Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Maternal Positive Affect Mediates the Link Between Family Risk and Preschoolers’ Positive Affect

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Child Psychiatry & Human Development Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present study sought to further specify conceptual models of youth positive affect (PA) by examining mothers’ observed PA as a mediator of the relation between family risk (based on maternal reports of demographic factors) and children’s PA in a sample of 82 mothers (M = 31.25 years, SD = 6.16) and their preschool-aged children (M = 3.51 years, SD = .49, 63.00 % boys). Results yielded a significant, negative correlation between family risk and child PA. Mediation analyses indicated that family risk was related to child PA through its effects on maternal PA, even after controlling for maternal depression symptoms. Findings suggest that family risk and maternal PA are important factors to consider in understanding preschoolers’ PA development. Identifying children at risk for developing PA difficulties can aid in the implementation of prevention and intervention strategies for promoting young children’s PA specifically, and their psychosocial functioning more broadly.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Forbes EE, Dahl RE (2005) Neural systems of positive affect: relevance to understanding child and adolescent depression? Dev Psychopathol 17:827–850

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lengua LJ (2003) Associations among emotionality, self-regulation, adjustment problems, and positive adjustment in middle childhood. J Appl Dev Psychol 24:595–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Russ SW, Schafer ED (2006) Affect in fantasy play, emotion in memories, and divergent thinking. Creativity Res J 18:347–354

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Davis M, Suveg C (2014) Focusing on the positive: a review of the role of child positive affect in developmental psychopathology. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 17:97–124

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Olino TM, Lopez-Duran NL, Kovacs M, George CJ, Gentzler AL, Shaw D (2011) Developmental trajectories of positive and negative affect in children at high and low familial risk for depressive disorder. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 52:792–799

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Shaw DS, Schonberg M, Sherrill J, Huffman D, Lukon J, Obrosky D, Kovacs M (2006) Responsivity to offspring’s expression of emotion among childhood-onset depressed mothers. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 35:490–503

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Denham SA, Mitchell-Copeland J, Strandberg K, Auerbach S, Blair K (1997) Parental contributions to preschoolers’ emotional competence: direct and indirect effects. Motiv Emot 21:65–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Shaffer A, Suveg C, Thomassin K, Bradbury LL (2012) Emotion socialization in the context of family risks: links to child emotion regulation. J Child Fam Stud 21:917–924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Greene TR, Noice H (1988) Influence of positive affect upon creative thinking and problem solving in children. Psychol Rep 63:895–898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Moore BS, Clyburn A, Underwood B (1976) The role of affect in delay of gratification. Child Dev 47:273–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Parlade M, Messinger DS, Delgado CF, Kaiser M, Van Hecke A, Mundy PC (2009) Anticipatory smiling: linking early affective communication and social outcome. Infant Behav Dev 32:33–43

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Dougherty LR, Klein DN, Durbin C, Hayden EP, Olino TM (2010) Temperamental positive and negative emotionality and children’s depressive symptoms: a longitudinal prospective study from age three to age ten. J Soc Clin Psychol 29:462–488

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Jacques HK, Mash EJ (2004) A test of the tripartite model of anxiety and depression in elementary and high school boys and girls. J Abnorm Child Psychol 32:13–25

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Lengua LJ, West SG, Sandler IN (1998) Temperament as a predictor of symptomatology in children: addressing contamination of measures. Child Dev 69:164–181

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Kim G, Walden T, Harris V, Karrass J, Catron T (2007) Positive emotion, negative emotion, and emotion control in the externalizing problems of school-aged children. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 37:221–239

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Lahey BB, Van Hulle CA, Keenan K, Rathouz PJ, D’Onofrio BM, Rodgers J, Waldman ID (2008) Temperament and parenting during the first year of life predict future child conduct problems. J Abnorm Child Psychol 36:1139–1158

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Hayden EP, Klein DN, Durbin C (2005) Parent reports and laboratory assessments of child temperament: a comparison of their associations with risk for depression and externalizing disorders. J Psychopathol Behav 27:89–100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Stifter CA, Putnam S, Jahromi L (2008) Exuberant and inhibited toddlers: stability of temperament and risk for problem behavior. Dev Psychopathol 20:401–421

