Mediating and Moderating Processes in the Relation between Maltreatment and Psychopathology: Mother-Child Relationship Quality and Emotion Regulation

• DOI: 10.1007/s10802-009-9314-4
• Publication Date: 2009-03-19T16:08:42Z
• Authors: Lenneke R. A. Alink; Dante Cicchetti; Jungmeen Kim; Fred A. Rogosch
• Keywords: Analysis of Variance; Urban Population; Mental Disorders; Emotions; Article; Mother-Child Relations; Psychiatry and Mental health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Risk Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Developmental and Educational Psychology; Humans; Female; Child Abuse; Child; Internal-External Control

The present study investigated underlying processes of the effect maltreatment on psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing problems) in a group 111 maltreated 110 nonmaltreated 7-10 year-old children (60% boys). We tested moderating and/or mediating roles emotion regulation mother-child relationship quality (pattern relatedness) using Structural Equation Modeling. Emotion regulation, but not pattern relatedness, mediated relation between psychopathology. This mediation was moderated by relatedness: For with an insecure related to lower levels which predictive higher symptomatology. In contrast, for secure relatedness group, there no since impact significant. Implications role buffering were discussed.