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Parental Negative Control Moderates the Shyness–Emotion Regulation Pathway to School-Age Internalizing Symptoms

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Abstract

Models of developmental psychopathology emphasize both mediation and moderation processes among child and caregiving attributes; however, little research has examined both these processes simultaneously on the development of internalizing problems. This study tested a moderated mediation model that related early childhood shyness, emotion regulation and maternal negative control to school-age internalizing problems among 257 boys from low-income families. Shyness and maternal negative control was assessed at ages 1.5–2, emotion regulation was observed at age 3.5, and internalizing symptoms were assessed by mothers and teachers at age 6 or 7. Results indicated that 1) the active distraction regulation strategy mediated the relations between early shyness and maternal report of internalizing symptoms; 2) the passive/dependent regulation strategy mediated the relations between shyness and teacher report of internalizing symptoms; and 3) both mediation processes were moderated by maternal negative control. The results are discussed in relation to implications for early prevention and intervention.

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Notes

  1. To account for potential inflation in the path coefficients, we also fitted the same series of SEM models with age-2 maternal rating of internalizing symptoms as a control variable (with its associations with the mediators and the dependent variable estimated). Results were similar to those reported above when age-2 internalizing problems was not in the model. The only difference was that at low levels of maternal negative control, the total indirect effect (the mediation effect) was just statistically significant, with .00 at the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval (B = 0.06, SE = 0.03, p = 0.05, 95% CI [0.00, 0.13]).

  2. We were unable to control for earlier teacher assessment of internalizing problems, as age 6 was the youngest age when teacher assessment of internalizing problems was available.

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Acknowledgment

The research reported in this paper was supported by grants to Daniel Shaw from the National Institute of Mental Health, grants MH 50907 and MH 01666. We are grateful to the work of the staff of the Pitt Mother and Child Project for their years of service, and to the families who participated in the study for making the research possible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human Development and Family Science, College of Education and Human Ecology, The Ohio State University, 171B Campbell Hall, 1787 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210-1220, USA

    Xin Feng

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 S. Bouquet Street, 4101 Sennott Square, Pittsburgh, PA, 15260-0001, USA

    Daniel S. Shaw

  3. Department of Technology, Learning & Culture, West Virginia University, 506B Allen Hall, P.O. Box 6122, Morgantown, WV, 26506-6122, USA

    Kristin L. Moilanen

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Feng, X., Shaw, D.S. & Moilanen, K.L. Parental Negative Control Moderates the Shyness–Emotion Regulation Pathway to School-Age Internalizing Symptoms. J Abnorm Child Psychol 39, 425–436 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-010-9469-z

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