The Purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of self-differentiation and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness in the relationship between mother's parentification on negative parenting behavior. The participant were 377 mothers with children from 0-13 years old and completed the self-report survey of Filial Responsibility Scale-Adult, Negative parenting behavior, Self-differentiation, Ambivalence over emotional expressiveness questionnaire. The collected data were subjected to frequency analysis, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis using SPSS 25.0, and structural models and mediating effects were verified using AMOS 28.0. The results of the study are as follows. First, The sub-factors of mother's parentification, negative parenting behavior, and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness demonstrated a significant positive correlation, Self-differentiation showing a significant negative correlation. Second, in the relationship between parentification and negative parenting behavior, the mediating effects of self-differentiation, ambivalence over emotional expressiveness were found to be significant, respectively. Third, it was found that there is a double mediating effect in which self-differentiation and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness sequentially mediate the relationship between parentification and negative parenting behavior. Through this study, it was possible to confirm the mediating role of self-differentiation and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness in the effect of the mother's parentification experience on negative parenting behavior. In particular, it is meaningful to find and present counseling intervention methods for clients who have difficulty raising children due to excessive parentalization experiences in childhood in terms of parentification, self-differentiation, and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness. Based on these findings, the significance and limitations of this research, as well as recommendations for future research were discussed.
