Child–parent attachment and children's peer relations: A quantitative review.

The central premise of attachment theory is that the security of the early child–parent bond is reflected in the child's interpersonal relationships across the life span. This meta-analysis was based on 63 studies that reported correlations between child–parent attachment and children's peer relations. The overall effect size (ES) for child–mother attachment was in the small-to-moderate range and was quite homogeneous. ESs were similar in studies that featured the Strange Situation and Q-sort methods. The effects were larger for peer relations in middle childhood and adolescence than for peer relations in early childhood. ESs were also higher for studies that focused on children's close friendships rather than on relations with other peers. Gender and cultural differences in ESs were minimal. The results for the few studies on father–child attachment were inconclusive. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Girlfriend, boyfriend: Age and sex differences in intimate friendship.

Investigated changes in intimate friendship with same- and opposite-sex friends in preadolescence and adolescence, using the Intimacy Scale. Ss were Israeli children from the 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades (60 boys and 60 girls from each grade), who rated their friendship with a same- or opposite-sex best friend. There was a significant age difference in overall intimacy with same-sex friends. Frankness and spontaneity, knowing and sensitivity, attachment, exclusiveness, and giving and sharing were factors that changed with age. Trust and loyalty, and taking and imposing did not. Opposite-sex friendship revealed a significant increase in intimacy with age. Boys and girls did not differ in reported opposite-sex friendship in the 5th and 7th grades, whereas girls in the 9th and 11th grades reported higher intimacy than did boys. This sex-by-age pattern of interaction was particularly evident for attachment and for trust and loyalty. Girls were higher in knowing and sensitivity, giving and sharing, and taking and imposing. The implications for further differentiation among types of peer relations and interrelation of dyadic friendship and cognitive growth are discussed. (42 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mother and father connectedness and involvement during early adolescence.

The purpose of the current study was to explore how mother’s and father’s connectedness and involvement individually and collectively influence the lives of their children. Specifically, we asked how fathers’ and mothers’ parent–child connectedness and behavioral involvement influenced both problem behaviors (externalizing and internalizing behaviors) and positive outcomes (prosocial behaviors and hope) during early adolescence. Data for this study were taken from the Flourishing Families Project, from which 349 mothers and fathers were selected, along with their early adolescent child (mean age = 11.23 years, SD = .96). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed (even after controlling for child age, gender, and self-regulation) that mothers’ and fathers’ contributions differed, primarily as a function of child outcome. Namely, father (but not mother) connectedness and involvement were negatively related to adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing behaviors, whereas mother (but not father) connectedness and involvement were positively related to adolescents’ prosocial behaviors and hope. We also found that when one parent’s involvement was low (for whatever reason), the other parent’s involvement made a significant and important contribution to the child’s well-being, particularly in the area of internalizing behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The interpersonal structure of family interaction settings: Parent–adolescent relations in dyads and triads.

Observed parental interactive patterns in the presence (a triadic setting) and in the absence (a dyadic setting) of the spouse in 44 families with 16 female and 28 male early adolescents (approximately 13 yrs old). Findings indicate that in accordance with hypotheses, the presence of the father enhanced the quality of mother–son relations, whereas the presence of the mother reduced the quality of father–son relations. The presence of the spouse influenced the extent to which parents treated girls and boys differently: Mothers differentiated more between girls and boys in the presence of the spouse, whereas fathers differentiated more between girls and boys in the absence of the spouse. Relative to the dyad, parental role differentiation increased in the triad but only in families of boys. In demonstrating interdependencies among family relationships and the responsivity of parental behaviors to the interpersonal structure of interaction settings, the results support a systems model of family processes. Implications for the study of family relations and sex typing at early adolescence are discussed. (60 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relations among family interaction patterns, classroom self-restraint, and academic achievement in preadolescent boys.

