Maternal Anger Research Articles

Developmental history of care and control, depression and anger: Correlates of maternal sensitivity in toddlerhood.

This study examined maternal sensitivity in response to toddler distress in relation to mothers' childhood care and control experiences with parents, maternal depression, and maternal anger. Fifty-two mothers and infants participated. Mothers reported childhood care and control experiences prenatally. At 2½ years, mothers reported depressive symptoms and anger on questionnaires, and reported maternal behavior in a daily diary for 1 week, yielding ratings of maternal sensitivity to fear and anger. Results were as follows: (a) Mothers' acceptance during childhood correlated negatively with both maternal depression and maternal anger, and positively with maternal sensitivity to fear at 2½ years; (b) maternal anger mediated the association between childhood care and maternal sensitivity to fear at 2½ years; and (c) the interaction of maternal and paternal control during childhood predicted maternal sensitivity to anger at 2½ years, controlling for maternal education. When maternal control was low, paternal control was positively associated with maternal sensitivity to anger whereas when maternal control was high, paternal control was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity to anger. Results are discussed in relation to prior studies, with particular emphasis on attachment theory. Implications for preventive intervention efforts are considered.

ADHD and Anger Contexts: Electronic Diary Mood Reports from Mothers and Children

Using electronic diaries (eDiaries), this study examined temporal links between child and maternal anger, as well as positive mood and perceived stress, in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) versus comparison peers. Across 7 days, half-hourly eDiaries were completed independently by mothers and their 8-12-year-old children (51 receiving medication for ADHD and 58 comparison peers). Cross-informant analyses revealed systematic patterns of negative maternal moods in relation to child anger in both groups along with evidence of slower recovery in the ADHD group. Analogously, for both groups, children's anger reports increased and good-mood reports decreased in relation to maternal anger, whereas elevated stress in relation to maternal anger was restricted to children with ADHD. The findings indicate that a negative affective climate is more likely to persist in ADHD than in comparison families. They also affirm the utility of child as well as parent eDiary reports and suggest that children may be willing to report low positive mood when reluctant to report negative mood. The promise of incorporating real-time data on mood patterning into tailored treatments for children with ADHD and their families is discussed.

Respect‐based Control and Anger as Determinants of Children's Socio‐emotional Development

AbstractShortly after the birth of their infants, teenage working‐class mothers were assessed on attitudes toward the need for deference to family authority (respect‐based control) and anger. Their children's internalizing and externalizing problems and self‐esteem were assessed approximately 12 years later. High respect‐based control was linked to higher levels of externalizing problems in boys, regardless of level of maternal anger. Mothers who were low in anger and high in respect‐based control had children who exhibited higher levels of self‐esteem. Respect‐based control predicted inconsistent rule enforcement, but not lack of warmth or harsh parenting. Arguments are made for distinguishing among various forms of control (e.g., authoritarian, psychological, behavioral, and respect‐based) as well as the affective context in which they are administered in order to achieve an adequate understanding of the socialization process.

Predicting Maternal Discipline Responses to Early Child Aggression: The Role of Cognitions and Affect

SYNOPSIS Objective . To test models relating maternal cognitions, anger, and dysfunctional discipline responses to mother-directed toddler aggression. Design . In a cross-sectional design, maternal cognitions (intentionality, negative appraisal, and learning ability) and anger were modeled using path analyses as mediated predictors of overreactive and lax discipline responses to child-to-mother aggression in a community sample of 236 mothers of 4- to 71-month-old children. Results . Maternal anger mediated relations between maternal cognitions of intentionality, negative appraisal, and learning ability and overreactive discipline in response to child aggression. Maternal anger also mediated relations between negative appraisal and lax discipline. Maternal assessments of children's learning ability were directly associated with lax responses to child aggression. Conclusion . These results are consistent with the social information processing model that interpretation and evaluations of child behavior influence emotional arousal, which, in turn, influences the choice of discipline response.

Maternal depression and trait anger as risk factors for escalated physical discipline.

To test the hypothesized anger-mediated relation between maternal depression and escalation of physical discipline, 122 economically disadvantaged mothers were assessed for current and lifetime diagnoses of depression using the Current Depressive Episode, Past Depression, and Dysthymia sections of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and a measure of current depressive symptoms, the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II). Escalation of physical discipline was assessed using a video analog parenting task; maternal anger not specific to discipline was assessed using the Spielberger Trait Anger Expression Inventory. Reports of anger were associated with the diagnosis of depression and depressive symptoms. Bootstrap analyses of indirect effects indicated that the link between depression and escalated discipline was mediated by anger. Parallel analyses based on BDI-II scores identified a marginally significant indirect effect of depression on discipline. Findings suggest that anger and irritability are central to the putative link between depression and harsh discipline.

