Maternal depressed mood and stress as related to vigilance,self-efficacy and mother-child interactions

Parenting self-efficacy, maternal vigilance, competence and child behaviour were studied in a community sample of mothers of 18-36-month-old children. Thirty dysphoric mothers had elevated Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores (12–16) and 30 nondysphoric mothers had BDIs <5. Dysphoric mothers were more stressed, less happily married, less effective as parents and described their children as less competent and responsive than did non-dysphoric mothers. When completing a distracting questionnaire task, all mothers were less vigilant and their children less well behaved than during free play. Stressed, dysphoric mothers were observed to be less sensitive, responsive, warm, vigilant and effective in controlling their children, and their children were more destructive, and less happy, responsive and compliant. Combined maternal stress and dysphoria were associated with generally negative perceptions of self and child, and negative mother-child interactions.     

Socialization of past event talk: Cultural differences in maternal elaborative reminiscing

This study examines mother-child reminiscing conversations with respect to variation in use and function of mothers’ elaborations, the nature of children's memory elaborations, and the connections between the two, in three Western middle-class cultures where autonomy is valued over relatedness. Mothers participated with their 4-year-old children (35 dyads from Berlin, Germany, 42 dyads from Stockholm, Sweden, and 38 from Tallinn, Estonia). Mothers’ open-ended questions predicted children's memory elaborations in Estonian dyads, mothers’ statements and verbal confirmation did so in German dyads, and verbal confirmations did so in Swedish dyads. Number of children's elaborations was similar in all three groups, but Estonian mothers were less elaborative than Swedish and German mothers. These findings contrast with previous research in which number of child elaborations has been linked to number of mother elaborations. The results suggest that different aspects of elaborative style function differently. The differences are discussed in light of culturally rooted meanings and practices of talking.     

Maternal interactive behaviour towards children with and children without cleft lip and palate

The present study examined qualitative and quantitative differences in maternal interactive behaviour towards infants with and without cleft lip and palate (CLP). Thirty-three mother-child pairs with CLP and 34 pairs without CLP were videotaped at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age in two sorts of play situations at home. In addition, the mothers were questioned by letter about their ability to recognize and interpret the child's signals; their willingness to respond to such signals; and the duration of shared daily activities in the context of feeding and play. The results showed that mothers of CLP children are somewhat less sensitive than other mothers. In addition, it appeared that CLP children play less with other people. Longer feeding times for CLP children appeared to be restricted to the age of 3 months. It is suggested that mothers of CLP children may be comparatively directive and stimulating because of uncertainty about additional deficiencies. Furthermore, they may be inclined to keep their children away from the outside world.     

Parenting Disruptive Preschoolers: Experiences of Mothers and Fathers

This study examined parental functioning and interactions with young children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), with emphasis on differences between mothers and fathers in their responses to their child and in their unique contributions to the prediction of child disruptive behavior. Participants were 53 3- to 6-year olds with ODD who presented for treatment with two parents. Mothers reported more severe disruptive behavior and higher parenting stress than fathers. During parent-child interactions, mothers showed more responsiveness than fathers, even though children were more compliant during interactions with fathers. Regression analyses showed that fathers' parent-related stress was predictive of both mothers' and father's reports of disruptive child behavior; mothers' marital satisfaction was predictive of behavioral observations of child compliance with both mothers and fathers. This study revealed several important differences in the experiences of mothers versus fathers of disruptive children and indicates the importance of including the father in the child's assessment and treatment.     

Home correlates of aggression in preschool

Is aggressive behaviour in preschool more closely related to individual characteristics of the child as assessed at home, to aspects of mother-child interaction, or to the motherchild relationship? The issue was studied in three replications. Aggression in preschool was related to temperamental characteristics in girls but not boys, and to Self-esteem. There were very few significant correlations between aspects of mother-child interaction and hostility in preschool, but hostility with peers was related to the absence of positive or presence of mildly negative interactions with the sibling. Aggression in preschool was related to an aspect of the mother-child relationship; least aggression was shown by those childred whose mothers used warmth and control more or less “in balance” (authortative Mothers). Such children also differed in other aspects of the mother-child relationship, and these provided some explanation of those children who appeared to be exceptions to the “balance” hypethesis. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A comparison of Estonian,Swedish, and Finnish mothers' controlling attitudes and behaviour

