Parental personality,parenting and toddlers' externalising behaviours

This study examined the mediating role of parenting on the relation between parental personality and toddlers' externalising behaviours. Participants were 112 boys and their parents. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling and moderated mediation analyses. Several associations were found between parental personality and parenting dimensions. Additionally, several parenting dimensions were associated with children's externalising behaviours. Emotional stability was the only parental personality trait that was related to children's externalising behaviours. The effect of maternal emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours appeared to be mediated by maternal support. For fathers, there appeared to be a direct effect of emotional stability on children's aggressive behaviours. In addition, for both mothers and fathers, emotional stability was directly related to children's attention problems. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The interactive effects of temperament and maternal parenting on toddlers' externalizing behaviours

The present study aimed to determine the potential moderating effects of temperamental traits on the relation between parenting and toddlers' externalizing behaviours. For that purpose, this study examined the interplay between temperament and maternal parenting behaviours in predicting the level as well as the development of toddlers' externalizing behaviours. Participants were 115 boys (wave 1, M=16.9 months; wave 2, M=23.2 months) and their mothers, who were observed in a 13‐min structured play session at home. With regard to the prediction of the level of externalizing behaviours at wave 1, main effects were found for children's temperamental characteristics. In addition, maternal negative control interacted significantly with children's inhibitory control in predicting this level of externalizing behaviours. The findings with regard to the development of externalizing behaviours showed that the effects of maternal negative control and lack of maternal sensitivity were stronger for toddlers with a difficult temperament: maternal negative control and lack of maternal sensitivity were related to an increase in externalizing behaviours for temperamentally difficult children only. These results offer support for the goodness‐of‐fit hypothesis, stressing the idea that the effects of temperament and the social environment depend to a large extent on their interplay. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Infant shy temperament predicts preschoolers Theory of Mind

The aim of this longitudinal study was to investigate the relation between infant temperament at 18 months and early Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities at 3 years of age. Temperament was assessed with the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire (ECBQ) and ToM by assessing children's understanding of divergent desires and beliefs, and of knowledge access. Our results are in line with a social-emotional reactivity perspective postulating more sophisticated ToM abilities for children with less reactive more observant temperament. Children with shy temperament at 18 months and at 3 years were better in reasoning about others’ mental states at age 3. Language, siblings and parental education had no effect on ToM. Findings indicate that temperament is related to ToM earlier in development than previously found, and that this relation is thus not unique to false-belief understanding.     

母亲积极养育行为对儿童顺从行为的早期预测与双向作用:从婴儿到学步儿

顺从是儿童早期重要的社会化成就。传统理论关注父母控制策略对顺从的作用,但实证结果表明其解释率有限;当前理论更加关注积极养育行为在顺从发展中具有发展适宜性的作用机制。本研究采用追踪设计考察了84个家庭从儿童6个月到3岁时母亲的敏感性和鼓励自主两种积极养育行为与学步儿顺从发展的关系。结果表明:(1)1岁前母亲敏感性对学步儿2岁时的合作性顺从有正向预测作用,对2岁到3岁合作性顺从的变化没有预测作用;(2)1岁前母亲敏感性对学步儿2岁时的情境性顺从和2岁到3岁的情境性顺从的变化均有负向预测作用;(3)在2岁到3岁期间,母亲的鼓励自主与学步儿的合作性顺从水平有双向正向预测作用,但与情境性顺从不存在双向预测关系。     

The effects of early relational antecedents and other factors on the parental sensitivity of mothers and fathers

