ABSTRACT

Objectives

This study examines the mediating role of maternal perfectionism in the relationship between maternal parenting styles and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems.

Materials and Methods

The sample consists of 271 mothers with children aged 3-6 years. Participants were asked to complete a sociodemographic information form, the Parenting Attitude Scale, the Hacettepe Mental Adaptation Scale, and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale, and the data were collected online.

Results

According to the findings of the analysis conducted to test the main hypothesis of the study, democratic parenting negatively predicted internalizing (b=-0.117, p<0.05) and externalizing (b=-0.076, p<0.05) behavior problems. The mother’s self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) did not mediate these relationships. Authoritarian parenting was positively associated with internalizing (b=0.046, p<0.05) and externalizing (b=0.049, p<0.05) behavior problems, and SOP and SPP did not mediate their effects on these problems. On the other hand, overprotective and permissive attitudes did not significantly predict these behavior problems. In addition, it was found that mothers’ SOP did not mediate the relationship between overprotective and permissive parenting attitudes and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems; however, SPP mediated the relationship between overprotective parenting attitudes and internalizing [b=0.017, standard error (SE)=0.009, confidence interval (CI): (0.003, 0.038)] and externalizing behavior problems [b=0.012, SE=0.007, CI: (0.001, 0.029)] and between permissive parental attitude and internalizing behavior problem [b=0.013, SE=0.008, CI: (0.000, 0.033)].

Conclusion

This study highlights the significant role of parenting attitudes and characteristics on children’s mental health and emphasizes the necessity for practical interventions to encourage parents to adopt effective and positive parenting approaches.