Parent-child mutuality and preschoolers’ social problem solving in response to five narratives

• Author / Creator

  Funamoto, Allyson

• The current study examined whether: (a) mother- or father-child mutuality predicts social problem-solving (SPS) strategies preschoolers use and (b) boys and girls use varying strategies with different social problems. Fifty-eight parent-child dyads participated (29 girls and 29 boys between 25- and 42-months-old; M = 32.5, SD = 5.4). Dyads were individually videotaped playing together and were coded for mutuality using the Mutually Responsive Orientation Scale (Aksan, Kochanska, & Ortmann, 2006). One year later, children were videotaped completing stories from the MacArthur Story Stem Battery (Bretherton, Oppenheim, Buchsbaum, Emde, & the MacArthur Narrative Group, 1990). Responses were coded for (a) prosocial, (b) socially negative, and (c) avoidant SPS strategies. Results indicated that parent-child mutuality was not predictive of children’s SPS strategies, however boys and girls employed different strategies depending on the story stem. Findings and implications were discussed in light of literature on children’s social competence in different contexts.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Narratives
  • Mutuality
  • Parent-child
  • Preschooler
  • Social problem solving

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Education

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3PM55

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.