Maternal Overcontrol and Young Children's Internalizing Problems in China: The Roles of Social Competence and Teacher-Child Conflict

作者：Sun, Junjuan; Liu, Junsheng; Cheah, Charissa S. L.; Fang, Yue; Weng, Wanjuan; Xue, Zijing; Huang, Minmin; Li, Yan^*

来源：Early Education and Development, 2023, 34(8): 1816-1829.

DOI：10.1080/10409289.2022.2133495

• PARENTAL PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTROL
• SHYNESS-SENSITIVITY
• PEER VICTIMIZATION
• ADJUSTMENT
• SCHOOL
• DISORDERS
• BEHAVIOR
• ADOLESCENTS
• ANXIETY
• STYLE

Research Findings: This study aimed to explore the mediating role of social competence and the moderating role of teacher-child conflict in the relation between maternal overcontrol and Chinese preschooler's internalizing problems. Participants were 216 children aged 3-4 years, from two kindergartens in Shanghai, China. Mothers completed the observation of mother-child interaction task. Teachers completed the assessment of children's social competence, internalizing problems, and teacher-child conflict. Result of mediation showed that maternal overcontrol indirectly predicted child internalizing problems through its negative association with child social competence. Moderated mediation results show that teacher - child conflict moderated the relation between maternal overcontrol and child social competence. Moreover, lower levels of teacher-student conflict can buffer the negative impact of maternal overcontrol on child social competence, and thus reduce children's internalizing problems. Practice or Policy: Maternal overcontrol as a negative parenting is related to children's maladjustment in current China. Reducing teacher-child conflict might alleviate the negative effects of maternal overcontrol on child social adjustment.

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