This study examines the effect of early relational antecedents (ERA, i.e. the quality of parenting parents recalled receiving as children), parenting stress, marital stress, socio‐economic factors and children's characteristics (gender and disability condition) on the parental sensitivity of mothers and fathers. The sample consisted of 116 mothers and 84 fathers of 117 eighteen month old children drawn from a larger longitudinal study on the adaptation of parents to a child with a disability. Thirty‐four children were diagnosed with Down syndrome (DS), 51 with a cleft lip and/or palate (CLP), and 32 were non‐disabled children. Multiple regression analyses reveal that mothers' sensitivity is best predicted by her level of education and family income, whereas fathers' sensitivity is best predicted by their ERA, marital stress, family income and the child's disability condition. Mothers with more education and a greater family income displayed a greater sensitivity to their children, as did fathers who perceive less marital stress, those with a greater family income and those who perceived their parents as less controlling. Also, fathers of children with DS displayed less sensitivity for their children than fathers of children with CLP or fathers of non‐disabled children. These results concord with many studies about the importance of socio‐economic factors, ERA, marital stress, parent's gender and children's factors in the understanding of parental sensitivity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Theory‐of‐Mind development and early sibling relationships after the birth of a sibling: Parental discipline matters

This study investigated relations among children's Theory‐of‐Mind (ToM) development, early sibling interactions, and parental discipline strategies during the transition to siblinghood. Using a sample of firstborn children and their parents (N = 208), we assessed children's ToM before the birth of a sibling and 12 months after the birth, and sibling interactions (i.e., positive engagement and antagonism) and parental discipline strategies (i.e., child‐centred and parent‐centred discipline) at 4 and 8 months in the first year of siblinghood. Structural equation modelling analyses revealed that children's ToM before the birth of the sibling predicted children's positive engagement with the infant sibling, whereas children's antagonistic behaviours towards the infant sibling negatively predicted children's ToM at 12 months, but only when mothers used low levels of child‐centred discipline. These findings emphasize the role of parents in the development of young children's social‐cognitive understanding in the context of early sibling interactions.

Highlights

• This study investigated relations among firstborns' Theory‐of‐Mind (ToM), early sibling relationships, and parental discipline during the first year of siblinghood.
• Multigroup analyses showed that ToM predicted higher sibling positive engagement, and early sibling antagonism predicted poorer ToM when mothers used low child‐centred discipline.
• Parental discipline plays an important role in the development of young children's social understanding and sibling relationships as early as the first year of siblinghood.

     

Maternal socialization and child temperament as predictors of emotion regulation in Turkish preschoolers

This study investigated the role of maternal socialization and temperament in Turkish preschool children's emotion regulation. Participants consisted of 145 preschoolers (79 boys, 69 girls; M_age= 62 months), their mothers, and daycare teachers from middle‐high socioeconomic suburbs of Istanbul. Maternal child‐rearing practices and emotion socialization behaviours were examined together as interconnected constituents of parenting in relation to emotion regulation skills in young children. Mothers completed a set of questionnaires that measured their child's emotion regulation and temperament as well as their own emotion socialization and child‐rearing behaviours. Teachers also completed a scale that measured the child's ability to regulate emotions. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that child's reactivity negatively and persistence positively predicted emotion regulation. The interaction of maternal responsiveness and child approach–withdrawal also significantly predicted emotion regulation. Simple slope tests were conducted slicing the data in both directions. In the first instance, for children low in Approach, the simple slope of Responsiveness on emotion regulation score was significantly positive. In contrast, for children high in Approach, the simple slope of Responsiveness on emotion regulation score was not significant. In the second instance, for mothers average in Responsiveness, the simple slope of Approach on emotion regulation score was significantly positive. In contrast, for mothers high in Responsiveness, the simple slope of Approach on emotion regulation was not significant. These findings were considered within an interactional model in which positive parenting and inhibited temperament are significant predictors of emotion regulation in Turkish preschoolers. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceived Collective Efficacy and Parenting Competence: The Roles of Quality of Life and Hope

Parents' perceptions of their parenting competence predict successful implementation of parenting tasks and contribute to their interest and involvement in parenting and to their children's development. Thus, identifying factors that contribute to parents' perceptions of parenting competence can help inform efforts to promote children's safety and well-being. The present study employs social disorganization theory to examine the relationship between collective efficacy and parents' sense of competence, measured along two dimensions: parental efficacy and parental satisfaction. It examines the direct association between the two constructs and whether the association is mediated by parent perceptions of their quality of life (QOL) and sense of hope. Data were collected from 198 parents residing in a neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv, Israel. The analyses indicated that high collective efficacy was directly associated with high parental efficacy, but not with high parental satisfaction. Using structural equation modeling, a mediation model was found whereby higher collective efficacy was associated with (a) higher QOL, which in turn was related to a greater sense of hope, which was linked with higher parental efficacy; and (b) higher QOL, which was directly associated with higher parental satisfaction. The findings provide further support to the idea that neighborhood characteristics play an important role in parents' ability to care for their children.     