Relations among observed family interaction patterns, preadolescent boys' classroom self-restraint, and academic achievement were studied in a sample of 65 intact families. In contrast to previous work in this area, children's social adjustment was introduced as a potential mechanism that mediates the relations between parent–child interactions and academic performance. Correlational results showed significant relations between achievement and all parent–child interaction scores except mother–son hostility. However, regression analyses suggested that the association between father–son interactions and achievement is mediated almost entirely by sons' restraint, whereas the relationships between mother–son interactions and achievement are not. Observed mother–father hostility also appears to be an indirect predictor of sons' academic achievement by way of its association with sons' restraint. These findings are especially important in that they identify social competence in the form of behavioral self-restraint as a noncognitive mediator between the quality of family functioning and academic achievement during early adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Early human experience: A family perspective.

Reviews recent research on the father–infant relationship. Those studies documenting changes in parent and infant behavior when the mother–infant dyad is transformed into the mother–father–infant triad are especially important to the study of early human experience, since they highlight the influence of the marital relationship on the parent–infant relationship. These investigations of "2nd-order effects" document the fact that inclusion of the father in the study of infancy creates a family system composed of marital and parent–child relations. The need for "wedding" the disciplines of family sociology and developmental psychology in their respective concerns for marital and parent–infant relationships is emphasized, and a transactional framework for examining early experience in the family system is proposed. Evidence from family sociology and developmental psychology is reviewed to illuminate influences within the family system during infancy and to stimulate interdisciplinary investigation. (3? ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Value transmissions between fathers, mothers, and adolescent and emerging adult children: The role of the family climate.

Using structural equation modeling, this study investigates father–child, mother–child, and father–mother transmissions on “work-as-duty” and “hedonism” across a 5-year period when children traverse late adolescence and emerging adulthood (N = 402 families). We found bidirectional father–child and child-to-mother transmissions on work-as-duty and child-to-father and bidirectional father–mother transmissions on hedonism. In addition, we examined whether family adaptability and cohesion influence these value transmissions. Father-to-child transmission on work-as-duty occurred regardless of family system levels, whereas child-to-parent transmissions on work-as-duty occurred only within more structured families. Furthermore, a more connected family climate tended to facilitate inter- and intragenerational value transmissions, but multiple-group analyses did not reveal strong evidence. All in all, this study showed that value socialization in the family is not a one-way-traffic process with parents solely influencing their children. Late adolescents and emerging adults also serve to socialize their parents and parents socialize each other. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parental concordance on child rearing and the interactive emphases of parents: Sex-differentiated relationships during the preschool years.

An objective index of parental concordance on child-rearing values was generated in families of 3-year-old children by comparing the independent responses of 70 parent dyads with the set of 91 Child-rearing Practices Report (CRPR) Q-items. The CRPR agreement index was then related to mother–child and father–child structured interaction observed 2 years later in a structured interaction situation. In families of boys, concordance on child rearing was positively associated with parental education. Relations between parental value concordance and parents' interactive emphases were more readily apparent for parents of boys than for parents of girls, with the largest number of correlates obtained in the mother–son dyad. In the sample of boys, converging parental value systems were associated with a maternal interactive style characterized by permissive control strategies, nonauthoritarianism, indirectness of maternal communication, resourcefulness, and by an absence of intrusive and competitive maternal behaviors. In the mother–son dyad, reliable relationships between the CRPR agreement index and maternal interactive behaviors continued to be observed after controlling for mother's education. When the interactive correlates of parental value concordance were compared across the four parent–child dyads, the father–daughter dyad was described as being particularly different from the other three dyads. The implications of these results for the understanding of marriage–parenting relationships as moderated by sex are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A short-term longitudinal study of Internet and computer game use by adolescent boys and girls: Prevalence, frequency of use, and psychosocial predictors.

Prevalence, frequency, and psychosocial predictors of Internet and computer game use were assessed with 803 male and 788 female adolescents across 2 time periods, 21 months apart. At Time 1, participants were in the 9th or 10th grade; at Time 2, they were in the 11th or 12th grade. Most girls (93.7%) and boys (94.7%) reported using the Internet at both time periods, whereas more boys (80.3%) than girls (28.8%) reported gaming at both time periods. Girls reported a small decrease over time in the frequency of hours spent per day on overall technology use, mostly due to a decrease in gaming. Both linear and curvilinear relations were examined between parental relationships, friendship quality, academic orientation, and well-being measured in early high school and the frequency of technology use in late high school. Being male significantly predicted both computer gaming and Internet use. There also were trends in favor of higher friendship quality and less positive parental relationships predicting higher frequency of Internet use. Importantly, moderate use of the Internet was associated with a more positive academic orientation than nonuse or high levels of use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Parents' book-reading habits with their children.

