The Relationship of Maternal Reflective Functioning and Children’s Behavioral Problems: The Mediating Role of Emotion Regulation

he purpose of this study was to determine the mediating role of emotion regulation in the relationship of maternal reflective function-ing and internalizing and externalizing problems of children. Participants included 289 mothers and children aged 6 to 12 years who were selected through convenience sampling method from different areas of Karaj. Mothers completed the Parental Reflective Func-tioning Questionnaire (Luyten et al., 2017), Emotion Regulation Checklist (Shields & Cicchetti, 1995), and Child Behavior Check-list (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001). Data were analyzed using correlation and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results showed that there were significant correlations between all subscales of reflective functioning and emotion regulation and externaliz-ing problems (P<0.01), and also between the pre-mentalizing mode (PM) and internalizing problems (P<0.01). Furthermore, the results of structural equation modeling indicated that emotion regulation plays a mediating role in the relationship between maternal reflective functioning and children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. In total, these findings suggested that mothers’ low reflective functioning is associated with emotional and behavioral problems in children.