Temperament and Social-Emotional Difficulties: The Dark Side of Learning Disabilities

The authors compared the relations between general psychological difficulties and dimensions of temperament in children with and without learning disability (LD). The main aim was to analyze whether and to what extent children's temperament dimensions contribute to their general psychological difficulties when LD diagnosis, age, and gender are taken into account. Participants were 52 elementary school children 7–11 years old (M age = 8.61 years, SD = 1.21 years). Twenty-six of them had been diagnosed with LD. Six teachers rated their pupils with and without LD in relation to their general psychological difficulties (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) and temperament dimensions (Italian Questionnaires of Temperament). In children with LD, the main dimensions of temperament with the power to predict general psychological difficulties (i.e., emotionality and social orientation) concern these students' relationships with others (teachers and peers). The findings of the current study draw educators' and practitioners' attention to the fact that children's temperamental characteristics may affect how they experience their LD, with significant implications for their later social adjustment.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Parenting Quality and Toddlers' Interactive Behaviours in Dyadic and Triadic Family Contexts

Based on a family systems perspective, this research examined the role of parental gender and family play context in parent–toddler interactions and how behaviours of family members influence each other. Sixty‐seven mostly White, middle‐class families consisting of a mother, father and toddler were videotaped in three separate sessions: mother–child, father–child and both parents–child at a university laboratory setting. The results indicated that there were significant main effects of both parent gender (mother versus father) and context (dyadic versus triadic) on parents' positive and negative parenting and children's engagement and negativity toward parents. Higher levels of mutual engagement between mothers and toddlers were associated with lower levels of fathers' positive parenting and children's engagement with fathers, when moving from the dyadic to the triadic play context. However, fathers' mutual engagement with toddlers was not associated with mothers' parenting quality and child interactive behaviours with mothers. There were also interaction effects of parent gender and context on parents' negative parenting and children's engagement and negativity toward parents. This study adds unique insights to the differences and similarities of parent–child dyadic and triadic interactions during toddlerhood. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mothering under political violence: Post-traumatic symptoms,observed maternal parenting practices and child externalising behaviour

Using the family stress model as our conceptual framework, we explored whether observed maternal parenting practices (positive and coercive) account for the associations between mothers' post-traumatic stress symptoms and children's externalising behaviours. Mothers' self-reported post-traumatic stress symptoms, observed maternal practices, and reports of children's externalising behaviour were collected from 123 Israeli mothers and their children, who were exposed to ongoing rocket attacks in southern Israel. A structural equation model revealed that mothers' post-traumatic stress symptoms were linked with greater maternal coercive parenting practices, which in turn were associated with more externalising behaviours in children. The study highlights the crucial role of maternal distress and mothers' parenting skills in the development of externalising behaviours in children exposed to chronic political violence. These results suggest that prevention interventions designed to promote parenting skills for mothers exposed to political violence may be beneficial for children's healthy development.     

A parent intervention with a growth mindset approach improves children's early gesture and vocabulary development

Socioeconomic disparities in children's early vocabulary skills can be traced back to disparities in gesture use at age one and are due, in part, to the quantity and quality of communication children are exposed to by parents. Further, parents' mindsets about intelligence contribute to their interactions with their children. We implemented a parent gesture intervention with a growth mindset component with 47 parents of 10‐month‐olds to determine whether this approach would increase parents' use of the pointing gesture, infants' use of pointing, and child vocabulary growth. The intervention had an effect on parent gesture such that by child age 12‐months, parents who received the intervention increased in their pointing more than parents in the control condition. Importantly, the intervention also had a significant effect on child gesture use with parents. There was no main effect of the intervention on child vocabulary. Further, the effect of the intervention on pointing was stronger for parents who endorsed fixed mindsets at baseline, and had an added benefit of increased vocabulary growth from 10–18 months for children of those parents who endorsed fixed mindsets. Incorporating growth mindset approaches into parenting interventions is encouraged.     