ADHD and Aggression as Correlates of Suicidal Behavior in Assaultive Prepubertal Psychiatric Inpatients

Forty-three psychiatrically hospitalized prepubertal children were assessed regarding their assaultive and suicidal behaviors. These children were subsequently classified into two groups, assaultive/suicidal (AS) and assaultive-only (AO). AS children had higher aggression and suicidal-scale scores, but not higher depression scores, and were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD, child's aggression, and maternal depression and state anger accounted for 33% of the variance in suicidal-scale scores. Aggression mediated the relation between ADHD and suicidal behavior. Differences in symptom pattern between these two subtypes of assaultive inpatient children are interpreted as a basis for distinctive screening procedures.

Correlates of Parental Differential Treatment: Parental and Contextual Factors During Middle Childhood

The current study examined whether parental and contextual risk factors contribute to mothers' and fathers' differential treatment (MDT/FDT) when accounting for sibling dyad characteristics. Also explored was whether family type (single mothers vs. 2 parents) moderated the links between the parental and contextual correlates and MDT. One hundred and seventy-two families with older (M= 7.4 years) and younger (M= 5.2 years) siblings were studied. Parents and children reported about the parent-child relationship, and parents reported about the children's characteristics, their own psychological resources, and contextual factors. Controlling for sibling dyad characteristics, FDT was predicted most consistently by household chaos. Furthermore, single mothers were not at risk per se for using more MDT but only when coupled with high maternal anger.

The Association Between Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy and Maternal Behavior During the Neonatal Period

This study examined the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and maternal behavior during mother‐infant interactions during the neonatal period. Participants included 84 mother‐infant dyads (43 cigarette‐exposed and 41 nonexposed) who were recruited after birth and assessed at 2 to 4 weeks of infant age. Results indicated that mothers who smoked during pregnancy had higher levels of maternal insensitivity (MI) and lower levels of maternal warmth (MW) during interactions with their infant even after controlling for demographics and pregnancy alcohol use. Maternal anxiety and hostility mediated the association between smoking and MI and maternal anger mediated the association between smoking and reduced MW. In addition, there was an interaction between infant gender and maternal smoking for MW with smokers displaying less warmth to boys during interactions.

De-Demonising Cain … and Wondering Why?

Freud’s theory of sibling rivalry is cited relatively frequently by both biblical scholars and psychodynamic theorists as an explanation for Cain’s murder of Abel. But this seems inadequate to explain fully the dynamics of the story. There seem to be two intergenerational processes at work in Cain’s violence that are often overlooked by biblical exegetes – maternal anger and paternal shaming. Yet this too seems overly-simplistic. A man – Cain – is so angry that he wants to murder someone. But who does he want to murder: the brother who seems to have stolen divine favour from him? The biological father whose shame he already carries, so that it erupts when he is shamed again? Or the great Father, the heavenly Lover with the ultimate power to bless or destroy?

Longitudinal analyses of risk‐disorder pathways: the key to early identification and targeted intervention

Longitudinal analyses of risk‐disorder pathways: the key to early identification and targeted intervention

Teenage mothers’ anger over twelve years: partner conflict, partner transitions and children's anger

This study examined the effects of maternal anger, partner transitions and partner conflict on later oppositional and angry behavior of the children of teenage mothers. One hundred and twenty-one teenage women were interviewed prior to the birth of the baby and at 3 points subsequently, when children were newborn, 7 years old and 12 years old. Child and teacher reports of children's oppositional behavior were obtained. Women who showed higher levels of anger at Time 1 experienced more conflict with partners and more partner transitions over the next 12 years than women with lower levels of anger. Partner conflict was a stronger predictor of children's oppositional and angry behavior than partner transitions. Maternal anger at Time 1 was associated with maternal anger at Time 4 but neither predicted children's oppositional behavior at Time 4. There was support for the theoretical model that suggested that the personality characteristics of teenaged mothers confer some of their risk to children through children's exposure to the mothers' problematic partner relationships.

