The Relationship between Maternal Anxiety and Preschoolers’ Anxiety and Depression: The Moderating Effect of Preschoolers’ Attachment Security
AUTHOR : 김우경,방희정
INFORMATION : page. 67~81 / 2015 Vol.22 No.4
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate (1) the relationship among maternal anxiety,
preschoolers’ attachment security, and preschoolers’ anxiety and depression; (2) the moderating effect
of preschoolers’ attachment security on the relationship between maternal anxiety and preschoolers’
anxiety and depression. The subjects in this study were 143 mothers who have preschoolers in Seoul.
Data were collected using three kinds of questionnaires. Maternal anxiety was measured by the
Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale, the preschoolers’ attachment security was measured by Q-sort, and
the preschoolers’ anxiety and depression was measured by CBCL 1.5-5. The data were analyzed by
correlation analyses and hierarchical regression analyses. The major results of this study were as
follows. First, there was a positive correlation between maternal anxiety and preschoolers’ anxiety and
depression. Preschoolers’ attachment security had a negative correlation with their anxiety and
depression. Second, preschoolers’ attachment security moderated the relationship between maternal
anxiety and preschoolers’ anxiety and depression. In other words, a preschooler who had an anxious
mother but had high attachment security with his mother would not have an anxiety and depression
problem. The study affirmed the relationship between maternal anxiety and a preschooler’s affect
problems and emphasized an importance of attachment theory.