Maternal depression is a robust risk factor for heightened internalizing symptoms in offspring. Studies also suggest that maternal depression is associated with greater maternal emotion regulation (ER) difficulties. However, emotion regulation has been conceptualized as a multidimensional construct, and few studies have identified specific components of ER related to maternal depression and the role these components may play in the relationship between maternal depression and child internalizing symptoms. Mothers (n = 73) of young children (ages 4–9; 42 females), recruited from both clinical and community settings, reported their depression symptoms and emotion regulation difficulties. Children’s internalizing symptoms were assessed using both parental report and a semi-structured clinical interview. Regression analyses revealed that maternal depression symptoms were positively related to maternal ER, specifically, limited access to emotion regulation strategies and non-acceptance of emotional responses. Structural equation models revealed that the relation between maternal depression and child internalizing problems was mediated only through mother’s limited access to emotion regulation strategies. Our findings offer new insight for targeting mothers’ limited access to emotion strategies as a novel early intervention method to help break the intergenerational transmission of internalizing symptoms from mother to child.

母体抑郁症是导致后代内化症状加剧的重要风险因素。研究还表明，孕产妇抑郁与更大的孕产妇情绪调节 (ER) 困难有关。然而，情绪调节已被概念化为一个多维结构，很少有研究确定与母亲抑郁相关的 ER 的特定成分以及这些成分在母亲抑郁和儿童内化症状之间的关系中可能发挥的作用。母亲 ( n = 73) 的幼儿（4-9 岁；42 名女性），从临床和社区环境中招募，报告了他们的抑郁症状和情绪调节困难。使用父母报告和半结构化临床访谈评估儿童的内化症状。回归分析表明，母亲的抑郁症状与母亲的 ER 呈正相关，具体而言，情绪调节策略的使用受限和不接受情绪反应。结构方程模型表明，母亲抑郁与儿童内化问题之间的关系仅通过母亲对情绪调节策略的有限访问来调节。