Developmental Psychology

Bronstein, Phyllis

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.995pmid: N/A

Systematic observations of 78 parent–child dyads in Mexican families revealed a number of differences between maternal and paternal behaviors. Some of the patterns observed run counter to the traditionally held views of Mexican parental roles––for example, that fathers are more aloof and authoritarian, whereas mothers are more warm and nurturant. Fathers, in fact, were found to be more playful and companionable with their children than mothers were, and mothers were more nurturant only in terms of providing immediate physical needs. In addition, fathers, but not mothers, differed significantly in their behavior toward girls and boys: on reprimanding-restrictive and instrumental-directive behaviors they were substantially lower toward girls, whereas they directed more attention and cognitive involvement toward boys. The findings, when compared cross-culturally, proved to be similar to findings obtained in observational studies of parents' interactions with infants and young children in this country.

Ho, David Y.; Kang, T. K.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1004pmid: N/A

The present research comprises two studies, one focusing on maternal child-rearing attitudes and practices and the other on paternal roles and attitudes in Hong Kong. Intergenerational comparisons are made possible by having 17 pairs of grandmothers and mothers and 20 pairs of grandfathers and fathers from the same families serve as informants. An interview schedule was used in the first study, and a questionnaire and two attitude scales were used in the second study. Results show that the fathers depart more from the traditional orientation concerning child training and filial piety and tend to be more involved in child care than the grandfathers. On the other hand, intergenerational comparisons of maternal care are mostly nonsignificant (at the .05 level). Despite important changes that have taken place, continuity with the past remains strong, such as in the control of sex and aggression. A high degree of intergenerational commonality remains in attitudes and conceptions concerning human nature, the importance of social–environmental influences in character formation, and the desired characteristics expected of children when they grow up.

Stevens, Joseph H.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1017pmid: N/A

Questionnaire data from teenagers and grandmothers about infant development indicated that grandmothers who were more knowledgeable had daughters who were also more knowledgeable only when the latter had parenting responsibilities. The presence of a young infant seemed to provide the context in which the grandmother helped the young mother acquire accurate information about her baby's normative development. Grandmothers also exhibited a more responsive and less punitive interactive style than did their daughters. The data provided evidence that important socialization of parenting processes probably occurs in low-income Black three-generation households in which there is a very young mother.

Baskett, Linda M.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1026pmid: N/A

The purpose of this study was to compare the interactions of oldest and youngest children with parents and siblings. Twenty first-born and 17 last-born children between the ages of 4 and 8 from two- or three-child families were selected from a larger sample for this study. Their interactions at home with other family members were observed and coded. Oldest children emitted more of their total behaviors to parents than to siblings, whereas last-born children did not differ significantly in the total number of behaviors emitted to the two family member groups. When the incidence of individual behavior categories was examined, no significant main effect due to ordinal position was found; however, a significant interaction of ordinal position with family member group for some behaviors was found. Both parents and siblings emitted similar levels of prosocial responses toward oldest and last-born children. However, oldest children were more likely to be the recipient of negative responses from parents and siblings than were last-born children of the same age. Implications of these findings for understanding the influence of ordinal position on social behavior are discussed.

Brook, Judith S.; Whiteman, Martin; Gordon, Ann S.; Brook, David W.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1032pmid: N/A

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationship of sets of paternal personality attributes, paternal–daughter relationship variables, and adolescent personality factors with adolescent daughters' use of marijuana. This was a follow-up of a previous study examining father–son factors related to son's marijuana use. Four hundred three female college students and their fathers took part in the study. Results indicated that, similar to the findings in the father–son study, paternal personality attributes and relationships are associated with the daughter's personality attributes, which in turn are related to her marijuana use. The results also showed that the father is more likely to act as an ameliorator with his daughter than with his son in reducing marijuana risk factors.

