Presented at the Society for Research on Child Development,

Tampa, FLApril 24-27, 2003

Parent-Child Relationships During Middle Childhood:

Relations to Children’s Behavior

Pamela Davis-Kean and Sandra SimpkinsUniversity of Michigan

Acknowledgements

• We would like to thank the principals, teachers, parents, and students in the participating districts for their participation in this study. We would also like to thank Amy Arbreton, Phyllis Blumenfeld, Carol Freedman-Doan, Jacquelynne Eccles, Rena Harold, Janis Jacobs, Toby Jayaratne, Mina Vida, Allan Wigfield, and Kwang Suk Yoon for their work on the project. The data collection was funded by Grant HD17553 from NICHD to Eccles, Wigfield, and their colleagues.

• This study was supported by funds to the first author from the National institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) Network on Child and Family Well-being (Grant # HD37565) and to the second author from the MacArthur Research Network on Successful Pathways through Middle Childhood.

Introduction

• Researchers have examined the associations between children’s socio-emotional development and multiple aspects of the parent-child relationship, including parent-child interactions, parenting strategies, discipline, and attachment.

• One aspect that has received little attention is the perceived affective relationship between parent and child during middle childhood.

• This study will examine this stability of the parent-child affective relationship across time as well as how this relationship is associated with children’s negative behaviors.

Questions

We will examine 3 questions in this study:

1. What is the relation between parent-child (mother and father) affective relationship and children’s problem behavior?

2. Are changes in parent-child affective relationships related to children’s problem behavior?

3. Are changes in children’s problem behavior associated with the positive parent-child affective relationship?

Methods

• Childhood and Beyond Study (CAB)• Cohort-sequential design

• Wave 1 (1987): Kindergarten, 1st, and 3rd graders

• Wave 3 (1989): 2nd, 3rd, and 5th graders• Wave 5 (1994): 7th, 8th, and 10th graders• Wave 6 (1995): 8th, 9th, and 11th graders

Participants• Children at Wave 1

• 121 kindergarten children • mean age of 5.41 years, SD = .34• 49% female; 51% male

• 116 1st grade children • mean age of 6.36 years, SD = .36• 52% female; 48% male

• 170 3rd grade children • mean age of 8.37 years, SD = .35• 52% female; 48% male

• Mostly European-American and spoke English

• 40% of mothers and 54% of fathers earned a degree from a 4-year college

• Median annual household income: $50,000 - $60,000

Scales: Affective Relationship

• Parent Report (Waves 1 & 3) • I am easy going and relaxed with this child.

• Scale: 1 = not at all true, 7 = very true • Reliability

• Wave 1: mother = .68, father = .69 • Wave 3: mother = .77, father =.65

• Youth Report (Waves 5 & 6)• How often did your mom/dad let you know s/he really

cares about you? • Scale: 1 = almost never, 7 = every day • Reliability

• Wave 5: mother = .78, father = .77 • Wave 6: mother = .81, father = .77

Scales: Problem Behavior

• Teacher Report (Waves 1 & 3) • How often is this child physically aggressive with peers?

• Scale: 1 = rarely, 7 = most of the time • Reliability

• Wave 1 = .86• Wave 3 = .83

• Youth Report (Waves 5 & 6)• In the last 6 months, how often did you drink alcohol?

• Scale: 1 = never, 7 = 31 or more times • Reliability

• Wave 5 = .92• Wave 6 = .87

Descriptive Statistics Mothers Fathers

M (SD) M (SD)

Affective relationship

Wave 1 5.70 (.84) 5.74 (.83)

Wave 3 a 5.52 (.84) 5.02 (.96)

Wave 5 4.37 (.74) 4.42 (.75)

Wave 6 a 4.32 (.73) 4.52 (.72)

Girls Boys

Problem behavior

Wave 1 b 2.56 (1.06) 3.11 (1.21)

Wave 3 b 2.76 (1.07) 3.37 (1.23)

Wave 5 b 1.53 (0.62) 1.87 (1.01)

Wave 6 1.77 (0.80) 1.92 (0.80)

Note . a Significant difference between mothers and fathers.

b Significant difference between boys and girls.

Correlations: Is There a Relationship Between Affective Relationship and Problem Behavior?

