Young Chinese and British Children’s Emotional Dependency on Mothers and Psychosocial Adjustment: The Moderating Role of Maternal Attitudes

Children’s emotional dependency is often perceived as a barrier to their psychosocial adjustment. This study aimed to explore the moderating roles of culture and maternal attitudes in the relation between young children’s emotional dependency and psychosocial adjustment. The study invited mothers of 130 young children, comprising 63 from the United Kingdom (Mean age [ M ] = 61.56 months, SD = 4.56 months) and 67 from China ( M = 60.04 months, SD = 5.44 months). The results revealed significant cross-cultural differences in the correlation between children’s emotional dependency on mothers and psychosocial adjustment; the correlation was negative for British children but not statistically significant for Chinese children. Additionally, Chinese mothers exhibited more positive and fewer negative attitudes toward their children’s emotional dependency compared to their British counterparts. Furthermore, both Chinese and British mothers’ positive attitudes played a moderating role in the relation between children’s emotional dependency and social skills, particularly in terms of engagement and empathy. When mothers displayed more positive attitudes, emotional dependency was positively associated with empathy and engagement skills. Conversely, when mothers exhibited fewer positive attitudes, these relations were negative. This study’s findings underscored the importance of two intertwined contextual factors—culture and maternal attitudes—in understanding the adaptive significance of a child’s emotional dependency.