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Cole PM, Michel MK, Teti L (1994) The development of emotion regulation and dysregulation: a clinical perspective. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 59(73–100):250–283

    Google Scholar 

  20. Suveg C, Payne M, Thomassin K, Jacob ML (2010) Electronic diaries: a feasible method of assessing emotional experiences in youth? J Psychopathol Behav 32:57–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Park N, Peterson C (2006) Character strengths and happiness among young children: content analysis of parental descriptions. J Happiness Stud 7:323–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Shamir H, Cummings E, Davies PT, Goeke-Morey MC (2005) Children’s reactions to marital conflict in Israel and in the United States. Parent Sci Pract 5:371–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Lengua LJ (2002) The contribution of emotionality and self-regulation to the understanding of children’s response to multiple risk. Child Dev 73:144–161

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Hourigan SE, Goodman KL, Southam-Gerow MA (2011) Discrepancies in parents’ and children’s reports of child emotion regulation. J Exp Child Psychol 110:198–212

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Sameroff A, Gutman L, Peck SC (2003) Adaptation among youth facing multiple risks: Prospective research findings. In: Luthar SS (ed) Resilience and vulnerability: adaptation in the context of childhood adversities. Cambridge University Press, New York, pp 364–391

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  26. Barratt M, Roach MA (1995) Early interactive processes: parenting by adolescent and adult single mothers. Infant Behav Dev 18:97–109

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Conger RD, Conger KJ, Elder GH, Lorenz FO, Simons RL, Whitbeck LB (1992) A family process model of economic hardship and adjustment of early adolescent boys. Child Dev 63:526–541

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Conger RD, Wallace L, Sun Y, Simons RL, McLoyd VC, Brody GH (2002) Economic pressure in African American families: a replication and extension of the family stress model. Dev Psychol 38:179–193

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Deater-Deckard K (1998) Parenting stress and child adjustment: some old hypotheses and new questions. Clin Psychol Sci Pract 5:314–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. McLeod JD, Shanahan MJ (1993) Poverty, parenting, and children’s mental health. Am Sociol Rev 58:351–366

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Eisenberg N, Cumberland A, Spinrad TL (1998) Parental socialization of emotion. Psychol Inq 9:241–273

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Gerull FC, Rapee RM (2002) Mother knows best: the effects of maternal modelling on the acquisition of fear and avoidance behaviour in toddlers. Behav Res Ther 40:279–287

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Raver C, Spagnola M (2003) ‘When my mommy was angry, I was speechless’: children’s perceptions of maternal emotional expressiveness within the context of economic hardship. Marriage Fam Rev 34:63–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Denham SA, Zoller D, Couchoud EA (1994) Socialization of preschoolers’ emotion understanding. Dev Psychol 20:928–936

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Garner PW, Robertson S, Smith G (1997) Preschool children’s emotional expressions with peers: the roles of gender and emotion socialization. Sex Roles 36:675–691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Hankin BL, Nederhof E, Oppenheimer CW, Jenness J, Young JF, Abela JRZ et al (2011) Differential susceptibility in youth: evidence that 5-HTTLPR x positive parenting is associated with positive affect ‘for better and worse’. Transl Psychiatry 1:e44

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Bandura A (1977) Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  38. Malatesta CZ, Grigoryev P, Lamb C, Albin M, Culver C (1986) Emotion socialization and expressive development in preterm and full-term infants. Child Dev 57:316–330

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Clark LA, Watson D (1991) Tripartite model of anxiety and depression: psychometric evidence and taxonomic implications. J Abnorm Psychol 100:316–336

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Field T, Healy BT, Goldstein S, Guthertz M (1990) Behavior-state matching and synchrony in mother–infant interactions of nondepressed versus depressed dyads. Dev Psychol 26:7–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Righetti-Veltema M, Conne-Perréard E, Bousquet A, Manzano J (2002) Postpartum depression and mother–infant relationship at 3 months old. J Affect Disord 70:291–306

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Hayden EP, Klein DN, Dubin CE, Olino TM (2006) Positive emotionality at age 3 predicts cognitive styles in 7-year-old children. Dev Psychopathol 18:409–423

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Schultz D, Izard CE, Stapleton LM, Buckingham-Howes S, Bear GA (2009) Children’s social status as a function of emotionality and attention control. J Appl Dev Psychol 30:169–181

