ABSTRACT
Objective@#To explore the role of parenting style in the association of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and emotional behavior problems (EBPs) in preschool children, so as to provide a reference for the prevention and control of EBPs in children.@*Methods@#A total of 6 111 children aged 3-6 years old from 36 kindergartens in 3 areas of Anhui Province in June 2021, follow up data were collected in December 2021. Maternal ACEs, mother child relationship and children EBPs were respectively assessed using the Adverse Childhood Experiences International Questionnaire(ACEs-IQ), Parental Rearing Style Scale and the difficulty score factor in the Chinese Strength and Difficulty Questionnaire(SDQ). The Bootstrap was used to examine the mediation effect of maternal parenting styles.@*Results@#Maternal ACEs were positively associated with child SDQ difficulty scores( r = 0.28, P <0.01). Negative parenting (indulgent, permissive, authoritarian and inconsistent) were positively correlated with maternal ACEs scores( r =0.28, 0.30, 0.21, 0.31) and child SDQ difficulty scores( r =0.25, 0.20, 0.20, 0.28)( P <0.01). Positive parenting (democracy) was negatively correlated with maternal ACEs and SDQ difficulty scores( r =-0.09, -0.29, P <0.01). After adjusting for confounding factors, the results of the mediation effect test of Bootstraping procedure showed that maternal parenting styles (indulgent, democracy, permissive, authoritarian and inconsistent) played a mediation role in maternal ACEs and EBPs of preschool children, and the mediation effects were respectively 19.13%, 7.34%, 24.88%, 12.05% and 26.83%.@*Conclusion@#Parenting styles play a mediating role in the association of maternal ACEs and EBPs in preschool children, and improving mothers negative parenting styles is of great significance to reduce EBPs in the offspring of maternal ACEs.