Cognitive emotion regulation strategies of children and mothers; examination of mediator roles between childhood traumas, stress, depression, anxiety and diadic relations

The traumatic events of mothers experienced during their childhoods can result during the prospective years with psychopathological problems such as stress, anxiety, and even depression. Stress experienced by children could result with depression and anxiety disorders. Psychopathology is closely related with the duress and problems experienced by individuals and their emotional regulation strategies employed. The present study investigated whether cognitive emotion regulation strategies play a mediator role between maternal traumas, stress, anxiety, and depression, and between children's stress and depression and anxiety disorders. Moreover, the present study focused on the dyadic relations between mother and children as well. Data was collected using "Personal Information Form", " Perceived Stress Scale in Children", " Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Scale (CERQ)", " Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies for Children Scale (CERQ-K)", The Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale – Child Version (RCADS-CV), "Childhood Traumas Scale (CTQ), and "Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21)" scales. In the present study, a positive correlation between the childhood traumas of the participating mothers and some of the cognitive emotion regulation strategies such as self-blame, acceptance, catastrophizing and other-blame; however, a negative correlation between positive refocusing, refocus on planning, positive reappraisal, and putting into perspective. In addition, positive correlations were determined between self-blame, acceptance, rumination, catastrophizing, other-blame out of the cognitive emotion regulation strategies and depression, anxiety & stress. Furthermore, the findings of the present study revealed a negative relation between positive refocusing, refocusing on the plan, and positive reappraisal out of the cognitive emotion regulation strategies and maternal depression and stress and a positive relation between maternal stress and putting into perspectives. The present study determined that the strategies of self-blame, other-blame, acceptance, positive refocusing, putting into perspective and catastrophizing played a mediating role for impact of maternal childhood trauma on stress; for the impact of childhood trauma on depression; self-blame, acceptance, catastrophizing and other-blame were determined to play a mediator role. In addition, for the impact of stress on depression in both mothers and children; self-blame, acceptance, catastrophizing strategies have a mediator role. Refocusing on the plan had a mediator role for mothers and positive refocusing for children. It has been found that the catastrophizing, self-blame and acceptance strategy has a mediator role in the impact of mothers' childhood trauma on anxiety. Moreover, the strategies of self-blame, acceptance, rumination and catastrophizing played a mediator role in the impact of stress on anxiety in mothers.