Maternal depression and children's behavioral self-regulation: the role of parenting and children's screen time

The study examines how maternal depression relates to children's behavioral self-regulation within Chinese families and whether maternal supportive parenting and children's family screen time mediate this association. Behavioral self-regulation is crucial for early learning and later academic success and is sensitive to environmental influences, particularly family processes and parent–child interactions. Prior research links maternal depressive symptoms to lower-quality caregiving and poorer child self-regulation, and growing evidence associates children's screen exposure with adverse developmental outcomes. However, mediating pathways involving parenting and screen time remain unclear in the Chinese context. The study addresses four questions: (1) Does maternal depression relate to children's behavioral self-regulation? (2) To what extent does maternal supportive parenting mediate this relation? (3) To what extent does children's screen time mediate this relation? (4) Do supportive parenting and screen time jointly exert a chain mediation from maternal depression to child self-regulation? The authors hypothesize that maternal depression negatively predicts child self-regulation; depressive symptoms reduce supportive parenting, which in turn enhances self-regulation; children's screen time mediates links between maternal depression and self-regulation; and a sequential mediation (depression → parenting → screen time → self-regulation) operates.

Grounded in ecological and sociocultural theories, the literature indicates that family processes are central to children's self-regulation development. Maternal supportive parenting—warmth, sensitivity, and scaffolding—is positively associated with children's self-regulation, though much evidence comes from Western contexts with limited research in China. Maternal depression is linked to negative parenting and poorer child academic and behavioral outcomes; meta-analytic evidence suggests parenting mediates associations between maternal depression and child psychopathology. Screen exposure in early childhood is associated with deficits in attention, language, executive function, and school adjustment, potentially via reduced parent–child interaction quality and less creative play. The 'video deficit effect' suggests children learn less from screens than face-to-face interactions. Parental characteristics, including depression and involvement, correlate with children's screen time. Despite these findings, mechanisms linking maternal depression, parenting, children's screen time, and behavioral self-regulation—particularly chain mediation—remain underexplored in Chinese families.

Design and sampling: Cross-sectional survey with structural equation modeling (SEM). Stratified random sampling selected three Chinese provinces representing diverse socioeconomic contexts (Fujian, Sichuan, Xinjiang). Five preschools per province were randomly chosen; approximately 50 children were randomly sampled per preschool (initial N≈750). Mothers completed online questionnaires with informed consent facilitated by preschool directors. Exclusion criteria: partial completion or completion time <780 s. Final valid sample: N=653 mother–child pairs (338 boys, 315 girls), mean child age=5.94 years (SD=1.43); 62.63% urban. Mothers' mean age=31.56 (SD=4.81); ~78% had associate degree or higher; 7% full-time stay-at-home. Measures: - Maternal depression: DASS-21 depression subscale (6 items; 4-point scale); validated in China; Cronbach's α=0.84. - Maternal supportive parenting: Chinese CRPR (Likert 1–5) assessing warmth/encouragement; CFA 1-factor model: χ²/df=2.95, CFI=0.92, RMSEA=0.05; α=0.88. - Children's family screen time: Parent-reported daily duration across devices (TV, tablets, smartphones, computers) and activities (including games); 6 items on 7-point scale (1=0 h to 7=>6 h). Global screen time computed as mean of z-scores of 6 items. - Children's behavioral self-regulation: Child Self-Regulation in Interaction Scale (CSIS; 18 items; 5-point scale). Three theoretical dimensions (inhibitory control, working memory, cognitive flexibility; 6 items each). Higher scores indicate lower self-regulation (i.e., more dysregulation). α=0.89. Measurement model CFA for three-factor structure acceptable: χ²/df=4.15, CFI=0.92, TLI=0.90, RMSEA=0.07. Covariates: Child age, gender, and urban/rural residence. Analysis plan: Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations (SPSS 23). SEM in Mplus 8.1 with FIML for missing data. Tested direct-effect model (maternal depression → child self-regulation) and four mediation models: Model 1 (depression → parenting → self-regulation), Model 2 (depression → screen time → self-regulation), Model 3 (parenting and screen time as parallel mediators), Model 4 (sequential chain: depression → parenting → screen time → self-regulation). Behavioral self-regulation treated as latent construct. Indirect effects assessed via bootstrap with 95% CIs; significance inferred when CI excludes 0. Model fit evaluated using χ²/df, RMSEA, CFI, TLI, SRMR (Hu & Bentler criteria).

