Family and Child Characteristics as Predictors of Maternal

1
Family and Child Characteristics as Predictors of
Maternal Parenting Archana Basu, Alytia A.
Levendosky, G. Anne Bogat, William S. Davidson
Department of Psychology, Michigan State
University

• STUDY GOAL
• Examine familial and child characteristics as
  predictors of maternal parenting over a 4-year
  period in a heterogeneous for risk population,
  oversampled for exposure to intimate partner
  violence (IPV defined as male violence towards a
  female partner).
• It was expected that familial factors (income,
  IPV, maternal depression) and child
  characteristics (difficult temperament,
  behavioral difficulties, gender) would predict an
  increase in harsh parenting.
• INTRODUCTION
• According to the process model of parenting
  (Belsky, 1984), 3 types of factors determine
  parenting behaviors a) characteristics related
  to the parents psychological resources, b)
  contextual determinants, and c) child-related
  characteristics.
• Proximal parent-related characteristics are
  proposed to be the most influential, while
  contextual factors are proposed to have a
  bi-directional relationship with parent-related
  characteristics, followed by child-related
  characteristics.
• Each of these factors is expected to influence
  parenting, which in turn influences child
  development.
• Due to reasons of statistical power, we
  examined 2 separate models to predict parenting
  behaviors 1) familial characteristics which
  combined parent-related and contextual factors
  and 2) child characteristics.
• Familial Characteristics
• IPV Relational stress between adult partners can
  result in increased negativity in the
  parent-child dyad (Kitzmann et al., 2003).
  Studies suggest a positive relationship between
  IPV and power assertive parenting, control
  tactics (Margolin Gordis, 2003), inconsistent
  discipline (Holden, et al., 1998), and greater
  parenting stress (Levendosky Graham Bermann,
  1998).
• Maternal depression Maternal psychological
  functioning, including depression, often
  negatively affects maternal parenting behaviors
  (Shelton Harold, 2008). Depressed mothers tend
  to use more inconsistent (Pauli-Pott, 2008) and
  more harsh parenting tactics (Shay Knutson,
  2008).
• Income Low socioeconomic status including low
  income is associated with poor parenting outcomes
  (Belsky et al., 2007) while higher income has
  been associated with improved parenting outcomes
  (Berger, 2007).
• Child Characteristics
• The coercive exchange model (Snyder, Reid,
  Patterson, 2008) suggests a pattern of reciprocal
  shaping of parenting and childrens behaviors
  such that childrens difficult temperament
  predicts negative parenting styles and attitudes,
  which in turns reinforces disruptive behaviors in
  children.
• Difficult temperament Studies have shown
  associations between poor parenting and
  childrens difficult temperament (Brawdley
  Corwyn, 2008 Lahey et al., 2008). Difficult
  temperament tends to evoke harsher parenting. 
• Behavioral difficulties Girls (Hipwell et al.,
  2008) and boys (Fite et al., 2006) behavioral
  difficulties, such as externalizing and
  disruptive behaviors, predict harsher parenting
  practices.

• RESULTS
• Model 1 Familial characteristics
• Model 2 Child characteristics
• DISCUSSION
• The proximal variable of maternal depression
  rather than contextual factors such as IPV and
  income, predicted harsh parenting.

• METHODS
• Participants were part of a larger longitudinal
  study, the Mother Infant Study (Levendosky,
  Bogat, von Eye, Davidson).
• A subset of 201 mother child dyads were
  included for the current study based on available
  data for 4 time periods children were 1, 2, 3,
  and 4 years old.
• Median monthly family income 1900 (range 0 -
  9700).
• Children 49 Caucasian, 24 African American,
  24 Multiracial, and 2 Other. Mothers 65
  Caucasian, 25 African American, and 10 Other.
• Marital status of mothers at initial interview
  was 50 single, 40 married, 10
  divorced/separated/widowed.
• MEASURES
• Based on Maternal Report
• Parenting Parent Behavior Checklist (Fox, 1994)
• Sum score from 30 items of the discipline
  subscale.
• IPV Severity of Violence Against Women Scales
  (Marshall, 1992)
• Sum score of 46-item measure which assesses
  abuse (mild to severe).
• Depression Beck Depression Inventory (Beck et
  al., 1961)
• Sum score of 21-item measure which assesses
  depressive symptoms.
• Income Maternal self report.
• Temperament Toddler Temperament Scale (Fullard
  et al., 1984)
• 97-items that assesses infant temperament
• Difficult temperament summed scores on
  rhythmicity, adaptability, approach-withdrawal,
  intensity, and negative mood subscales.
• Behavioral Difficulties Child Behavior Checklist
  (Achenbach, 1991)