Toward Mapping Daily Challenges of Living with ADHD: Maternal and Child Perspectives Using Electronic Diaries

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has an impact on the family as well as the affected child. This study developed and tested an electronic diary for mapping the challenges of everyday family life in a sample of children with ADHD being treated with pharmacotherapy. Across 7 days, mothers and children (27 ADHD; 25 non-ADHD) independently reported their moods, behaviors, and social contexts every 30 min during nonschool hours. Symptomatic behaviors and negative moods were elevated in the ADHD group, combined with maternal perceptions of lower parenting effectiveness and quality of life. Differences in the contexts of maternal anger were salient, with mothers in the ADHD group more often angry when with their children and comparison mothers more often angry when not. Although mothers' diaries were more informative, children's diaries also distinguished the two groups, especially during mornings and weekends. The need for family-wide interventions, the utility of child self-reports, and the promise of electronic diaries are discussed.

The developmental origins of cognitive vulnerability to depression: Temperament, parenting, and negative life events in childhood as contributors to negative cognitive style.

Cognitive models of depression have been well supported with adults, but the developmental origins of cognitive vulnerability are not well understood. The authors hypothesized that temperament, parenting, and negative life events in childhood would contribute to the development of cognitive style, with withdrawal negativity and negative parental feedback moderating the effects of negative life events to predict more depressogenic cognitive styles. These constructs were assessed in 289 children and their parents followed longitudinally from infancy to 5th grade; a subsample (n = 120) also participated in a behavioral task in which maternal feedback to child failure was observed. Results indicated that greater withdrawal negativity in interaction with negative life events was associated with more negative cognitive styles. Self-reported maternal anger expression and observed negative maternal feedback to child's failure significantly interacted with child's negative events to predict greater cognitive vulnerability. There was little evidence of paternal parenting predicting child negative cognitive style.

Maternal use of physical punishment in response to child misbehavior: implications for child abuse prevention

Objective: The objective was to examine the roles of cognition and affect in maternal use of physical punishment. Method: Through a review of the literature, distal and proximal predictors (cognitive and affective) of physical punishment use were identified. One hundred and ten mothers of 3-year-old children were interviewed regarding two disciplinary situations that occurred during the previous 2-week period that elicited their strongest reactions: one which resulted in the use of physical punishment (if this occurred) and one which did not. The individual and combined contributions of the predictors of physical punishment use were analyzed through logistic regression. Results: The predictors of physical punishment following individual analyses were: maternal attitude toward physical punishment, maternal perception of the seriousness and intent of the child misbehavior, and maternal anger in response to the child misbehavior. Through multivariate analysis 54% of the variance in physical punishment use was explained. Conclusions: Both cognitive and affective factors affect the decision to use physical punishment with children. These findings can be useful in establishing parenting educational programming that is directed at decreasing the rates of physical punishment and subsequently child physical abuse.

Parental substance use consequences and adolescent psychopathology.

This study examines the relationship between parental substance use consequences and adolescent psychological problems by gender of the adolescent and gender of the parent. The data in this study were collected between 1989 and 1994 from 173 (116 proband and 57 control) families participating in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) project. All 173 adolescents (89 [51%] boys) completed the Structured Assessment Record of Alcoholic Homes (SARAH) to assess parental substance use consequences. In addition, the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism for Adolescents (C-SSAGA-A) was administered to all adolescents to obtain clinical psychiatric diagnoses. Concern about mother's substance use was significantly associated with adolescent alcohol dependence and major depressive disorder. In addition, concern about father's substance use was significantly related to adolescent alcohol dependence. Avoidance of mother when she was drinking or using drugs and maternal anger when drinking or using drugs also was significantly associated with adolescent alcohol dependence, conduct disorder and major depressive disorder. In contrast, avoidance of father and paternal anger when drinking or using drugs was not related to any of the adolescent diagnoses. These results suggest that maternal substance use consequences may be more closely linked to adolescent psychological adjustment than are paternal substance use consequences.

Temporal relations in daily-reported maternal mood and disruptive child behavior.

Examined temporal relations between maternal mood and disruptive child behaviour using daily assessments of 30 mother-child dyads carried out over 8 consecutive weeks (623 pooled observations). Pooled time-series analyses showed synchronous fluctuation in child behaviour and maternal distress. Time-lagged models showed temporal relations between maternal and child outcomes that changed according to the type of maternal mood and child behaviour being reported. Controlling for cross-sectional relations, maternal anger and fatigue were related to previous child inattentive/impulsive/overactive behaviour (IO) and maternal confusion related to previous child oppositional/defiant behaviour (OD). However, maternal depression, low vigour, anger, and anxiety each predicted subsequent child IO and maternal confusion and anxiety each predicted subsequent child OD. Mutual influences on maternal and child functioning were interpreted in the context of interpersonal mechanisms that mediate psychological problems within families and their implications for treatment.