Maternal Emotion Socialization and the Development of Inhibitory Control in an Emotional Condition

Although several studies have implicated parental socialization in children's development of multiple executive functions, little is known about how parenting may predict inhibitory control when emotion is involved. In this study, 42 children completed two tasks with their mothers at 3.5 years. Maternal emotion language was coded during a storybook task, and maternal scaffolding was coded during a puzzle task. At 3.5 and 4 years, children's inhibitory control was assessed with Day–Night and Happy–Sad card games, Stroop‐like tasks that differ in that the latter contains emotion content. Accuracy and latency on Happy–Sad were predicted by maternal emotion language but not scaffolding. In contrast, latency on Day–Night was predicted by scaffolding but not emotion language. This shows context‐specificity in the links between parenting and cognitive control, such that emotion socialization predicted children's performance in an emotional context only, while more general scaffolding behaviours predicted inhibitory control in the non‐emotional condition. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Transmitting pro‐environmental behaviours to the next generation: A comparison between Germany and Japan

The present study examined the processes by which children acquire pro‐environmental behaviours in different cultures. Our focus was on parental influence. Several studies have been conducted on adults' environmental behaviours; however, we know little about how children's environmental attitudes and behaviours are formed. We conducted a questionnaire survey with elementary school children and one of their parents in Germany and Japan. Two hundred and twenty‐one pairs participated in Germany and 365 in Japan. The results of structural equation modelling showed that parents' behaviours affected children's environmental behaviours directly and also via the subjective norm (the children's experienced expectations of their parents). A comparison of the two countries revealed that hypothesized cultural differences between the impact of personal norms and subjective norms were clearer for adults. The results also showed that the effects of subjective norms were stronger for children, indicating that children are more likely to be influenced by expectations of others. The results of the study suggest that for promoting children's environmental behaviours, showing the behaviours in daily life would be most effective.     

Parents' depressive symptoms and children's adjustment over time are mediated by parenting,but differentially for fathers and mothers

Parenting has been found to act as a mediator of the relation between parents' depressive symptoms and children's adjustment. The present study replicated this result, and also found specific effects of gender for both parents and children. A total of 319 parents provided reports of their depressive symptoms (BDI) and two parenting styles (APQ; inconsistent discipline and positive parenting) as well as of their elementary schoolchildren's adjustment (VBV-EL; oppositional-defiant behaviour, hyperactivity, internalizing, social-emotional competence). The first and second measurement occasions were six months apart. Bivariate correlations showed the expected pattern of positive associations between parental depression, child maladjustment and problematic parenting. However, the results differed for mothers and fathers, and the mediation was moderated by the children's gender. Inconsistent discipline was a mediator for both fathers and mothers. The path from fathers' depression was additionally negatively mediated by positive parenting. Boys were more vulnerable than girls.     

Heterogeneity in Maltreated and Non‐maltreated Preschool Children's Inhibitory Control: The Interplay Between Parenting Quality and Child Temperament

This study examined the contribution of child temperament, parenting, and their interaction on inhibitory control development in a sample of maltreated and non‐maltreated preschool children. One hundred and eighteen mother–child dyads were drawn from predominantly low‐income, rural communities. Dyads participated in a laboratory session in which maternal warm autonomy support, warm guidance, and strict/hostile control were observationally coded during a joint teaching task. Independent assessments of children's inhibitory control were obtained, and observers rated children's temperament. After relevant covariates, including income, maternal education, and child age and IQ were controlled for, there were no differences between the maltreatment and non‐maltreatment groups in either children's inhibitory control or mothers' behaviours in the laboratory session. Even after much of the variance in children's inhibitory control was accounted for from the covariates, children's temperamental negativity moderated the effects of warm autonomy support on inhibitory control in both maltreatment and non‐maltreatment groups. Temperamentally negative children whose mothers displayed more warm autonomy support showed greater inhibitory control, at levels on par with low‐negative children. Findings suggest that heterogeneity in children's self‐regulation may be due in part to individual differences in sensitivity to caregiver support for children's independence, even among those exposed to maltreatment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of child temperament on low‐income preschool children's relationships with their parents and teachers

