EXPLORING THE MEDIATING ROLE OF COGNITIVE VULNERABILITIES IN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTING PRACTICES AND CHILD INTERNALIZING PROBLEMS

Abstract

Negative parenting practices have been identified in literature to be related to childhood internalizing problems, and possibly as an antecedent for future psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression and social phobia. The developmental processes through which negative parenting leads to such internalizing problems are however, less well defined due to diverse methodological approaches taken to examine the topic. A possible hypothesis could be that negative parenting predicts childhood internalizing problems through intensifying certain cognitive vulnerabilities that increase the risk of developing depressive and anxiety disorders. The present study seeks to investigate whether specific cognitive vulnerabilities (i.e., dysfunctional attitudes, negative cognitive style, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation) mediate the relationship between negative parenting practices and childhood internalizing problems, through a three-year longitudinal study conducted with elementary school-aged children in Singapore. Results suggested that cognitive vulnerabilities mediate the relationship between negative parenting and depression, but not anxiety and social phobia. Implications for the results will also be discussed.