Maternal Separation Anxiety: The Relations to Mothers' Characteristics, Children's Initial Temperament, and Overprotective Parenting Behaviors

어머니의 분리불안: 어머니의 특성, 아동의 초기 기질 및 과보호적 양육행동과의 관계

The purpose of this study was to examine the relations between mothers's and children's characteristics, maternal separation anxiety, and overprotective parenting with a sample of 212 mothers of 3-6 year-old children. The subjects reported maternal separation anxiety, children's initial temperament, their own experience in the childhood and personality, and overprotectiveness. The results indicated that 1) mothers who experienced higher parental acceptance showed higher maternal separation anxiety; 2) mothers who perceived that their children had avoidant temperament showed higher material separation anxiety; 3) mothers who showed higher separation anxiety reported higher overprotectiveness; 4) maternal separation anxiety played a mediating role in the relations between children's approach-avoidance temperament and mothers' sheltering behavior.