Poster #142 - Maternal Sensitivity, Race, and Effects on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: A Moderation Study

• In Event: 2-163 - Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Section - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Integrative Statement

In early childhood, autonomy development is a key task (Landry, Smith, Swank, & Miller-Loncar, 2000), and as such maternal sensitivity at this age includes autonomy support as well as responsiveness. Evidence has suggested that parental autonomy support later in childhood relates to child outcomes differently across families of different ethnic backgrounds. Specifically, although African-American mothers have been found to display more control, high maternal control can have protective effects for African-American adolescents (Finkelstein, Donenberg, & Martinovich, 2001), despite findings from Caucasian samples which link controlling parenting to negative child outcomes (Baumrind, 1966). Research has not yet investigated whether the effects of autonomy-supportive sensitivity in the preschool years differ by race. In the current study, maternal sensitivity was expected to be related to fewer child internalizing and externalizing behaviors in accordance with previous findings (Haltigan, Roisman, & Fraley, 2013). It was hypothesized that African-American mothers would display less sensitivity than Caucasian mothers, but that the link between sensitivity and child emotional adjustment would be moderated by race, such that autonomy-supportive sensitivity would be protective among Caucasian families whereas less sensitivity (higher control) would be protective among African-American families.
This study includes a sample of African-American (n=99) and Caucasian (n=97) mothers and their 3- to 6-year-old children, a portion of whom had experienced maltreatment. The groups were matched demographically, with the exceptions of family income and maternal receptive language. Maternal sensitivity was coded from videotaped free-play using the Mini-Preschool Maternal Behavior Q-sort. All coders achieved acceptable reliability (ICC>.80) on twenty percent of the sample. Each mother provided self-report information regarding her parenting practices and her child’s behavior using the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.
Results indicated that African-American mothers were rated significantly lower in autonomy-supportive sensitivity than Caucasian mothers, t(179)=-3.08, p=.002. Our observational coding was consistent with maternal self-report, where African-American mothers endorsed less autonomy support on the punitive parenting scale of the APQ than Caucasian mothers, t(192)=3.67, p<.001. Two hierarchical regressions examined the moderating role of race on sensitivity in predicting child internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Step one included demographic control variables. Step two added maternal sensitivity and race, and predicted a significant amount of variance in both models (internalizing: ΔR2=.037, p=.022, externalizing: ΔR2 =.053, p=.005). Individually, maternal sensitivity was a significant predictor, such that lower sensitivity was related to greater internalizing, B=-1.03, SE=0.51, p=.043, and externalizing behaviors, B=-2.22, SE=0.72, p=.002. In the internalizing model, maternal race was a significant predictor as well, such that Caucasian race was related to greater internalizing behaviors, B=0.97, SE=0.46, p=.036. Step three included the interaction of sensitivity and race, which was not significant in either model. The lack of interaction suggests that maternal sensitivity and autonomy support are important for supporting healthy emotional adjustment during the preschool years regardless of race, and should remain targets of interventions delivered at this time. Longitudinal research should further investigate this question to determine whether there is a time in development at which reduced autonomy-supportive sensitivity becomes protective for African-American children.

Authors

• Erin Vaughan, University of Notre Dame
  Presenting Author

• Ruth Speidel, University of Notre Dame
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kaitlin Fondren, University of Notre Dame
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kristin Valentino, University of Notre Dame
  Non-Presenting Author