Differences in Depressive and Somatization Tendencies in Children by Type of Maternal Parenting Attitude

This study explores the latest types of maternal parenting attitudes that have recently emerged in modern society and examines whether there are significant differences in children's depressive and somatization tendencies depending on the type of parenting attitude. The Parenting Attitude Test and the Korean Personality Rating Scale for Children were administered to 221 children aged 7-11 years and their mothers who visited a psychological counseling center located in City D. The data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 for correlation, two-level cluster analysis, and multivariate analysis. First, the study identified three clusters based on maternal parenting attitude characteristics. To reflect the unique characteristics of each cluster, cluster 1 was named Unaffectionate - Uninterested (24%), cluster 2 was named Punitive -Controlling (33%), and cluster 3 was named Warm - Intimate (43%). Second, clusters 1 and 2 were significantly higher than cluster 3 for children's depression. Third, clusters 1 and 2 were significantly higher than cluster 3 in children's somatization tendencies. Based on these results, this information is expected to be used as a resource for parent education and parent counseling, and this study is significant in that it examines the latest types of mother parenting attitudes in South Korea.