The Effect of Maternal Attitude Toward Child's Emotional Expressiveness, Young Child's Attachment Stability, and Emotional Regulation Ability on Young Child's Problematic Behaviors

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the influences of maternal attitude toward child emotional expressiveness, young child attachment stability, and emotion regulation ability on problematic behaviors. The participants of this study consisted of 279 children (age 5), and their mothers, and 48 teachers. Methods The data was analyzed by means of t-test, Pearson correlation, confirmatory factor analysis, and SEM analyses. Results and Conclusion The major findings were as follows. First, higher maternal attitude toward child emotional expressiveness was associated with better child attachment stability. Second, higher child attachment stability was associated with better child emotion regulation at home and lower problematic behavior. Third, higher child emotion regulation at home and in the classroom was associated with lower problematic behavior. Fourth, maternal attitudes toward child emotional expressiveness directly impacted levels of problematic behavior. Fifth, child emotional regulation fully mediated the effect of attachment stability on problematic behavior. Keywords: maternal attitude toward child emotional expressiveness, attachment stability, emotion regulation, problematic behavior