The current study examined the associations between low‐income preschool children's temperament (reactive and regulatory) and their relationships with parents and teachers. In particular, we focused on the moderating role of regulatory temperament on reactive temperament in the prediction of closeness and conflict with parents and teachers. Two hundred ninety‐one children (M = 53.88 months, SD = 6.44 months), their parents, and teachers from 3 different preschools serving low‐income children in 2 midwestern cities in the United States participated. Parents reported on temperament and parent–child relationships, and teachers reported on teacher–child relationships. Hierarchical regression models using SAS PROC MIXED were employed to allow for nesting of children within classrooms. After controlling for child age, gender, ethnicity, and parent education, children's reactive temperament was negatively associated with parent–child closeness and positively associated with parent–child conflict and teacher–child conflict. Children's regulatory temperament was positively related to teacher–child closeness and negatively associated with teacher–child conflict. Regulatory temperament moderated the association between reactive temperament and teacher–child closeness. These findings suggest that although reactive temperament potentially undermines closeness in relationships with teachers, regulatory temperament can buffer the influence of reactive temperament on teacher–child closeness.

Highlights

• This study examined the association between children's temperament and their relationships with parents and teachers.
• Reactive temperament was positively associated with parent/teacher–child conflict and negatively associated with parent–child closeness. Regulatory temperament was a moderator for the association between reactive temperament and teacher–child closeness.
• Improving children's regulatory temperament may be helpful for children with the reactive temperament to have better social relationships with their teachers.

     

Does surgency moderate the relationship between parenting and children's aggression in middle childhood?

Parenting and child temperament have both been linked to aggression among children. This study explores the moderating effects of children's surgency and sex and paternal/maternal parenting practices on aggressive behaviour in middle childhood. We analyse whether the moderating effects observed fit a Diathesis-Stress, Differential Susceptibility or Vantage Sensitivity model. Participants were 203 school children aged 7–8 years (M = 92.42 months, SD = 3.52) from southern Spain. Maternal inconsistency and coercion and paternal hostility and indulgence, had a direct effect on children's aggressive behaviour. The effects of maternal hostility and anticipatory problem solving on children's aggression were moderated by surgency (Diathesis-Stress), as was the effect of paternal coercion on aggression (Vantage Sensitivity). Children's sex was not found to moderate any effect. It therefore seems that not all children are equally sensitive to the influence of parenting on their aggression levels, and that this influence depends on their temperament.

Highlights

• This study explores the moderating effects of children's surgency and sex and paternal/maternal parenting practices on aggressive behavior.
• Children's surgency moderated the effect of maternal hostility and anticipatory problem solving on children's aggression, with both effects fitting a Diathesis-Stress model.
• Children's surgency moderated the effect of paternal coercion on children's aggression, with this effect fitting a Vantage Sensitivity model.

     

Relationships among parenting practices,parental stress,child behaviour,and children's social‐cognitive development

The present study included observational and self‐report measures to examine associations among parental stress, parental behaviour, child behaviour, and children's theory of mind and emotion understanding. Eighty‐three parents and their 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children participated. Parents completed measures of parental stress, parenting (laxness, overreactivity), and child behaviour (internalizing, externalizing); children completed language, theory of mind, and emotion understanding measures. Parent–child interactions also were observed (N=47). Laxness and parenting stress predicted children's theory of mind performance and parental usage of imitative gestures and vocalizations accounted for unique variance in emotion understanding. Associations also were found between child behaviour and emotion understanding. Results provide support for direct and indirect associations between parent–child interactions and early social‐cognitive development. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.