Abstract

This study aimed to confirm the latent class of mothers' reactions to children’s negative emotions and evaluate the difference between children’s temperament profile affecting the latent class and the children’s problem behavior about the latent class. To achieve these objectives, we recruited 769 mothers of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders attending elementary schools in the Seoul and Gyeonggi-do areas. This study evaluated children’s temperament, mothers’ reactions to children’s negative emotions, and children’s problem behavior. The results of latent profile analysis using M plus showed that the latent class of mothers’ supportive reactions to children’s negative emotions was divided into ‘passive support group’ (97 subjects; 13.44%), ‘average support group’ (469 subjects; 59.52%), and ‘active support group’ (203 subjects; 27.05%). Moreover, the latent class of maternal non-supportive response was divided into ‘non-supportive: non-punishment group’ (281 subjects; 36.22%), ‘non-supportive: avoidance group’ (382 subjects; 49.5%), and ‘non-supportive: confusion group’ (106 subjects; 14.28%). The reward dependence and persistence temperament of children significantly predicted the latent class for the maternal supportive reactions, while the novelty seeking and harm avoidance temperament of children significantly predicted the latent class for maternal non-supportive reactions. Moreover, children’s internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems were significantly higher in the average support group than in the active support group and in the low support group than in the average support group. The internalizing behavioral problem was significantly higher in the non-supportive: avoidance group and the nonsupportive: confusion group than in the non-supportive: non-punishment group. The externalizing behavioral problem was significantly high in the order of the non-supportive: non-punishment group, the non-supportive: avoidance group, and the non-supportive: confusion group. The results of this study clearly revealed that the vulnerability of children’s temperament could negatively affect children's psychosocial adjustment by increasing the level of parental non-supportive reactions. As a result, there is a need for preventive intervention for children of vulnerable temperament and their parents and providing direction for intervention.