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Maternal Acceptance as a Moderator of the Relation Between Threat to Self Appraisals and Mental Health Problems in Adolescents from Divorced Families

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Abstract

Appraisals about the implications of stressful events that are evaluated as involving a threat to self (negative self-evaluation, negative evaluation from others, rejection by others) have been shown to place youth at risk for the development of mental health problems. This longitudinal study tested a protective-stabilizing interactive model, in which high maternal acceptance was predicted to mitigate the prospective relation between threat to self appraisals and change in adolescents’ mental health problems six months later. Participants were 89 adolescents from divorced families ages 10–12 and residential mothers. Adolescents reported on threat to self appraisals from the most stressful event experienced in the past month. Mothers and youth reported on maternal acceptance and mental health problems. Multiple regression analyses provided support for the protective effects of maternal acceptance on adolescents’ mental health problems. Intervention implications are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The writing of this paper was funded in part by National Institute of Mental Health grants P3OMH39246, 2 T32 MH18387-19, and 1 P30 MH068685-01 which are gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Linda Luecken, Darya Bonds, Emily Winslow, Qing Zhou, and Daniel Soper for their contributions to this paper. We are also grateful to the mothers and children for their participation in the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program for Prevention Research, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 876005, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA

    Ana C. Brown & Sharlene A. Wolchik

  2. Research Methodology Core of the Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Jenn-Yun Tein

  3. Department of Psychology and Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA

    Irwin N. Sandler

Authors
  1. Ana C. Brown
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  2. Sharlene A. Wolchik
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  3. Jenn-Yun Tein
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  4. Irwin N. Sandler
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ana C. Brown or Sharlene A. Wolchik.

Additional information

Ana Brown is a pre-doctoral fellow in prevention research (NIMH 2 T32 MH18387–19) and doctoral student in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Research interests include the study of children’s appraisals and responses to stressful events in the prevention of mental health problems.

Sharlene Wolchik is a clinical psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Her research focuses on identifying risk and protective factors for children whose parents have divorced. She also has designed and evaluated the efficacy of preventive interventions for children from divorced families and children who have experienced parental bereavement.

Jenn-Yun Tein is a research associate professor and Co-Director of the Research Methodology Core of the Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Her research interests include analyses of mediation and moderation of preventive interventions as well as applications of methodology and statistics in prevention research.

Irwin Sandler is a Regents’ Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the Prevention Research Center at Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. His research interests focus on understanding resilience for children exposed to stress and on the development, evaluation and dissemination of programs to promote resilience and prevent mental health problems for children in stress.

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Brown, A.C., Wolchik, S.A., Tein, JY. et al. Maternal Acceptance as a Moderator of the Relation Between Threat to Self Appraisals and Mental Health Problems in Adolescents from Divorced Families. J Youth Adolescence 36, 927–938 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9079-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9079-9

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