Maternal affective relationship Paternal affective relationship

Wave 1 Wave 3 Wave 5 Wave 6 Wave 1 Wave 3 Wave 5 Wave 6

Problem behavior

Wave 1 -.14 * -.27 *** .01 -.22 *** -.20 *** -.25 *** -.13 * -.20 ***

Wave 3 -.07 -.18 -.10 * -.07 -.24 *** -.15 ** -.12 ** -.04

Wave 5 .03 -.08 -.32 *** -.23 *** -.04 -.09 -.29 *** -.24 ***

Wave 6 -.02 -.16 ** -.20 *** -.33 *** .10 -.08 -.23 *** -.27 ***

Note. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Predicting Changes in Maternal Affective Relationship

Step 1

Step 2

Note.

.32 16.21 *** .12 7.20 *** .22 15.90 ***

Cohort -.06 -.27 .00

Sex .06 -.02 -.02

Parent education .08 -.04 .18 **

Income .02 .01 -.02

Prior affective rel. .54 *** .18 ** .44 ***

.02 14.63 *** .01 6.65 *** .00 13.20 ***

Cohort -.06 -.27 .00 Sex .09 .01 -.02 Parent education .09 -.05 .18 ** Income .00 .01 -.02 Prior affective rel. .50 *** .16 ** .44 *** Prior problem beh. -.15 * -.11 a .00

ap < .10. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Wave 3

Wave 5

Wave 6

β F β F β F ∆R2 ∆R2 ∆R2

Predicting Changes in Paternal Affective Relationship

Step 1 .20 5.35 .08 3.55 .32 25.44

Cohort .19 * -.23 ** -.04

Sex -.24 ** -.02 .03

Parent education .14 .02 -.01

Income -.02 .06 .02

Prior affective rel. .29 *** .19 ** .55 ***

Step 2 .02 5.09 *** .02 3.70 ** .01 21.75 ***

Cohort .17 -.23 *** -.03 Sex -.20 * .02 .05 Parent education .14 .00 -.01 Income -.02 .07 .03 Prior affective rel. .25 ** .17 * .52 *** Prior problem beh. -.16 a -.15 * -.09

Note.. * p < .05 . **p < .01 . ***p < .001 .

Wave 3

Wave 5

Wave 6

β F β F β F ∆R2 ∆R2 ∆R2

Predicting Changes in Problem Behavior

Step 1 .34 15.14 *** .20 9.86 *** .46 49.88 ***

Cohort .02 .21 *** .02

Sex .22 ** .18 ** -.06

Parent education -.09 -.13 -.05

Income .04 .00 -.00

Prior problem beh .47 *** .25 *** .68 ***

Step 2 .01 10.99 *** .00 7.11 *** .00 35.68 ***

Cohort .02 .22 *** .03 Sex .21 ** .18 ** -.06

Parent education -.09 -.13 -.05 Income .04 -.01 -.01

Prior problem beh .46 *** .26 *** .69 *** Prior M-C aff. rel. .04 .06 .05 Prior F-C aff. rel. -.09 -.03 -.01

Note. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Wave 3

Wave 5

Wave 6

β F β F β F ∆R2 ∆R2 ∆R2

Results

• There is a negative relation between parental affective relationships with child and problem behavior. As reports of problem behavior increase, the affective relationship with both parents decrease. There are no differences by gender of the child or gender of parent for this relation.

• Parent-child affective relationship and child problem behaviors were moderately stable.

• In general, problem behavior did decrease the perception of affective relationship by the parents over time.

• Changes in children’s problem behavior seem to be unaffected by the positive perception of the parent-child relationship.

DiscussionIn this paper we examined how the parent-child relationship in middle childhood remains stable or changes due to the negative behavior of a child.

• It was expected that the continuing stress of problem behavior might decrease the positive feelings between the parent and the child. We found some evidence that this does happen from early elementary through junior high but does not predict into the high school years This may be due to the stability of both the affective relationship and the problem behavior.

• Once parents are confronted with problem behavior, they may make initial adjustments in their affective relationships and then these relationships remain stable over time.

For More Information

Copy of today's presentation can be found at:

http://www.rcgd.isr.umich.edu/garp