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Calkins SD, Blandon AY, Williford AP, Keane SP (2007) Biological, behavioral, and relational levels of resilience in the context of risk for early childhood behavior problems. Dev Psychopathol 19:675–700

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Belsky J, Crnic K, Woodworth S (1995) Personality and parenting: exploring the mediating role of transient mood and daily hassles. J Personal 63:905–929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Eisenberg N, Gershoff E, Fabes RA, Shepard SA, Cumberland AJ, Losoya SH et al (2001) Mother’s emotional expressivity and children’s behavior problems and social competence: mediation through children’s regulation. Dev Psychol 37:475–490

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Reebye P, Morison SJ, Panikkar H, Misri S, Grunau RE (2002) Affect expression in prenatally psychotropic exposed and nonexposed mother–infant dyads. Infant Ment Health J 23:403–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Durbin C, Klein DN, Hayden EP, Buckley ME, Moerk KC (2005) Temperamental emotionality in preschoolers and parental mood disorders. J Abnorm Psychol 114:28–37

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Derogatis LR (1994) SCL-90-R Symptom Checklist-90-R administration, scoring and procedures manual. National Computer Systems, Minneapolis

    Google Scholar 

  50. Hayes AF (2012) PROCESS: A versatile computational tool for observed variable mediation, moderational, and conditional process modeling [White paper]. Retrieved from http://www.afhayes.com/

  51. Baron RM, Kenny DA (1986) The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol 51:1173–1182

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Fritz MS, MacKinnon DP (2007) Required sample size to detect the mediated effect. Psychol Sci 18:233–239

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Dawson G, Ashman SB, Panagiotides H, Hessl D, Self J, Yamada E, Embry L (2003) Preschool outcomes of children of depressed mothers: role of maternal behavior, contextual risk, and children’s brain activity. Child Dev 74:1158–1175

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Field T, Diego M, Dieter J, Hernandez-Reif M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C et al (2004) Prenatal depression effects on the fetus and the newborn. Infant Behav Dev 27:216–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Goodman SH, Rouse MH, Long Q, Ji S, Brand SR (2011) Deconstructing antenatal depression: what is it that matters for neonatal behavioral functioning? Infant Ment Health J 32:339–361

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Murray L (1992) The impact of postnatal depression on infant development. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 33:543–561

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. Barkley CA (1997) Defiant children: a clinician’s manual for assessment and training, 2nd edn. Guilford, New York

    Google Scholar 

  58. Webster-Stratton C, Reid M (2006) Treatment and prevention of conduct problems: parent training interventions for young children (2–7 years old). In: McCartney K, Phillips D (eds) Blackwell handbook of early childhood development. Blackwell Publishing, Malden, pp 616–641

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  59. Eyberg SM, Robinson EA (1982) Parent–child interaction training: effects on family functioning. J Clin Child Psychol 11:130–137

    Google Scholar 

  60. Thomassin K, Suveg C (2014) Reciprocal positive affect and well-regulated, adjusted children: a unique contribution of fathers. Parent Sci Pract 14:28–46

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Kochanska G (1997) Multiple pathways to conscience for children with different temperaments: from toddlerhood to age 5. Dev Psychol 33:228–240

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Kochanska G, Kim S (2013) A complex interplay among the parent–child relationship, effortful control, and internalized, rule-compatible conduct in young children: evidence from two studies. Dev Psychol 50:8–21

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Fredrickson BL (ed) (2002) Positive emotions handbook of positive psychology. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 120–134

    Google Scholar 

  64. Grolnick WS, Cosgrove TJ, Bridges LJ (1996) Age-graded change in the initiative of positive affect. Infant Behav Dev 19:153–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30 DA027827), Parent Grant awarded to the University of Georgia Center for Contextual Genetics and Prevention Science.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Georgia, 30602-3013, Athens, Georgia

    Molly Davis, Cynthia Suveg & Anne Shaffer

Authors
  1. Molly Davis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cynthia Suveg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anne Shaffer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Molly Davis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Davis, M., Suveg, C. & Shaffer, A. Maternal Positive Affect Mediates the Link Between Family Risk and Preschoolers’ Positive Affect. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 46, 167–175 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-014-0516-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-014-0516-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation