Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Preschoolers' Helping, Sharing, and Comforting: The Moderating Role of Child Attachment.

ABSTRACT: Maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) are inconsistently associated with lower rates of child prosocial behavior. Studies typically examine prosocial behavior as a unitary construct rather than examining its multiple dimensions, and rarely consider how the quality of the parent-child relationship could influence this association.Objective: The current study examines whether the security of the parent-child attachment relationship moderates the association between MDS and children's helping, sharing, and comforting behaviors.Method: Participants were 164 low-income, majority African American mothers and their preschool-aged children recruited from Head Start centers. Mothers reported the frequency of depressive symptoms at baseline; child attachment security and helping, sharing,

SUBMITTER: Brett BE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8215845 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature