International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

International Journal of Behavioral Sciences

The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation in the Relationship between Maternal Mentalization and Child Resilience

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Aida Faraji 1
Zahra Karimifard 2
Zahra Goudarzi 1
Fatemeh Ramezannia 3
Saeid Ghanbari 1
1 Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
3 Department of General Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Tehran University, Tehran, Iran
10.30491/ijbs.2024.424857.2046
Abstract
Introduction: Resilience, which is negatively associated with psychological disorders, is mainly shaped during childhood and is greatly affected by parents. Previous studies have shown that maternal mentalization is linked to child emotion regulation, and emotion regulation is confirmed to be correlated with resilience in children. In addition, some studies have shown that mothers’ mentalization is negatively correlated with internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children. However, no study has examined the influence of maternal mentalization on children’s resilience. We hypothesized that mothers’ higher mentalization increases their children’s resilience, both directly and via the mediating role of emotion regulation.
Method: We used convenient sampling to test our hypothesis and gathered data from 362 mothers with 2 to 12 years old children. The data were analyzed by a zero-order correlation and Structural Equation Model (SEM).
Results: According to the findings of the present study, the results confirmed our hypothesis.
Conclusion: We can use these findings to design mentalization-based interventions to establish resilience in children, preventing them from developing mental health conditions
Keywords
Resilience
Mentalization
Reflective Functioning
Emotion Regulation
Parenting

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International Journal of Behavioral Sciences
Volume 18, Issue 1
Spring 2024
Pages 37-43