Maternal social support and prosocial mother-child interactions.

Abstract

This investigation studied the relationship between mothers (S = 32) who perceive their child as exhibiting behavior problems, their reported daily experience of social support contacts, and the observed rate of prosocial mother-child interactions. Notable, and of clinical relevance, was the finding that mothers who perceived their children as acting out were observed to experience significantly fewer prosocial mother-child interactions on days that these mothers reported low levels of social support contact. Implications toward primary prevention and treatment are discussed.

Child Externalizing Behavior and Parents' Stress: The Role of Social Support

“…Ultimately, supportive relationships have an effect on parental functioning, and also on the quality of the parent-child relationship (Szykula et al, 1991). These resource variables reflect both the perception of being supported and actual supports provided, so that these parents are better prepared to manage child problems and view parenting less negatively than parents who lack these resources.…”

“…There is evidence that social support has a direct impact on parenting (Koeske & Koeske, 1990) and on mothers' prosocial interactions (Szykula, Mas, Crowley, & Sayger, 1991). There is evidence that social support has a direct impact on parenting (Koeske & Koeske, 1990) and on mothers' prosocial interactions (Szykula, Mas, Crowley, & Sayger, 1991).…”

“…Two studies of mothers of children with externalizing behavior problems have reported buffering effects, of general social support on parentchild interactions (Szykula et al, 1991) and of spousal support on parental psychological adjustment (Simons, Lorenz, Wu, & Conger, 1993). We expected to find that some types of support would change the nature of the relationship between the stressor and the outcome measure; when the stressor is high, the presence of support would minimize (or buffer) the effect of the stressor on outcome.…”

Trauma exposure and behavioral outcomes in sheltered homeless children: The moderating role of perceived social support

“…Poor families are less likely to enjoy the benefits of strong social support networks that may provide buffers in times of overwhelming stress (Bassuk, 1993;Graham-Bermann, Coupet, Egler, Mattis, & Bayard, 1996;Maton, 2002). The inadequacy of social support among low income families has been identified as a risk factor for child maltreatment (Anooshian, 2005;Sheidow, Gorman-Smith, Tolan, & Henry, 2001;Szykula, Mas, Turner, Crowley, & Sayger, 1991).…”

“…This study demonstrated that a majority of children do not experience clinical ranges of emotional or behavioral distress, despite exposures to both lifetime trauma and homeless related stress. It was expected that relationships with parents, siblings and best friends would provide a buffer in the pathways between traumatic exposures and mental health morbidity (Bailey, Hannigan, Delaney-Black, Covington, & Sokol, 2006;Branje, van Lieshout, van Aken, & Haselager, 2004;Cauce, 1986;Gavazzi, 1994;Hammack, Richards, Luo, Edlyn, & Roy, 2004;Lempers & Clark-Lempers, 1992;Milevsky & Levitt, 2005;Slavin, & Rainer, 1990;Szykula, Mas, Turner, Crowley & Sayger, 1991). Unexpectedly, children's perceptions of supportive relationships with parents, siblings, and best friends did not affect the degree of clinical symptomatology experienced.…”