Parental Rejection, Temperament, and Internalizing Symptoms

Research on the emotional quality of the parent-adolescent relationship suggests that parental rejection is associated with internalizing problems including symptoms of anxiety and depression. Temperamental dimensions have also been found to be associated with anxious and depressive symptoms. In particular, high levels of negative affectivity, low levels of positive affectivity, and low levels of effortful control have been proposed as risk factors for symptoms of anxiety and depression. Although aspects of the parental relationship and dimensions of temperament have frequently been studied as unique correlates of internalizing symptoms, few studies have examined the extent to which these factors interact in predicting symptoms of anxiety and depression. The current study sought to examine the extent to which interactive models of temperamental dimensions as well as models of temperamental dimensions and rejection, would predict symptoms of anxiety and depression. The sample investigated included adolescents from the local community between the ages of 11 and 15. The results supported interactive models of temperament in predicting anxious and depressive symptoms. Effortful control moderated the relationship between negative affectivity and symptoms of both anxiety and depression as well as the relationship between positive affectivity and depressive symptoms. In addition, the interaction of effortful control and parental rejection was a statistically significant predictor of anxious symptoms but not depressive symptoms. Neither negative affectivity nor positive affectivity interacted with perceptions of parental rejection in predicting internalizing symptoms. Overall, the findings suggested that high levels of effortful control may buffer adolescents from experiencing internalizing symptoms.