Maternal Reactions to Preschoolers’ Negative Emotions and Aggression: Gender Difference in Mediation of Emotion Regulation

The present study examined the indirect effect of emotion regulation in the relationship between Maternal Reactions to Preschoolers’ Negative Emotions (MRPNE) and aggression, and explored the gender difference in this mediational mechanism.

We used questionnaires to survey 271 dyads of four- to five-year-olds and their mothers. To measure the research variables, Coping with Children’s Negative Emotions Scales (CCNES), Emotion Regulation Checklist (ERC), and Preschool Social Behavior Scale-Teacher Form (PSBS-TF) were used. SPSS 24.0 and Mplus 5.12 were used to analyze.

Preschoolers’ emotion regulation was found to mediate the relationship between supportive/non-supportive maternal reaction to preschoolers’ negative emotions and aggression. A significant gender difference was observed. In the case of boys, only non-supportive maternal reaction showed a significant effect on preschoolers’ aggression via emotion regulation, and the indirect effect was significantly higher. In the case of girls, both supportive and non-supportive maternal reactions showed a significant effect.

These findings suggest that the effect of maternal emotion-related parenting behaviors may differ by gender. Thus, gender differences should be considered when developing intervention and prevention programs for preschoolers’ aggression.