The current study examined maternal control of children across families with early adolescents from different sociocultural backgrounds. The intention was to find out whether belonging to the same ethnic group/language community (i.e., Estonian or Finnish) is more important for determination of child‐rearing attitudes and practices than sharing the immediate sociocultural context (i.e., Swedish society). In addition, attention was paid to the relationship between attitudes and behaviour. The results were obtained from three monocultural samples of Estonian, Swedish, and Finnish families living in their country of origin; two bicultural samples consisted of Estonian and Finnish families residing in Sweden. Two types of data—mothers' reported attitudes towards the importance of control over children's behaviour (the Control Scale) and video‐recorded real‐life verbal behaviour—were used to determine how the mothers' attitudes towards control relate to the behavioural control exhibited in their real‐life interactions. The study showed that the Finno‐Ugric mothers living in their countries of origin controlled their children's behaviour significantly more frequently than those Finno‐Ugric mothers who live in Sweden, but both Estonian samples outperformed Finns in their reported control attitudes. The Swedish mothers were the least directive among monocultural mothers both in maternal beliefs and in real‐life behaviour, but they differed from Estonian and Finnish mothers residing in Sweden only in their lower scores on the Control Scale. The study revealed that mothers' real‐life control behaviour corresponded rather modestly to their reported attitudes toward the importance of controlling children. Analyses of actual mother—child interaction showed that only the Estonian mothers living in Estonia actually put their relatively high scores on the Control Scale into practice in real‐life interactions with their children. Finally, some characteristics of Estonian, Finnish, and Swedish languages and cultures are discussed that might determine the cultural differences in child rearing that emerged.     

In vitro fertilization and the family: quality of parenting, family functioning, and child psychosocial adjustment

This study examined associations between homologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) and quality of parenting, family functioning, and emotional and behavioral adjustment of 3-7-year-old children. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Taiwan with 54 IVF mother-child pairs and 59 mother-child pairs with children conceived naturally. IVF mothers reported a greater level of protectiveness toward their children than control mothers. Teachers, blind to condition, rated IVF mothers as displaying greater warmth but not overprotective or intrusive parenting behaviors toward their children. Teachers scored children of IVF as having fewer behavioral problems than control children. In contrast, IVF mothers reported less satisfaction with aspects of family functioning. Family composition moderated parenting stress: IVF mothers with only 1 child perceived less parenting stress than did those in the control group.     

Emotional exchange in mother-child dyads: stability, mutual influence, and associations with maternal depression and child problem behavior.

This study examined the stability of the child and maternal affective expression and maternal responsiveness and the mutual influence of child and maternal expression of emotion. The authors tested whether maternal depression and child problem behavior were associated with the pattern of emotional exchange within the mother-child dyads. The sample consisted of 69 mother-child dyads (children aged 2-5 years), with 32 of the mothers having childhood-onset depression. Mothers were mostly stable in their affective expression (positive and negative) and responsiveness, whereas children were only stable in positive expression. Within the dyads, mothers seemed to play a more important role in regulating children's later emotional expression. Maternal depression was associated with concurrent maternal responsiveness and their reduced positive expression over time. Results are discussed in relation to the differential function of parental general positivity and responsiveness and the interpersonal transmission of emotional problems.     

Maternal values and parenting and Estonian,German, and Russian adolescents' friendship satisfaction

The study examined the extent to which the sociocultural context shapes mothers' values and parenting patterns and moderates associations between adolescents' perceptions of mothers' acceptance and control and adolescents' friendship satisfaction. Questionnaire data were collected from a total of 834 Estonian, German, and Russian middle adolescents and their mothers. The findings indicated culture‐specific patterns and meanings of parenting. In all cultures, mothers who valued interdependence more highly considered children's social‐oriented characteristics more important. German and Russian maternal behavior was linked to their parenting goals. For instance, German mothers who considered adolescents' obedience more important were more controlling. Although boys and girls perceived mothers' behavior somewhat differently, maternal acceptance (but not control) predicted both boys' and girls' friendship satisfaction in all cultures.     

Effectiveness of Child-Directed Interaction Training for Young Japanese Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

This study examined the efficacy of Child-Directed Interaction Training (CDIT), the first phase of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), for Japanese children with autism spectrum disorders. The participants were 21 mother-child dyads with children aged 4–7 years; participants were assigned to an Immediate Treatment (IT) group or to a Waitlist (WL) control group. Across eight training sessions, mothers learned positive attention skills that were adapted from traditional PCIT training. Results showed CDIT not only improved social cognition skills and decreased disruptive behavior in Japanese children, but also reduced stress/distress among their mothers, particularly in relation to their own parenting skills and their child’s problem behaviors.     