Investigated the extent to which parents' teaching of children becomes less directive as a function of children's age and communicative status and relations between parents' interaction styles and children's verbal IQ. 120 families participated in the study. Each family included a target child between the ages of 3 yrs 6 mo and 5 yrs 8 mo, a mother, and a father. 60 families included a communicatively handicapped target child (CH), and 60 matched families had a noncommunicatively handicapped target child (NCH). Target children were divided into 2 age groups: 4-yr-olds and 5-yr-olds. Each parent engaged in a book-reading task with the target child. Parents' interactions with children were classified according to levels of cognitive demand and directiveness. The WPPSI was administered to all children. The Verbal IQ scale subscore was used as the criterion variable in the regression analyses. Results indicate that parents were generally more directive and less demanding with younger CH children than they were with older NCH children. Further, different types of parental interaction styles predicted CH and NCH children's IQ. Results are discussed in terms of L. Vygotsky's (1978) theory of the zone of proximal development. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adaptability and cohesion of dyadic relationships in families with developmentally disabled children.

In 93 families with developmentally disabled children, mothers, fathers, and 1 nondisabled sibling rated the cohesion and adaptability of family dyads using D. A. Cole and A. E. Jordan's (1989) modified version of Olson's Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (D. H. Olson et al, 1985). With these multiple perspectives of multiple relationships, multitrait-multimethod confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of dyadic adaptability and cohesion. Three distinct cohesion traits representing the mother–father, father–child, and mother–child relationships were confirmed. In contrast, mother–child and father–child adaptability traits were highly correlated, suggesting a 2-trait model: parent–child adaptability and mother–father adaptability. The importance of this methodology for research on families with developmentally disabled children is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of a playgroup experience on mother–son and father–son interaction.

Compared the mother–son and father–son interaction of 6 toddlers who were completely homereared with the parent–child interactions of 6 male toddlers who were participants in a daily 3-hr playgroup. Interactions were videotaped in a semistructured laboratory setting. The first observation was made immediately before the beginning of the playgroup experience, with subsequent observations being made after half of the toddlers had been in a playgroup for 3 and 6 mo. Although there were no differences in the playgroup and homecare toddlers before the playgroup experience, significant differences were found after the playgroup experience. The playgroup toddlers became proportionally more active in their parent–child interactions. They also became more responsive to the interaction initiations of their parents. Significant differences were also found in parental behavior as a function of the playgroup experience. The parents of the playgroup children became significantly less dominant. In addition, some differences were found in mother–child and father–child interaction independent of the playgroup experience. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychometric properties of family members' reports of parental physical aggression toward clinic-referred children.

This study examined (a) differences among mothers', fathers', and children's reports of parental physical aggression toward children; (b) the reliability and validity of family members' reports of aggression using confirmatory factor analysis; and (c) the discriminant validity of the construct of mother–child and father–child aggression. Participants were 72 dual-parent families in which the parents were seeking clinical services for their children's (ages 7–9 years) conduct behavior problems. Each participant completed the parent–child version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (P-CTS). Results indicate that children reported lower levels of mother–child and father–child aggression than either mothers or fathers reported. Although the reliability (total systematic variance accounted for by observed variables) of family members' reports on the P-CTS ranged from moderate to high, convergent validity was generally low. The constructs of mother–child and father–child aggression were highly correlated but could be distinguished from each other when relationships among rater effects were considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of perceived support in mother–adolescent relationships: The poor (quality) get poorer.

