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- Maternal cancer and perception of child psychological adjustment: The role of mother’s anxiety, depression, and parenting stressPublication . Babore, Alessandra; Trumello, Carmen; Brandão, Tânia; Cavallo, Alessandra; Bramanti, Sonia MoniqueA mother’s cancer diagnosis may have consequences for all family members, particularly for children, since it makes a parent less physically and emotionally available, with effects on the relationship with the child and his/her development. The main aim of this study was to analyze children’s psychological adjustment in the context of maternal cancer by considering factors related to the child (i.e., age and sex), the mother (psychological adjustment), and cancer (i.e., time elapsed from the diagnosis and current oncological treatment). Self-report questionnaires investigating mothers’ parenting stress, depression, anxiety, and children’s emotional and behavioral problems were administered to 124 mothers (mean age = 44.52 years; SD = 7.22) diagnosed with cancer. A hierarchical regression analysis highlighted that time since diagnosis and mothers’ anxiety and parenting stress accounted for almost 44% of the variance of the children’s difficulties. Maternal depression, current oncological treatment, and the child’s age and sex were not statistically significant. Higher mothers’ parenting stress and anxiety and a longer time elapsed since the first diagnosis predicted higher levels of children’s emotional and behavioral problems. These findings highlight the need to identify precursors of childhood distress in the context of maternal cancer and to develop structured programs to support both mothers and children.
- Mothers’ responses to children’s emotions and children’s behavior: The mediating role of children’s emotion regulationPublication . Rolo, Catarina; Diniz, Eva; Babore, Alessandra; Brandão, TâniaABSTRACT: While prior research has clearly established links between maternal responses and children’s emotion regulation (ER), the implications of these links for children’s behaviors, especially at school (as reported by their teachers), remain much less explored. This study examined the mediating role of children’s ER in the relationship between maternal reactions to both negative and positive emotions of children and the subsequent behaviors of these children at school. Participants included 56 Portuguese school-aged children (31 boys and 25 girls, aged 6–10 years, mean age = 8.27, SD = 1.27), their mothers (aged 26–55 years, mean age = 38.33, SD = 6.68), and their teachers (n = 7 female teachers) in a multi-informant study. Mothers provided reports on their responses to their children’s emotions and their perceptions of the children’s ER and lability/negativity, while teachers assessed the children’s behavior in the classroom. The results indicated that punitive maternal reactions were associated with greater child lability/negativity, which in turn correlated with increased conduct problems and hyperactivity at school. Conversely, maternal encouragement of expression was linked to reduced lability/negativity, which was associated with fewer emotional symptoms at school. Additionally, maternal problem-focused reactions and guided/empowering responses were associated with reduced child lability/negativity, which in turn correlated with fewer conduct problems and less hyperactivity at school. These findings suggest that maternal responses to children’s emotions can significantly influence children’s behaviors in the classroom via mechanisms involving children’s ER.