Sample and correlations: Final N=653. Key correlations (Table 1): maternal depression correlated with child self-regulation problems (r=0.35, p<0.01), with supportive parenting (r=-0.22, p<0.01), and non-significantly with screen time (r=0.08). Supportive parenting correlated with less screen time (r=-0.16, p<0.01) and fewer self-regulation problems (r=-0.40, p<0.01). Screen time correlated with more self-regulation problems (r=0.21, p<0.01). Direct effect: Maternal depression positively predicted child self-regulation problems (β=0.40, p<0.001) controlling for covariates. Model comparisons: Best fit for sequential mediation (Model 4): χ²/df=2.83, CFI=0.98, TLI=0.94, RMSEA=0.05, SRMR=0.02. Other models had inferior fit. Path coefficients in Model 4 (controlling covariates): - Depression → Supportive parenting: β=-0.21, p<0.001 - Supportive parenting → Screen time: β=-0.16, p<0.001 (table notes **) - Supportive parenting → Self-regulation: β=-0.36, p<0.001 - Screen time → Self-regulation: β=0.15, p<0.001 - Depression → Screen time: β=0.04, ns - Depression → Self-regulation (direct): β=0.32, p<0.001 Mediation (bootstrap 95% CI): - Depression → Parenting → Self-regulation: indirect β=0.01, 95% CI [0.00, 0.02] (significant) - Depression → Screen time → Self-regulation: indirect β=0.01, 95% CI [-0.01, 0.02] (not significant) - Chain Depression → Parenting → Screen time → Self-regulation: indirect b=0.07, 95% CI [0.04, 0.10] (significant) Interpretation: Higher maternal depression is associated with poorer child behavioral self-regulation. Supportive parenting partially mediates this relationship and also reduces children's screen time, which in turn relates to fewer self-regulation problems. Children's screen time alone did not mediate the depression–self-regulation link, but a sequential (chain) mediation via parenting then screen time was supported.

Findings confirm that maternal depressive symptoms are linked to poorer behavioral self-regulation in preschool-aged children, consistent with ecological and family stress perspectives emphasizing the role of maternal emotional well-being and parenting quality. Supportive parenting emerged as a central mechanism: higher maternal depression related to reduced supportive parenting, which was associated with fewer child self-regulation problems and lower screen exposure. While maternal depression did not directly predict children's screen time, parenting indirectly connected maternal depression to screen exposure, and a significant chain mediation indicated that depression undermines supportive parenting, which increases screen time, contributing to poorer self-regulation. Results underscore the importance of fostering high-quality, contingent parent–child interactions and moderating children's screen use to support behavioral self-regulation in early childhood within Chinese family contexts.

This study elucidates how maternal depression relates to children's behavioral self-regulation in Chinese families, highlighting maternal supportive parenting as a key mediator and identifying a sequential pathway through parenting and children's screen time. The work advances understanding of family processes influencing early self-regulation and suggests practical implications: early identification and support for maternal depression, interventions to strengthen supportive parenting, and structured guidance to manage children's screen exposure. Future research should use longitudinal designs, include baseline measures of child self-regulation, and incorporate objective behavioral assessments to establish causal pathways and refine intervention targets.

Key limitations include: (1) cross-sectional design, limiting causal inference; (2) absence of pretest/baseline measures of children's self-regulation, which may bias estimates of associations; (3) reliance on parent-reported measures for child self-regulation, which may introduce reporting bias. Future work should adopt longitudinal designs, control for prior child functioning, and use objective behavioral tasks (e.g., HTKS) alongside reports.