Heinicke, Christoph M.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1044pmid: N/A

A framework for studying the impact of prebirth parent personality and marital functioning on family development is outlined. In the context of the delineation of four influences on infant and family development––namely, personality, social interaction, role, and ecology––the presentation focuses on the general hypothesis that certain relatively stable characteristics of the parents' personality and their marriage make an important and persistent impact on the family's development. Evidence for such stability is cited. As a further step in the delineation of prebirth influences, global and specific assessments of such influences were distinguished. Because variations in infant characteristics influence marital and parent personality functioning, the advantage of assessing this functioning before the birth of the first child is also stressed. Finally, the nature of the impact of certain stable aspects of the parents' personality and marital characteristics on a particular parent–infant transaction, infant soothability-responsiveness to need, is documented from existing research.

Palkovitz, Rob

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1054pmid: N/A

Forty couples and their 5-month-old infants participated in a study investigating the relationships between parental attitudes and fathers' behavioral and affective involvement with their children during a brief home-based observation. Attitudinal measures included fathers' and mothers' views on the role of the father, fathers' sex role orientation, empathic tendencies, and social desirability scores. The fathers' sex role orientation and both parents' views concerning the role of the father were found to be significantly correlated with observed levels of paternal activity. Implications for paternal support programs are discussed.

Kuczynski, Leon

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1061pmid: N/A

Situational socialization goals were investigated as determinants of parental choice of disciplinary techniques. It was hypothesized that parents tend to use reasoning as a strategy when they have long-term compliance goals for their children and power-assertive techniques for short-term goals. Sixty-four mothers and their 4-year-old children participated in an experiment in which mothers were asked to influence their children to perform a monotonous task. Mothers' perceptions of their goals were experimentally varied and the effects of these perceptions on their subsequent interactions were assessed. Mothers in the long-term-goal condition behaved more nurturantly prior to the task and used more reasoning and character attributions than did mothers in the short-term condition. Power assertion was used more with boys than with girls. Children in the long-term condition were more compliant and less negativistic than children in the short-term condition. The findings are discussed in terms of a cognitive model of parental functioning.

Brunk, Molly A.; Henggeler, Scott W.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1074pmid: N/A

A major assumption of Bell's (1977) model of parent–child bidirectionality is that the members of dyadic systems behave in ways that maintain an equilibrium. When a member's behavior falls below a lower threshold, the other member elicits increased behavior (lower-limit control). Similarly, when a member's behavior surpasses an upper threshold, the other acts to reduce this excessive behavior (upper-limit control). An observational method was used to assess the effects of lower-limit and upper-limit child behaviors on adult controls. Two 10-year-old child confederates, trained in conduct-problem and anxious-withdrawn roles, interacted with 32 mothers in a semistructured play situation. Multivariate and univariate statistical analyses revealed that mothers exhibited more stimulating controls (helping and rewards) in the anxious-withdrawn condition and more restrictive controls (ignoring, commands, and discipline) in the conduct-problem condition. Analyses of behavioral sequences indicated specific effects of the child's role that suggest that mothers responded more to cognitive sets they developed during the interaction than to the child's actual behavior. The results supported Bell's model of bidirectionality.

Bleichfeld, Bruce; Moely, Barbara E.

doi: 10.1037/0012-1649.20.6.1082pmid: N/A

Psychophysiological reactions of 60 women to an infant's cry and to a control sound were investigated. The 30-s cry stimulus evoked greater cardiac and electrodermal activity than did the control stimulus, although selected groups varied in the nature and extent of their reactions. Women who had given birth recently showed cardiac acceleration to the initial cry bursts, then decelerated during a pause in stimulation, and accelerated again during the final cry segment. Similar reactions were shown by pregnant women who heard the cry after the control stimulus, whereas those pregnant women who heard the cry first (and who as a group had a somewhat higher basal heart rate) showed deceleration to the cry. Women who were not pregnant responded with deceleration, followed by a return to baseline level. Within the pregnant and nonpregnant groups, women who had child-rearing experience showed greater arousal during the last 15 s of cry stimulation than did those without such experience. Thus, both maternal state and experience with infants affected women's reactions to an infant cry.