Abstract

This study examined the moderated moderation effect of children’s effortful control and maternal rejecting parenting on the link between behavioral inhibition and depression. Data obtained from 302 mothers of elementary school children (grades 1-6) were analyzed using SPSS 23.0 and the PROCESS macro. Results revealed a significant three-way interaction. Under high rejecting parenting, children with low effortful control displayed sharply increased depression as behavioral inhibition increased, whereas those with high effortful control did not differ. Under low rejecting parenting, the interaction between behavioral inhibition and effortful control was nonsignificant. These findings highlight the importance of considering inter-temperamental and temperament-parenting interactions in understanding children’s depression and further suggest that rejecting parenting critically shapes outcomes for temperamentally vulnerable children.