Parent-Child Mutuality in Early Childhood: An Examination of Children with Typical Social Development and Children At-risk for or Experiencing Emotional/Behavioural Difficulties

• Author / Creator

  Cook, Karen F

• Parent-child mutuality focuses on bidirectional processes and refers to the positive, responsive, reciprocal and cooperative qualities observed in healthy parent-child relationships (Deater-Deckard, Atzaba-Poria & Pike 2004). Greater mutuality in the parent-child relationship has been associated with fewer child behavior problems, and increased prosocial behaviours, child adjustment and social competence (Deater-Deckard, Atzaba-Poria & Pike 2004; Kochanska & Ortmann, 2006). The present study examined whether observed individual or dyadic behaviours in parent-child interactions predicted child outcomes, and compared parent-child dyadic properties in two samples of children (a sample of typically developing children and a sample of children identified at-risk for or experiencing clinical levels of emotional behavioural difficulties) in two contexts (i.e., a play and a clean-up task). In addition, this study sought to contribute to the body of literature examining dyadic mutuality in mother-child and father-child dyads.
  
  Ninety- three mothers and fathers with their children (49 daughters, 44 sons), between 25 and 50 months of age (M = 34.15, SD = 5.78), engaged in structured play and clean-up activities in their homes. Interactions were videotaped and later coded using the Parent Child Interaction System (PARCHISY; Deater-Deckard, Pylas & Petrill, 1997). Parents were asked to complete the Behavior Assessment System for Children, second edition: Parent Rating Scales Preschool (BASC-2; PRS-P; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) in order to gather information on the child’s externalizing, internalizing, and adaptive behaviours and confirm group assignment (typically developing or at-risk/clinical). Teachers (where available) were also asked to complete measures of social, emotional, and behavioral functioning.
  Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted to examine predictors of child outcomes based on parent reports. The findings based on mothers’ reports accounted for 16% of the variance in their children’s adaptive functioning with the children’s gender, age, and family income contributing significantly to the model. Fathers’ reports accounted for 26% of the variance of their children’s adaptive behavior with children’s age, fathers’ negative and positive affect, and father-child dyadic mutuality significantly contributing to the model. Based on teacher reports, significant models were observed for adaptive behaviours and externalizing behaviours, accounting for 36.4% of the variance and 39.7% of the variance respectively. Repeated measures ANOVA explored group differences in dyadic mutuality, revealing a significant group effect in the clean-up task but not the play task; with mean scores in dyadic mutuality declining significantly for the at-risk/clinical group, a task that put more stress on the dyad to work together. No significant differences were found between the tasks or between mother-child and father-child mutuality. Findings are discussed in relation to previous research on parent-child mutuality and future considerations are proposed.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Parent-child mutuality
  • Dyadic mutuality
  • Mutuality and emotional/behavioural difficulties

• Graduation date

  Spring 2015

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3DR2PG2F

• 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.