Exploring the associations between maternal personality, child temperament, and parenting: A focus on emotions

The goal of this study was to explore associations between maternal personality traits, child temperament characteristics, and parenting styles linked to the display and regulation of emotions. Specifically, we explored the moderating role of child temperament (shyness, emotional-dysregulation) in the relations between maternal personality (neuroticism, agreeableness) and parenting style (authoritative, authoritarian, overprotective). Participants were n = 285 mothers of elementary children (145 boys, 140 girls, Mage = 75.61 months, SD = 10.85). Mothers provided ratings of their personality traits and parenting styles, and their child’s temperament. Among the results, the relation between maternal neuroticism and overprotective parenting style increased among parents of shyer children. As well, maternal agreeableness was more strongly (negatively) associated with the use of a harsh/coercive parenting style among parents of more emotionally-dysregulated children.