The authors examined decreases across the early adolescent years in child reports of perceived support from mothers to determine whether the rate of decline differed as a function of the initial amount of perceived negativity in the mother–child relationship. Participants included a diverse sample of 197 girls and 116 boys who were in the 1st year of middle school (6th grade, ages 11 to 13 years) at the beginning of the study. Separate growth curve models revealed associations between the rate of change in child-reported perceived support and the initial level of both child-reported perceived negativity and mother-reported perceived negativity. Over-time declines in child-reported perceived support were larger for adolescents whose initial levels of perceived negativity were greater. The findings are consistent with the claim that mothers and children with the worst relationships at the outset of adolescence experience the greatest deterioration in relations across the early adolescent years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex differences in the socialization of affectionate expression.

87 parent–child pairs were videotaped during the departure routine when the parent left the child at a child-care center. In the 2-parent sample, parent–daughter dyads showed higher levels of overall interaction than parent–son dyads. Although affectionate interaction was high for parent–daughter dyads, the level of affection was particularly low in father–son dyads. The single mother interacted with both sexes at high and nonsignificantly different levels, but did not engage in more affection with her child. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

What predicts good relationships with parents in adolescence and partners in adult life: Findings from the 1958 British birth cohort.

This study drew on data from the National Child Development Study to explore the role of father involvement and mother involvement at age 7 in father-child and mother-child relations at age 16, and the role of closeness to father and closeness to mother at age 16 in quality of relationship with partner at age 33. Closeness to mother was associated with closeness to father, intact family structure and academic motivation, and closeness to father with closeness to mother, early father involvement, less emotional and behavioral problems in adolescence, male gender and academic motivation. Closeness to father at age 16 was more strongly related to level of father involvement at age 7 for daughters than for sons and to closeness to mother for sons than for daughters. Marital adjustment at age 33 was related to good relationships with siblings, mother, and father at age 16; less current psychological distress; female gender; and educational attainment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Three-way analysis of dyadic social interactions.

Proposes a method for analyzing data from dyadic social interactions across 3 dichotomous variables. By accounting for the likely interdependency between 2 scores from a dyad, problems incurred with traditional analyses are circumvented. The analysis is demonstrated by an examination of data from 4 groups of 41 parent–child dyads: mother–daughter, mother–son, father–daughter, and father–son. The effects of sex-of-S, sex-of-partner, familial relationship between S and partner, and the interaction of these factors were tested. Results are compared to results derived from a repeated-measures ANOVA. It is shown that the latter analysis may mask important features of the data. (1 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Understanding parent-adolescent interactions: Perceptions of family members and outsiders.

To see whether adolescents view parent–child relationships more like their parents or more like outsiders, 41 mother–father–adolescent child triads were videotaped interacting over two tasks. Each family member then viewed both interactions and rated levels of anxiety, dominance, involvement, and friendliness, for each interactant. These same interactions were also watched and rated by another mother–father–adolescent triad (outsider family) who did not know the family. These interactions were then rated by a trained observer. For ratings of anxiety, dominance, involvement, and friendliness, analyses involved comparisons (a) between the insider and outsider families ratings, on correlations between insider family members and outsider family members with the trained observer, and (b) comparisons among the three types of observers. Ratings by members of the outsider family were generally more negative than those by members of the insider family. Ratings of self tended to be more objective than ratings of other family members. Ratings by the trained observer were more highly correlated with those of the outsider family, although differences between the means showed that trained observers used a similar metric to the insider family. The importance of looking at patterns of ratings as well as mean differences is emphasized. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital conflict and the quality of young children's peer play behavior: The mediating and moderating role of parent–child emotional reciprocity and attachment security.

Parent–child attachment security and dyadic measures of parent–child positive and negative emotional reciprocity were examined as possible mediators and moderators of the connection between marital conflict and children's peer play behavior. Eighty parents were observed in a laboratory play session with their 15- to 18-month-old child. Subsequently, at 36 months children were observed interacting with peers at their child care setting. Connections between marital conflict and children's positive peer interaction were mediated by mother–child attachment security, mother–child positive emotional reciprocity, and father–child negative emotional reciprocity. Connections between marital conflict and children's negative peer interaction were mediated by mother–child positive emotional reciprocity and father–child attachment security. Parent–child attachment security and negative emotional reciprocity emerged as important moderators of the connection between marital conflict and children's peer play behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)