Objective: This study investigates the main effects and interaction effects of
mother's reactions to young children's negative emotions on the children's
problem behaviors.
Methods: A total of 346 mothers with toddlers completed questionnaires, the data
were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient and multiple regression.
Results: First, mothers’ supportive response to young children’s negative
emotions, including expressive encouragement, emotion-focused reactions, and
problem-focused reactions, showed negative relations with the children’s internal
and external problem behaviors. Mothers' unsupportive response to children’s
negative emotions, including distress reactions, minimization reactions, and
punitive reactions, showed positive relations with the children’s internal and
external problem behaviors. Second, an interactive effect was observed. For
external problem behavior, mothers' lower distress reactions accompanied by
higher emotion-focused reactions, lower punitive reactions accompanied by higher
emotion-focused reactions, lower distress reactions accompanied by higher
problem-focused reactions, and lower punitive reactions accompanied by higher
problem-focused reactions all decreased children′s problem behavior. However,
for internal problem behavior, only mothers' lower distress reactions accompanied
by higher emotion-focused reaction decreased children′s problem behavior.
Conclusion/Implication: The main interaction effect on mothers’ reaction to
young children’s negative emotional expression shows that preventive intervention
is needed to address problem behavior.