Family Cohesiveness, Flexibility and Maternal Anger

The present chapter examines the relationship between family structure, as expressed in cohesion and adaptability, as well as the emotional state-parental anger-with children's behavior problems. Specifically, divorced mothers and one of their adolescent children were tested in a multiple respondent design in which both mothers and children rated children's behavior problems. High levels of family cohesion and adaptability were predicted to be related to fewer behavior problems. It was also predicted that high anger levels in mothers would be associated with more behavior problems in children than medium levels, while low levels of anger were examined post hoc. The predictions with regard to family structure were confirmed with the highest level of cohesion and adaptability related to the fewest behavior problems, while the lowest level was related to the most behavior problems when mothers rated these problems, as predicted. In contrast, when children performed the ratings they indicated the most behavior problems at high levels of cohesion and adaptability. As for parental anger, an interaction was found between state-anger and gender. Girls had more behavior problems at higher levels of maternal state-anger, as predicted. In contrast, boys were found to have few behavior problems at high levels of maternal anger. In both cases this occurred whether mothers or children rated behavior problems. There were also respondent differences, with mothers rating their boys' behavior problems higher at medium versus low levels of state-anger, while boys tended to rate their behavior problems as higher at low versus high levels of maternal anger. These findings were explained in terms of adolescent children's needs for clear role hierarchies, stability, and parental assertiveness to promote optimal adjustment.

'When I say a naughty word'. A longitudinal study of young children's accounts of anger and sadness in themselves and close others

Understanding negative emotion is important for young children's social relationships, yet there is very little research on children's perceptions of emotions in people with whom they share a close relationship. In one exception, Dunn and Hughes (1998) reported: (1) qualitative contrasts in 4‐year‐olds' accounts of the causes of emotions in self, mother and best friend (e.g. maternal anger was better understood than was friends' anger, but accounts of sadness showed the opposite pattern) and (2) significant correlations between overall response quality and both language and theory of mind performance. This study applied the same methods to a larger (N = 87) and more diverse sample of 4‐year‐olds, who were all interviewed again at age 7. Significant agerelated increases in children's accounts of anger and sadness were found in (1) reference to specific agents, especially peers and siblings; (2) themes of loss (for sadness) and interpersonal control (for anger) and (3) frequency of mental‐state reference. Seven‐year‐old girls referred more often than boys to agents and loss/control themes; mental‐state reference showed no gender difference at either time point. Our results highlight striking individual differences, a significant association between theory of mind performance and the diversity of children's emotion accounts, and the particular salience of mental states in children's accounts of sadness.

When My Mommy Was Angry, I Was Speechless

SUMMARY This study examined relations among poverty-related risk, mothers' self-report of negative emotional expressiveness, and children's representations of maternal anger and sadness (N = 46). Children's accuracy was lower when identifying negative emotions than when identifying positive emotions. Significant differences between children exposed to high versus low levels of maternal negative expressiveness were found. Children of highly negative mothers were less accurate in identifying maternal anger, used fewer anger-related terms, and described maternal anger as significantly less intense. These children also were significantly more likely to generate punitive solutions to child anger and irrelevant/incomplete solutions to maternal sadness than were children with less emotionally negative mothers. Support was also found for the negative impact of poverty-related risk on emotional processes within the family. These findings are discussed in light of models of emotion socialization, risk, and resilience among low-income families.

Emotional Competence, Emotion Socialization, and Young Children's Peer-Related Social Competence

This study investigated linkages between aspects of emotional competence and preschoolers' social skills with peers. Whether parental emotion socialization practices contributed to the prediction of social skill once emotional competence was statistically controlled was also of interest. Eighty-one predominantly Caucasian preschoolers were videotaped as they participated in three same-sex triadic peer situations. Four peer variables were coded from the videotapes: social initiations, the frequency with which children were the targets of positive social bids, non-constructive anger-related reactions, and prosocial acts. The emotional competence measures included situation knowledge, children's explanations of emotions, positivity of emotional expression during peer play, and emotional intensity. Maternal anger directed at the child was the measure of emotion socialization. Results revealed that the emotional competence variables were meaningfully related to the peer variables and that, for non-constructive anger reactions, maternal reports of anger explained unique variance. Results are discussed in terms of how emotional competence and emotion socialization contribute to peer behavior and the importance of designing and implementing affective intervention programs for young children and their families.