their sensitivity. Tests of indirect effects indicated that change in maternal sensitivity operated as an indirect factor between family instability-x-sAA reactivity interaction and the change in child externalizing problems. The present findings have important implications for understanding parental and child sequelae associated with unstable family contexts.
本多方法纵向研究评估了母亲敏感养育方式的变化如何作为一个间接因素，随着时间的推移，将家庭不稳定与儿童外化问题的发展联系起来。本研究还探讨了母亲交感神经系统（SNS）内的应激反应如何调节家庭不稳定与母亲敏感性发展之间的关系。参与者是 235 个有幼儿的家庭（第一次测量时的平均年龄为 2.97 岁），这些家庭在两年内进行了两次年度测量。在两项纪律任务（即禁止玩具、纪律讨论任务）中观察到母亲的敏感性，母亲 SNS 应激反应由唾液α-淀粉酶（sAA）对人际应激源的反应来表示。研究结果显示，家庭不稳定和家庭不稳定-x-sAA 反应性相互作用与母亲敏感性随时间的变化有显著的直接影响。对于这两项任务，sAA 反应性较高的母亲，家庭不稳定与敏感性增长之间的关联更强。间接效应检验表明，母亲敏感性的变化是家庭不稳定-x-sAA 反应性相互作用与儿童外化问题变化之间的一个间接因素。本研究结果对于理解与不稳定家庭环境相关的父母和儿童后果具有重要意义。
