144 Research Summary: Does Maternal Sensitivity Mediate the Intergenerational Impact of Maternal Emotion Dysregulation?

Faculty Mentor: Lee Raby (Psychology, University of Utah)

Emotion dysregulation involves difficulties with recognizing and accepting one’s emotions and modulating emotional responses and behaviors to act in alignment with one’s goals. Mothers’ emotion dysregulation may have intergenerational implications for the developing child. Of particular interest in this study are children’s risks of developing socioemotional difficulties underlying psychopathology. Maternal sensitivity may be involved in mediating the impact of a mother’s emotion dysregulation on the young child’s socioemotional outcomes. Parental sensitivity is generally conceptualized as an ability to “follow the child’s lead” through an awareness of their needs, moods, interests, and capabilities. The aims of the current study are: (1) to test whether mothers’ emotion dysregulation during pregnancy predicts toddlers’ socioemotional outcomes and (2) examine whether maternal sensitivity during infancy mediates the intergenerational association between maternal emotion dysregulation and toddlers’ socioemotional outcomes. Data were collected from 385 mother-infant dyads (average age = 29 years) who were recruited while pregnant. Mothers’ self-reported difficulties with emotion regulation were assessed at a prenatal visit. The mothers were observed interacting with their infants during a non-distressing 10-minute play task when their infants were approximately 7 months old, and their sensitivity to the infants’ signals was rated by a team of trained coders using a series of 5-point Likert scales. When the children were age 18 months, mothers reported on their toddlers’ socioemotional difficulties using a well validated parent-report measure. Consistent with my first hypothesis, the results indicated that mothers who report higher prenatal emotion dysregulation had toddlers with greater externalizing behavior problems, internalizing behavior problems, and dysregulation. Contrary to my second hypothesis, maternal sensitivity did not significantly mediate these intergenerational associations. Specifically, mothers with higher prenatal emotion dysregulation were not less sensitive during non-distressing mother-infant interactions, and maternal sensitivity during infancy did not predict toddlers’ socioemotional outcomes. This study aims to support a growing understanding that programs designed to support maternal mental health may also have benefits for their children. It’s possible that home visiting programs and other interventions aimed at promoting maternal sensitivity may be effective at disrupting intergenerational cycles of socioemotional difficulties.