Britney Spears Saddened Son Jayden Says She Favored Him, Ignored Preston

Britney Spears reacted with sadness and anger late Thursday night, saying she's disappointed Jayden is now talking publicly about his mom's challenges as a mother.

Britney posted, "It saddens me to know [Jayden's] outcry of saying I wasn't up to his expectations as a mother."

15-year-old Jayden did a sit down interview with Daphne Barak for DailyMail in which he said, "I think mom has struggled giving us both attention and showing us equal love and I don't think she showed enough to Preston and I feel really bad for that."

Sources directly connected to Kevin Federline's family have told TMZ about Jayden's grievance, saying it has deeply disturbed K-Fed as well. They say when Jayden and Sean Preston would come over to Britney's house, all of the attention went to Jayden. They went on to say it hurt not only Sean Preston but really hurt and angered Jayden as well.

Jayden, who along with Preston hasn't seen their mom in nearly 6 months, added, "We've both been through so much pressure in the past that this is our safe place now, to process all the emotional trauma we've been through to heal, heal our mental state."

Jayden then went on to talk about Britney's mental state, saying, "It's just going to take a lot of time and effort. I just want her to get better mentally. When she gets better I really want to see her again."

Britney responded to Jayden referencing her own struggle, saying, "Finally at 40 without the restraints of what my family did to me ... I say to my son Jayden that I send all the love in the world to you every day for the rest of my life!!! My love for my children has no boundaries."

She then took a shot at Jayden, "As for my mental health ...my dear child understand you must learn to pick up a book and read one before you resort to even thinking about my intellect sweetheart!!! For the record, intellect and mental health are 2 different things.

And, that opens the door to a sore subject -- Jamie Spears. Jayden defended his gramps, saying he didn't deserve all the venom from the FreeBritney folks, adding, "He was just trying to be a father."

Britney wasn't having it ..."Psss if you can honestly sit back and say with your sensible brilliant mind what memaw and paw paw did to me was fine and call them not bad people ... then yes I have failed as a mother and hopefully that's a chat for you and your father to sit face to face and try to learn WHAT'S GOOD."

It appears one of the big reasons Britney's kids didn't attend her wedding was because most other family members -- including Jamie -- weren't invited.