Being highly sensitive refers to an individual's temperamental trait, genetically based, to tend to process more strongly and deeply a variety of information, such as one's own and others' moods and thoughts. Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs), who constitute 20%-30% of the population, tend to process and respond to lower thresholds of information and to better detect subtle differences in their environment. HSPs are more likely to experience social phobia, depression, avoidant personality disorder, behavioral inhibition, and attachment insecurity. However, HSPs are not condemned to have "challenging" personalities with associated negative effects. There is some evidence that HSPs are differentially susceptible to environmental factors. Studies on highly sensitive children show that their sensitivity magnifies both positive and negative effects of their early relationships with their significant others as they integrate those experiences into their personality, coping strategies, and behaviors. Thus, it is important to explore highly sensitive parents' adjustment during the challenging period of adolescence.
This research examines parental practices of Israeli highly sensitive mothers toward their adolescent children and the role of attachment avoidance as a moderator between the associations of high sensitivity and parenting practices. One hundred and one mother-adolescent dyads completed self-report questionnaires assessing mothers' degree of high sensitivity, mothers' adult attachment, and mothers' parenting practices. Results showed that highly sensitive mothers were described by their adolescent children as inconsistent and intrusive parents. Further, attachment avoidance was found to moderate the association between mothers' high sensitivity and inconsistent and psychological intrusiveness. Findings suggest that attachment avoidant highly sensitive mothers experience this period of raising adolescents as especially stressful and challenging, which contributes to the practice of negative parenting. Thus, interventions focused on regulating those mothers' emotions to better cope with parental challenges could buffer negative parenting practices.