Interactions Between Maternal Parenting and Children’s Early Disruptive Behavior: Bidirectional Associations across the Transition from Preschool to School Entry

Abstract

This study was a prospective 2-year longitudinal investigation of associations between negative maternal parenting and disruptive child behavior across the preschool to school transition. Our main goals were to 1) determine the direction of association between early maternal negativity and child disruptive behaviors across this important developmental transition and 2) examine whether there would be different patterns of associations for boys and girls. Participants were 235 children (111 girls; T1; M= 37.7 months, T2; M=63.4 months) and their mothers and teachers. Observational and multi-informant ratings of child disruptive behavior showed differential patterns of stability and associations with measures of parenting risk. Results indicated bidirectional and interactive contributions of externalizing behavior and negative parenting across time. Results also indicated that risk mechanisms operate similarly for both sexes. Findings support transactional models of disruptive child behavior that highlight the joint contributions of parents and children.

The transactional process between the relationships with caregivers and children's externalizing behavior

“…In contrast with previous findings (Burke et al, 2008;Combs-Ronto et al, 2009;Larsson et al, 2008;Meunier et al, 2011;Zadeh et al, 2010), the current results do not provide overall support for the theoretical assumptions of the transactional model. Instead, the results tend to replicate the effect from mothers to children that was found in one previous longitudinal cross-lagged study reviewed in the introductory section Table 3 Intercorrelations between the two constructs QR and EB for parents and teachers.…”

“…both bidirectional influences and recursive effects, between motherchild QR and children's EB. In sum, both bidirectional and recursive effects in the mother-child dyad have been found in previous studies (Combs-Ronto et al, 2009;Larsson et al, 2008;Meunier et al, 2011). However, only a caregiver effect was identified by Newland and Crnic (2011) and a strong child effect was found in adolescence by Hale et al (2011).…”

“…Such relations were for example studied in a community sample in which negative maternal behavior at age 3 was seen to contribute to children's EB at age 6 (Combs-Ronto, Olson, Lunkenheimer, & Sameroff, 2009). In the other direction, children's EB at age 3 was found to influence negative maternal behavior at age 6.…”

“…Stronger evidence for the transactional process was found in previous studies focusing on caregivers' behavior towards preschoolers rather than on their feelings. In such studies, rather than a speech sample in which feelings about the target child were expressed to a third party, caregiver-child QR was assessed using observation, self-report questionnaires or both (Burke et al, 2008;Combs-Ronto et al, 2009). The validity of this method could be questioned in terms of its capacity to capture the target variable, i.e.…”

Gerelateerde ontwikkeling van externaliserend gedrag en opvoedgedrag bij kinderen en adolescenten

“…Ander onderzoek vond juist dat jongens meer dan meisjes opstandig reageren op controlerend gedrag van moeders (McFadyenKetchum, Bates, Dodge, & Pettit, 1996). In verschillende longitudinale studies zijn helemaal geen verschillen gevonden in de relaties tussen moeders' negatieve disciplinering (Combs-Ronto, Olson, Lunkenheimer, & Sameroff, 2009) en warmte (Eisenberg et al, 2009) met externaliserend gedrag van jongens versus meisjes. Voor zover wij weten, zijn in longitudinale studies naar de intergerelateerde ontwikkeling van externaliserend gedrag en opvoedgedrag niet eerder zowel moeders als vaders onderzocht.…”