Sex and Sociocultural Correlates of Urinary Incontinence in Israeli Preschool Children

Urinary incontinence in children aged 2 to 6 years whose mothers varied in ethnic descent, in level of education, and in immigration status was studied in Israel. Mothers of 302 children were interviewed in well-baby clinics regarding primary and secondary urinary incontinence of their children. A significant age trend was found for attaining primary urinary continence. However, various interactions between mothers' ethnic descent, mothers' level of education, and mothers' immigration status were associated with different rates of primary and secondary urinary incontinence in their children. Moreover, sex differences in rates of primary and secondary urinary incontinence were also associated with mothers' ethnic descent and level of education. It is suggested that different levels of maternal emotional availability to the child in the various subgroups can account for most of the findings.     

Spillover to triadic and dyadic systems in families with young children

Research has evidenced support for the spillover model, which asserts that parents' marital functioning influences their parenting and coparenting behavior in dyadic (mother-child and father-child) and triadic (mother-father-child) family contexts. However, few studies have simultaneously investigated the spillover model in both parenting and coparenting systems, preventing examination of whether spillover impacts both systems equally or differentially. Further, little research has examined whether quality of the marital system influences children's behavior toward their parents, as well as their parents' behavior, in dyadic interactions. We examined the spillover model using observational measures of parent and child behavior in parent-child dyadic interactions as well as coparenting in triadic interactions. We also explored parent and child gender differences in spillover effects. Participants were families with children aged 3 to 6 years (n = 149). Findings indicated that spillover occurs to multiple family systems, but the effects varied according to whose behavior (mother, father, child) was explored. In families of boys and girls, the marital system influenced warmth in triadic interactions, as well as fathers' responsiveness and children's responsiveness to mothers in dyadic interactions. Spillover effects were largely equivalent for girls and boys, but spillover to coparenting hostility in triadic interactions was limited to families raising girls. Parent gender also moderated associations between marital functioning and parent-child interactions: Spillover was significantly stronger for fathers' responsiveness (vs. mothers' responsiveness) and child responsiveness to mothers (vs. child responsiveness to fathers).     

The role of preacademic activities and adult-centeredness in mother-child play in educated urban middle-class families from three cultures

The present study analyzes similarities and differences in cultural beliefs about mother-child play and their manifestation in maternal and children’s play practices in three different educated urban middle-class cultures. Based on the general assumption that mother-child play is an important context for child learning and development in educated urban middle-class communities that should result in cross-cultural similarities in mother-child play, the current study also hypothesized culture-specific accentuations, namely a stronger emphasis on preacademic vs. non-academic play activities and on adult-centered vs. child-centered modes of interaction in Chennai, India, (n = 28) than in Münster, Germany, (n = 35) and New York City (NYC), USA, (n = 36). Maternal goals and strategies were assessed in semi-structured interviews and mothers from Chennai emphasized play goals and preacademic goals to similar degrees, whereas mothers from Münster and NYC accentuated play goals. In line with their emphasis on preacademic goals and strategies, Chennai mothers showed significantly more preacademic activities during play with their 2-year-olds, especially explicit teaching. Furthermore, Chennai mothers’ stronger emphasis on play directives and children’s higher levels of responsive play complemented the pattern of more adult-centered beliefs and practices. In contrast, mothers from Münster and NYC were more likely to emphasize child-centeredness, with significantly more goals revolving around child immersion in play activities and autonomy-supporting play practices, including autonomous exploration, toddlers’ leadership and control, and maternal responsiveness. Unexpectedly, toddlers from NYC engaged the most in preacademic activities, especially responding to maternal quizzing.     

The Prediction of Mothers' Behavior with their Hyperactive Children during Play and Task Situations

Forty mothers were observed interacting with their hyperactive children during a play and structured task situation. Relationships between observed child behavior, maternal self-ratings of self-esteem and stress and mothers' behavior in these situations were examined. The amounts of interaction, control and nonresponding exhibited by mothers during play and task situations were significantly correlated with both their children's behavior and their reported self-esteem and stress associated with the parental role. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the behavior of the child predicted maternal behavior for both the play and structured task situations. However, mothers' reports of stress and self-esteem were significant predictors of their behavior only for the structured task situation. These preliminary findings suggest that maternal cognitions and affects may be more highly correlated with their interactional behavior for some situations versus others. Such information could be useful for the development of situation-specific treatment goals when working with mothers of disturbed children.     

