Hannah Hunter1, Kristy Benoit Allen1, Ran Liu2, Julia Jaekel3,4, Martha Ann Bell5. 1. Department of Psychology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. 2. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, United States. 3. Department of Psychology, Child and Family Studies, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. 4. Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. 5. Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Myriad parenting behaviors have been linked to the development of internalizing disorders in children. Intrusive parenting, characterized by autonomy-limiting behaviors that hold the parent's agenda above that of the child, may uniquely contribute to the development of child internalizing symptoms. The current study investigates bidirectional effects between maternal intrusiveness and internalizing symptomology from infancy to middle childhood. METHODS: Participants were a community sample of 218 infant-mother dyads assessed at 7 time points (5 and 10 months; 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 years). Maternal intrusiveness was behaviorally coded at all timepoints; mothers completed the CBCL for their child at ages 3, 4, 6, and 9 years. The empirically derived Internalizing subscale was used to assess child internalizing symptoms. RESULTS: About 1/3 to ½ of mothers displayed maternal intrusiveness across infancy and childhood, with the exception of ages 2-3 years, when an increase in the number of mothers displaying intrusiveness was observed. A cross-lagged panel model showed that intrusiveness and internalizing symptoms were concurrently related at 3 years, but this relationship disappeared when we controlled for maternal education. There was no evidence of prospective relationships between our constructs. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers in a community-based sample may increase intrusiveness in the toddler and early preschool years as children strive for more autonomy. Intrusiveness may play more of a maintenance role in child internalizing symptoms, and associations between maternal intrusiveness and child internalizing symptomatology may be weaker than hypothesized, varying by maternal education. Suggestions for assessing intrusive parenting in future studies are discussed.
BACKGROUND: Myriad parenting behaviors have been linked to the development of internalizing disorders in children. Intrusive parenting, characterized by autonomy-limiting behaviors that hold the parent's agenda above that of the child, may uniquely contribute to the development of child internalizing symptoms. The current study investigates bidirectional effects between maternal intrusiveness and internalizing symptomology from infancy to middle childhood. METHODS: Participants were a community sample of 218 infant-mother dyads assessed at 7 time points (5 and 10 months; 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9 years). Maternal intrusiveness was behaviorally coded at all timepoints; mothers completed the CBCL for their child at ages 3, 4, 6, and 9 years. The empirically derived Internalizing subscale was used to assess child internalizing symptoms. RESULTS: About 1/3 to ½ of mothers displayed maternal intrusiveness across infancy and childhood, with the exception of ages 2-3 years, when an increase in the number of mothers displaying intrusiveness was observed. A cross-lagged panel model showed that intrusiveness and internalizing symptoms were concurrently related at 3 years, but this relationship disappeared when we controlled for maternal education. There was no evidence of prospective relationships between our constructs. CONCLUSIONS: Mothers in a community-based sample may increase intrusiveness in the toddler and early preschool years as children strive for more autonomy. Intrusiveness may play more of a maintenance role in child internalizing symptoms, and associations between maternal intrusiveness and child internalizing symptomatology may be weaker than hypothesized, varying by maternal education. Suggestions for assessing intrusive parenting in future studies are discussed.
Authors: Lenneke R A Alink; Judi Mesman; Jantien van Zeijl; Mirjam N Stolk; Femmie Juffer; Hans M Koot; Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg; Marinus H van Ijzendoorn Journal: Child Dev Date: 2006 Jul-Aug