This study examined the mediating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation and the moderating effect of socio-cognitive mindfulness on the relationship between mothers’ childhood parentification and their negative parenting behaviors toward scho...
This study examined the mediating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation and the moderating effect of socio-cognitive mindfulness on the relationship between mothers’ childhood parentification and their negative parenting behaviors toward school-aged children. The purpose was to provide empirical evidence for effective interventions that promote psychological recovery in mothers with a history of parentification, strengthen their competence as healthy and autonomous parents, and foster positive parenting behaviors.
Participants were 330 mothers residing in the Seoul metropolitan area who had school-aged children (elementary through high school). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS PROCESS Macro 4.2. Specifically, Model 4 was employed to verify the mediating effect of difficulties in emotion regulation, and Model 5 was used to test whether socio-cognitive mindfulness moderated the direct path between parentification and negative parenting behaviors. The statistical significance of the findings was further examined using the Johnson–Neyman technique.
The main findings were as follows: First, parentification, difficulties in emotion regulation, and negative parenting behaviors were positively correlated, whereas socio-cognitive mindfulness showed negative correlations with difficulties in emotion regulation and negative parenting behaviors. Second, difficulties in emotion regulation partially mediated the relationship between parentification and negative parenting behaviors. Third, socio-cognitive mindfulness significantly moderated the direct effect of parentification on negative parenting behaviors. Fourth, the Johnson–Neyman analysis revealed a buffering effect: when socio-cognitive mindfulness scores were 5.0 or higher on a 7-point scale, the significant effect of parentification on negative parenting behaviors was no longer observed.
Based on these findings, this study suggests a dual-focused intervention for mothers with parentification experiences—one that emphasizes alleviating difficulties in emotion regulation and enhancing socio-cognitive mindfulness. In particular, counselors can develop strategies aimed at raising socio-cognitive mindfulness to the threshold level of 5.0, thereby dismantling maladaptive mechanisms rooted in parentification and effectively preventing negative parenting behaviors.