Psychobiological Aspects of Infant Crying

This study addresses the relationship between the amount of infant crying and maternal responsiveness to the infant's facial communicative cues during distress and non-distress situations. From an evolutionary perspective, the interpretation of infant crying as a communicative signal is preferred over its distance-regulating function. This view implies a relation between the amount of infant crying and parameters describing interactional regulation. Maternal responsiveness is operationalized by (a) the contingent reactions in a latency time span which define the intuitive character of parental behaviours (200–800 ms) and by (b) an event-based coding system of maternal inappropriate behaviour. Infant states (crying, fussing, sleeping and waking hours) were assessed by means of diaries kept by the mothers. In two samples (N=10, N=13, respectively), married, middle-class mothers were videotaped in free play situations with their healthy, firstborn children in their family homes. Results show that there is a strong intersituational consistency of maternal behaviour, but context-sensitive components of maternal behaviour could also be found. The contingency of maternal reactions during the free play situation can be regarded as a predictor of the duration of the infant's crying measured by a maternal diary. The whole pattern of the results confirms the regulatory function of infant crying in the context of early caregiver–child interactions.     

Preschool girls' distress and mothers' sensitivity in Japan and Germany

Cultures differ in their beliefs about emotions and related emotional expressions. Cultures with an interdependent model of self prefer more socially engaged emotions, and cultures with an independent model of self perceive socially disengaged emotions as more important. Such differences in individual emotional expression can be seen as outcomes of different socialization practices in children's development of emotions. Mothers' sensitivity was assumed to promote culturally valued ways of children's emotional expressions. The present cross-cultural study aimed to test distress reactions of young children in Japan and Germany in self-focused and other-focused conditions. German and Japanese preschool girls (N = 50) were observed in two distress conditions. Distress was evoked by the child's own failure (self-focused distress) and by the experience of another person's distress (other-focused distress). The mothers were present in the failure condition. The girls' intensity of distress expression was coded before and directly after the emotion-eliciting event (immediate expression) as well as at the end of each situation (change of expression over time). Mothers' sensitivity was coded during the failure condition. No cultural differences occurred for girls' intensity of immediate distress expression but for the change of expression over time in both situations in the expected culture-specific way. Furthermore, maternal sensitivity was also related to the daughter's change of distress expressions in a culture-specific way. These results point to effects of universal and culture-specific emotion socialization.     

Resolutions of control episodes between well and affectively ill mothers and their young children

Control interactions between 87 well and affectively ill mothers and their 15- to 51-month-old children were studied. Spontaneously occurring control interventions (conceptualized as episodes of interaction between mother and child) were coded from 90 minutes of videotaped interactions in a naturalistic laboratory apartment setting. The results suggest developmental changes in mother-child interaction in the 2nd to 4th years of life: the increase of the rate of immediate maternal success (p less than .05) and compromise (p less than .05), on the decrease in maternal use of power (ultimate success by enforcement, p less than .01). Well mothers achieved compromise with their children, particularly daughters, more often than did affectively ill mothers (p less than .05). Affectively ill mothers more often than well mothers avoided confrontation with their children (p less than .05). The impairments in control interventions of affectively ill mothers were exacerbated by the severity of the disorder.     

Mother and father interaction with their 3-month-old infants: Similarities and differences in parenting behaviour in well-resourced parents

Infancy is characterized by intensive parenting which may affect later child development. However, little is known about similarities and differences in maternal and paternal parenting behaviour, as the majority of the studies have mainly focused on mothers. The present study investigated similarities and differences in mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviour during parent-infant interaction in 56 mothers and 56 fathers of 3-months-old infants in a good-resourced sample. Parent-child interactions were videotaped and coded by the Global Rating Scales. Results suggested similar parenting behaviour in terms of maternal and paternal sensitivity, intrusiveness and remoteness. Moreover, regardless of sex infant’s behaviour was similar during interactions with mothers and fathers. The low-risk and non-clinical nature of our sample may have had a positive influence on mother-child and father-child dyadic exchanges. These findings suggest including family system models in research and clinical practice.     

Dyadic processes between mothers and preterm infants: Development at ages 2 to 5 years

In order to identify antecedents to cognitive, language, and social competence from 2 to 5 years of age in preterm children at biological and social risk, this study used multiple procedures, administered in the laboratory, at 13 and 20 months, to measure components of the social interactions between 51 mothers and their preterm infants. Two variables, maternal responsiveness to infant vocalization and infant irritability, were found to be significant predictors of later competence. Whereas greater maternal responsiveness, as expected, led to increased language and social skills, greater infant irritability during stressful situations also foretold later increased competence in expressive and receptive language and social cognition. Children born at higher birthweights and with longer gestations were more likely to be more irritable than those born at very low birthweights. The findings suggest different implications for negative affect in preterms who have experienced respiratory distress as contrasted to full-term children, but indicate similar positive consequences for maternal verbal responsiveness.