The mediating role of emotional control in the link between parenting and young children's physical aggression

ABSTRACT

Aggression in early childhood has been found to predict future psychopathology, academic problems, and delinquency. In a sample of 136 mother–child pairs (M_age = 4 years, 11 months, SD = 11 months, 58% boys) associations among mothers’ responding with distress to children's negative emotions, children's emotional control, and children's physically aggressive behaviours were explored. Children's emotional control problems mediated the relation between mothers’ distress responses and children's physical aggression – higher levels of distress responses by mothers to children's negative emotions were associated with increases in emotional control problems in children, which in turn were associated with higher levels of children's physical aggression. Contrary to expectations, children's negative emotionality (i.e. temperament) did not significantly moderate the association between mothers’ responding with distress to children's negative emotions and children's emotional control problems. Results emphasize the importance of focusing on children's emotional control skills and adaptive maternal responses to children's negative emotions.

KEYWORDS:

• Aggression
• young children
• distress reactions
• parenting

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the families who participated in this study. We would like to thank Robert Clark, Holly Ambrose, Adam Kayfitz, and Simone Foster for their assistance with this study. This research was supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Doctoral Scholarship to the first author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Sara Eileen Woods, PhD, completed her graduate training in Clinical Psychology (Child track) at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. She then completed a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Washington and now works as a psychologist at the University of Washington Autism Center and Olympic Psychology Services in Tacoma, WA.

Rosanne Menna, PhD, is a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario and a licensed clinical child psychologist. She is active in the supervision and training of clinicians. Her research interests include developmental psychopathology, parentchild relationships, and early intervention.

Annamaria J. McAndrew is a graduate student inthe Clinical Psychology program (Child track) at the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario. Her research interests include social influences on the development of psychopathology in children and adolescents, withspecific interests in the development of disordered eating behaviours and in young peoples' attitudes towards seeking help for psychological issues.