Children's conscience during toddler and preschool years, moral self, and a competent, adaptive developmental trajectory.

Abstract

We investigated whether children’s robust conscience, formed during early family socialization, promotes their future adaptive and competent functioning in expanded ecologies. We assessed two dimensions of conscience in young children (N = 100) at 25, 38, and 52 months in scripted laboratory contexts: internalization of their mothers’ and fathers’ rules, observed when the child was alone, and empathic concern toward each parent, observed in simulated distress paradigms. We also assessed the child’s self-perception on moral dimensions (the moral self), using a puppet interview at 67 months. At 80 months, parents and teachers produced an overall measure of competent, adaptive functioning by rating children on multiple scales of competent, prosocial, rule-abiding behavior and antisocial behavior. As expected, children with histories of a stronger internalization of both parents’ rules were more competent and better socialized; for maternal rules, that link was mediated by the child’s moral self. The link between the child’s history of empathy toward the mother and future socialization was also significant, but it was not mediated by the moral self. This study elucidates the roles of classic components of morality—moral conduct, affect, and self—as antecedents of an adaptive developmental trajectory from toddler to early school age.

The Reciprocal Influence of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Parenting Practices in Preschoolers

“…In line with previous research on the relationship between negative parenting and ODD [43], the results of the present study suggest that poor monitoring at a very early age predicts increases in temper tantrums, defiant behavior, refusals to comply with authority, and an inability to auto-regulate emotion. As described in Kochanska et al (2010), the parent-child relationship in the preschool period is crucial to consciousness development in children, since this is when parents establish behavioral models and rules that children internalize with time. Children of poor-monitoring parents may fail to associate reward and punishment with their actions, and the absence of constructive parental feedback allows for aggressive and defiant behaviors to proliferate unchecked.…”

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine reciprocal relationships between parenting practices, CU traits and ODD in a large and representative sample of preschoolers, suggesting a greater ability to generalize results to the preschool population than would be possible with previous high-risk samples [19,9]. A longitudinal design was employed, taking repeated measures of CU traits, ODD and parenting over a period of 3 years from ages 3 to 6.…”

“…In studying risk and protective factors for CU traits in the preschool period, PRESCHOOL CU TRAITS, ODD AND PARENTING STYLE 5 parenting behaviors are an especially important area of focus given the central role of the parentchild relationship in the first few years of life. Research suggests that a positive and consistent parenting style fosters early conscience development, the absence of which is a risk factor for DB and associated issues [19]. Unsurprisingly, research surrounding the association between parenting practices and child DB suggest that positive parenting and parental warmth may be protective factors for child antisocial behavior, whereas negative parenting practices-such as inconsistent discipline, harsh parenting, and poor monitoring-may pose an increased risk for general antisocial behavior and aggression in kindergarteners [20].…”

What Develops in Moral Identities? A Critical Review

“…This does not preclude that less demanding forms of morality-self integration occur in childhood [cf. Kochanska, Koenig, Barry, Sanghang, & Yoon, 2010;Krettenauer, 2014;Krettenauer, Campbell, & Hertz, 2013]. Second, self and morality become increasingly integrated in adolescence or emerging adulthood, giving rise to a moral identity.…”

Moral Identity and Developmental Theory

“…Children with a strong history of committed compliance to parents are likely to see themselves as embracing parents' values and, on this basis, construct a moral self that regulates future behavior [Kochanska, 2002b]. Indeed, in one study Kochanska, Koenig, Barry, Kim, and Yoon [2010] showed that toddlers with a strong history of internalized "out-of-sight" compliance (at 25-52 months) were competent, engaged, and prosocial at 80 months of age. But this effect was mediated at 67 months by the moral self.…”