The Relationship Between Anxiety Attachment and Parenting Anxiety of Mothers with School-Aged Children: The Sequential Mediating Effects of Self-Differentiation and Child-Based Self-Worth

Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate whether self-differentiation and child-based selfworth sequentially mediate the association between anxious attachment and parenting anxiety in mothers of school-age children.Methods: A survey was conducted on 400 mothers raising children aged 7 to 12 and consisted of anxiety attachment, parenting anxiety, self-differentiation, and child-based self-worth. The data were analyzed using SPSS 27 and SPSS Macro versions 4 and 6.Results: Self-differentiation and child-based self-worth partially mediated the relationship between anxiety attachment and parenting anxiety. Self-differentiation and child-based self-worth displayed sequential mediating effects.Conclusion: What kind of personal path the mother who formed anxiety attachment was affected by when she felt parenting anxiety was confirmed. In particular, to prepare a counseling intervention plan in parental counseling by confirming the sequential mediation of self-differentiation and child-based self-worth is meaningful. In counseling, dealing with the level of self-differentiation will be an important factor for mothers who complain of parenting anxiety. Given that previous studies examining parenting anxiety in relation to the mother’s self-esteem are insufficient, this study is meaningful in revealing how the mother’s internal variables of raising school-age children focus on relationships that increase parenting anxiety. The fact that the child-based self-worth, which reflects the socio-cultural characteristics of Korea of highly interested in academic and child achievement, was found to increase mother’s parenting anxiety is meaningful.