Blunted Emotional Reactivity in Young Children of Alcohol-Dependent Mothers: The Mediating Role of Maternal Insensitivity to Children’s Emotional Distress

Mothers’ insensitivity to child distress undermines children’s emotional development; however, no studies have longitudinally examined alcohol-dependent mothers’ responses to child distress, or how these responses affect children’s emotional reactivity. We found that over time, alcohol-dependent mothers became more insensitive to child distress, which subsequently decreased children’s emotional reactivity.