Moderating roles of father involvement and family protective factors on the relationship between maternal early maladaptive schemas and psychological symptoms of children

Development of psychopathology has been investigated for many years from different perspectives. Amongst others, effects of parents have been counted as a significant environmental condition on the psychosocial development of offspring. However, most of the studies focuses on the relationship between maternal factors and child's well-being, while only a limited number of research has examined the buffering impacts of different family units on the proposed relation. Accordingly, the current study investigated whether family protective factors and father involvement had a buffering effect on the relation between psychopathology susceptibility of mothers and children psychological symptoms. While the psychopathology susceptibility of the mothers was measured in terms of early maladaptive schemas, psychopathology of child was investigated with regard to psychological symptoms. One hundred fifty-three mother-late adolescent dyads participated to the current study. Late adolescents filled out Father Involvement Scale, The Inventory of Family Protective Factors, The Symptom Check List and Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, while their mothers filled out The Inventory of Family Protective Factors and Young Schema Questionnaire- Short Form-3. Obtained results indicated that early maladaptive schemas of mothers significantly predicted their children's psychological symptoms, and emotion regulation skills of children mediated the proposed relation. The impact of mothers' maladaptive schemas on children psychological symptoms through emotion regulation skills accentuated when paternal involvement was low or moderate. However, family protective factors did not moderate the relationship between mother's early maladaptive schemas and children's psychopathology through children's emotion regulation. Obtained results were discussed in relation to Family System perspective and related psychosocial interventions.