Mind-mindedness (MM) is a caregiver’s tendency to appreciate their infant’s internal mental states. This longitudinal study investigated whether maternal MM (10 months) was linked with children’s later behavioral problems (51 months) and the moderating role of maternal parenting distress (PD; 36 months) in a sample of 91 mother–infant dyads. Appropriate MM comments were coded from video-recorded, semi-structured play interactions between mothers and their infants; PD was obtained from maternal completion of the PD subscale of the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form (PSI-SF); and child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were gathered from maternal report on the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Moderated regression analyses revealed higher early appropriate MM was associated with significantly fewer internalizing emotional problems at 51 months among mothers with lower PD at 36 months, and higher early appropriate MM was associated with lower conduct problems at 51 months in mothers with higher PD at 36 months. Findings demonstrated the importance of considering nuanced contexts such as at-risk mothers and differential presentations of child difficulties in the analysis of the relationship between MM and child behavioral difficulties and the development of MM interventions.

专注力 (MM) 是指照顾者欣赏婴儿内部心理状态的倾向。这项纵向研究以 91 名母婴二人组为样本，调查了母亲 MM（10 个月）是否与儿童后来的行为问题（51 个月）有关，以及母亲养育困扰（PD；36 个月）的调节作用。适当的 MM 评论是根据母亲和婴儿之间的视频记录、半结构化游戏互动进行编码的；PD 是通过母亲完成育儿压力指数 – 简表 (PSI-SF) 的 PD 子量表获得的；儿童的内化和外化行为问题是从母亲关于优势和困难问卷（SDQ）的报告中收集的。适度回归分析显示，对于 36 个月时 PD 较低的母亲，较高的早期适当 MM 与 51 个月时显着较少的内化情绪问题相关；对于 36 个月时 PD 较高的母亲，较高的早期适当 MM 与 51 个月时较低的品行问题相关。 。研究结果表明，在分析 MM 与儿童行为困难之间的关系以及制定 MM 干预措施时，考虑到诸如高危母亲和儿童困难的不同表现等微妙背景的重要性。