Associations Between Maternal Negative Affectivity and Young Children's Disruptive Behavior Problems: The Mediating Effect of Callous-Unemotional Traits.

Zhao, Yingying; Gagne, Jeffrey R.; Yu, Fanyi; Chang, Chi-Ning

The current study examined associations between maternal negative affectivity (NA) and child disruptive behavior problems. The mediating role of child callous-unemotional (CU) traits in these relationships was also investigated. A multilevel mediation modeling approach was adopted using a sample of 100 families with children between 2.5 and 5.5 years of age (N = 201; mean age = 3.8, standard deviation = 1.0). The mediation models showed significant mediating effects of maternal NA through CU traits for ADHD (β = 0.12, p<.01), ODD (β =0.13, p<.01), and aggression (β =0.16, p<.001), and a significant direct effect for aggression (β = 0.12, p<.05). A structural equation modeling analysis was also performed, and overall, the results were consistent with that from mediation models, which suggested that child CU traits were significantly correlated with maternal NA (β = 0.252, p<.001), ADHD (β = 0.504, p<.001), ODD (β = 0.545, p<.001), and aggression (β = 0.686, p<.001). Our results indicated that maternal NA could serve as a potential risk factor for child CU, which, in turn, may contribute to disruptive behavior during early childhood.

MEDIATION (Statistics); STRUCTURAL equation modeling; BEHAVIOR disorders in children; MULTILEVEL models; STANDARD deviations

Journal of Genetic Psychology, 2024, Vol 185, Issue 4, p244

0022-1325

Academic Journal

10.1080/00221325.2023.2280610