Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe quality of young children's peer relationships is important for their development, and it is assumed that parenting and self‐regulation skills shape children's behavior when interacting with peers. In this multi‐informant‐multi‐method study, we examined the direct and mediated associations between preschool parenting, children's behavioral self‐regulation, and peer aggression and peer relationship problems in elementary school‐aged children and extended previous work by examining both positive and negative parenting of both mothers and fathers. In a large community sample (n = 698) of parents and children who were between 1 and 6 years old, we obtained information on observed maternal sensitivity, mother‐ and father‐reported harsh discipline, observed child self‐regulation, and child‐reported aggression towards peers, peer rejection and victimization. Results from a structural equation model showed that maternal sensitivity was prospectively associated with children's behavioral self‐regulation and that lower levels of behavioral self‐regulation were associated with higher levels of children's peer aggression and peer relationship problems. However, children's behavioral self‐regulation did not mediate the association between maternal sensitivity and peer relationship problems. In addition, higher levels of paternal, but not maternal, harsh discipline were directly associated with more peer relationship problems, but again no mediation was found. The results highlight the importance of maternal sensitivity for children's behavioral self‐regulation and the role of paternal harsh discipline for the quality of children's later peer relationships. Our findings suggest it is important to take maternal and paternal parenting practices into account as they might have different effects on the child.

This study examined hostility and harsh discipline of both mothers and fathers as potential mechanisms explaining the association between a maternal maltreatment history and her offspring's internalizing and externalizing problems. Prospective data from fetal life to age 6 were collected from a total of 4,438 families participating in the Generation R Study. Maternal maltreatment was assessed during pregnancy using a self-administered questionnaire. Mothers and fathers each reported on their psychological distress and harsh discipline when the child was 3 years. Children's internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed by parental reports and child interview at age 6. Findings from structural equation modeling showed that the association between a maternal maltreatment history and her offspring's externalizing problems was explained by maternal hostility and harsh discipline and, at least partially, also by paternal hostility and harsh discipline. Child interview data provided support for both these indirect paths, with associations largely similar to those observed for parent reports.