Developmental Psychology

Watson, Malcolm W.; Amgott-Kwan, Terry

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.659pmid: N/A

In 2 studies, 64 3–7½ yr old White children were tested for a predicted, 6-step sequence of parental role concepts. Dolls were used to represent typical family roles, about which questions concerning role explanations were asked of Ss. The sequence was found to be scalable. Between 3 and 4½ yrs of age, Ss could describe a parental role in terms of several behaviors appropriate to the role. By 6 yrs of age, most Ss could understand a parental role in terms of its relation to a complementary role. By 7 yrs of age, most Ss could describe and explain how 2 family role relationships could occur simultaneously for the same person. Implications of this sequence are discussed in terms of the generalization from previous studies and the explanatory power of the sequence. (15 ref)

McLaughlin, Barry

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.667pmid: N/A

Mothers and fathers of 24 children, aged 1½, 2½, and 3½ yrs, were videotaped in a free-play situation in their home. An analysis was made of the nature and frequency of parental controls directed at the child and the child's compliance. There were few differences between mothers and fathers in the amount or type of control directives observed, although fathers tended to use imperatives more frequently than mothers with 2½- and 3½-yr-olds. Children complied equally to fathers and mothers but showed more compliance to attention than to action controls. Direct imperative controls were somewhat more effective with 1½-yr-olds than were suggestions and questions, whereas the reverse was true of 3½-yr-olds. (21 ref)

Schludermann, Shirin M.; Schludermann, Eduard H.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.674pmid: N/A

Administered the Children's Report of Parent Behavior Inventory (CRPBI) and an SES scale to 1,949 13–18 yr olds from 2 cities in India and to 364 age-matched Ss from 1 city in Canada. Indian Ss were designated as traditional or transitional according to the values they were taught (traditional Indian vs modern Western); Canadian Ss were designated as modern. Factor analyses of CRPBI scales revealed 3 replicable factors: Acceptance, Firm Control (FC), and Psychological Control (PC). ANOVAs were used to test the effects of culture, sex, age, and SES on the 3 CRPBI factors. Younger Ss consistently reported more PC and FC than did older ones. Modern Ss reported the most FC, and traditional Ss reported the most PC. Even though higher SES correlated with lower PC and FC, statistical SES control did not attenuate the strong cultural differences for PC. Results suggest considerable congruence between demands and parental socialization practices. (45 ref)

McBride, Angela B.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.686pmid: N/A

A 2–5 factorial between-Ss experiment was conducted, with level of success, sex of stimulus parent, sex of stimulus child, sex of respondent, and generation as the 5 independent variables. 139 undergraduates and their parents of the same sex served as Ss. The overall performance rating, the attributions made to explain parenting success/failure, and the ratings made both of the stimulus parent and of the stimulus child on the same 60 personality items were the dependent variables. The present study replicated one of the principal findings of attribution research: that males are more given to explaining failure in terms of external factors. Males of both generations made greater use of the factor Child's Fault in explaining parenting failure than did females. (24 ref)

Frankel, Marc T.; Rollins, Howard A.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.694pmid: N/A

Studied the interactional teaching patterns of 36 fathers and mothers with their 6-yr-old sons and daughters. Parents were asked to play with their child using a jigsaw puzzle and to teach the child to remember 24 picture cards that could be divided into conceptual categories. It was found that parents' instructional behaviors did not differ as a function of their own sex but rather on the basis of their child's sex. Parents attempted to teach their sons more general problem-solving strategies and were both more directive and more approving or disapproving of their sons than of their daughters. Parents interacted with their daughters in a more cooperative, concrete, and specific fashion; and daughters were given more feedback about their performance. The teaching interaction was effective in helping the child remember more items than they recalled without training. Several explanations for these sex-of-child effects are proposed. (12 ref)

Fine, Mark A.; Moreland, John R.; Schwebel, Andrew I.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.703pmid: N/A

100 introductory psychology students from families that had experienced divorce 7 or more years previously and 141 introductory psychology students from continuously intact families completed a series of self-report questionnaires assessing their perceptions of their relationship with their parents. Findings indicate that although there was considerable variation from person to person, Ss from divorced families perceived their relationships with their parents, and particularly their fathers, less positively than those from intact families. It was also found that these potentially negative consequences of divorce were attenuated by Ss' recall of a healthy predivorce family life, by a more successful adjustment on the part of the child before the divorce, and by a higher quality relationship between the ex-spouses after the divorce. Results support the notion that active involvement on the part of the father and added stresses placed on the mother after the divorce are the critical determinants of the perceived quality of the current parent–child relationships. (31 ref)

Newcomb, Michael D.; Huba, G. J.; Bentler, Peter M.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.714pmid: N/A

Using confirmatory methods, a direct modeling theory was contrasted with a cognitive mediational position in regard to the influence of mothers on their children's use of alcohol, marihuana, and pills. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their personality and drug use, and their daughters (n = 481) and sons (n = 244) independently responded to self-report questionnaires measuring their own drug use and perceived adult drug use. Data support a cognitive mediational linkage between mother and child for alcohol and pill use. A direct modeling explanation seemed to account most accurately for marihuana use. In all analyses, sex of the child was retained as an independent variable, and for all substances there was no differential effect by sex. (32 ref)

Crockenberg, Susan

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.727pmid: N/A

Investigated the predictability of performance on the Mental scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) at 21 mo from characteristics of infants and mothers. 25 low-risk mother–infant pairs participated. Mother's level of education, a responsive maternal attitude, and 3-mo smiling and eye contact predicted infant performance on the Mental scale of the BSID. (17 ref)

Yeates, Keith O.; MacPhee, David; Campbell, Frances A.; Ramey, Craig T.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.731pmid: N/A

Children at risk for sociocultural mental retardation were studied longitudinally from birth to 4 yrs of age. Maternal IQs were assessed before the children's births, and children's IQs and home environments were assessed at regular intervals during the 1st 4 yrs of life. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to separate the contributions of maternal IQ and home environment to child IQ at 24, 36, and 48 mo. When the effect of maternal IQ was controlled, home environment's association with child IQ was significant only at 48 mo. When the effect of home environment was controlled, maternal IQ's association with child IQ was significant only at 24 mo. Taken together, the 2 predictors explained 11, 17, and 29% of the variance in child IQ at the 3 respective times. The overall pattern suggested a monotonic increase in the predictability of child IQ within the context of a shift in the relative importance of maternal IQ and home environment as predictors. The integration of the study of behavioral genetics with the study of the process of intellectual development requires an ontogenetic perspective. (22 ref)

Rosenthal, Miriam K.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.19.5.740pmid: N/A

30 male and 33 female newborns were observed being breast-fed in the maternity ward. The conditional probabilities of various maternal and infant behaviors were studied when the infant was in 1 of 4 states: asleep, drowsy, fussy, and crying. Although male dyads showed more interactive activity on the asleep end of the scale, female dyads showed more interactive activity on the awake end of the scale. These interaction episodes were characterized by greater physical proximity in male dyads and more social interaction in female dyads. Although male neonates spent less time than females in the fussy state, when they were in this state, they seemed to be more agitated than the females. A relatively high proportion of simultaneous vocalization was observed in dyads of both sexes during the fussy state. Results are qualified by the great individual differences observed among the neonates in the amount of time spent in each of the states. (15 ref)