title: Maternal emotional distress and diminished responsiveness: the mediating role of parenting efficacy and parental perspective taking.
abstract: The present study examined whether the inverse relation between maternal emotional distress and maternal responsiveness was mediated by mothers' parenting efficacy and parental perspective taking. Questionnaire and observational data were gathered from 94 nonclinical mother-adolescent dyads. Emotional distress was measured with multiple indicators of negative affectivity, and responsiveness was measured with self-report and observational indicators of maternal acceptance and psychological autonomy promotion. Analyses indicated that maternal emotional distress was associated with lower levels of mother- and adolescent-reported responsiveness. Moreover, the association was mediated by mothers' perceptions of their parenting efficacy. Processes by which emotional distress may affect parenting efficacy, parental perspective taking and parenting were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA. dawn.gondoli.I@nd.edu
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Gondoli
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Silverberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D019370:Observation; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012938:Social Perception; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*