Contributions Of Maternal Mental Health, Parenting And Marital Relationship To East Asian American Children’s Adjustment

Ozair Qazi
Mentor: Dr. Charissa Cheah, Psychology

Abstract:

East Asian immigrant mothers face multiple stressors during the acculturation process and are at risk for developing depressive symptoms, which may negatively influence their parent-child relationship and, consequently, their children’s behavioral adjustment. Positive marital relationships could buffer against these negative effects on children’s adjustment. The present study examined the mediating role of East Asian immigrant mother’s parental warmth in the association between maternal depressive symptoms and children’s behavioral adjustment, and the moderating role of marital relationship quality on the association between maternal warmth and children’s behavioral adjustment. First-generation East Asian immigrant mothers (N=357) with preschool-aged children in Maryland reported their depressive symptoms, parental warmth, and marital relationship quality. Teachers reported children’s socio-emotional and behavioral outcomes. Results showed that maternal depressive symptoms were associated with less maternal warmth. In turn, lower maternal warmth was related to greater adjustment difficulties in children, but only when mothers reported lower levels of marital relationship quality. These findings suggest that positive marital relationship may provide additional resources to buffer against the negative effects of maternal depressive symptoms on children’s adjustment outcomes in school. Implications for promoting East Asian families’ mental health, positive relationship quality and children’s adjustment in the United States will be discussed.

This work was funded, in part, through an Undergraduate Research Award from the UMBC Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

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