1-193 - Antecedents and Consequences of Parental Praise

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Parents are often encouraged to praise their children and praise is a key component in many well-established parenting interventions. However, most of what we know about praise stems from correlational research that relies on self-reported praise. We know little about what drives parental praise and whether praise indeed causes improvements in children’s behavior and wellbeing. The studies in this symposium combine experimental designs with observational or fMRI methods to overcome limitations of the current literature and increase our understanding of antecedents and consequences of parental praise.

The first study used an experiment to assess how goal orientation affects (observed and reported) mothers’ responses to their children’s performance. Mothers’ self-worth and self-improvement goals at least partially drove how they responded to children’s performance.

The second study used fMRI to examine adolescent neural activation to maternal praise. Adolescents most sensitive to maternal praise and perceiving low maternal acceptance were at increased risk for depression when experiencing peer victimization.

The third study used a longitudinal experiment to test whether an increase in naturalistic parental praise decreases children’s externalizing behavior. This was not the case. However, the association between praise and child behavior seemed to differ significantly between families.

The three studies show that we can change the frequency and focus of parental praise by instructing parents that praise is important for children’s self-worth and positive behavior. However, praise might not necessarily lead to improved wellbeing or behavior in all children. Our discussant will address the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Joyce Weeland, University of Amsterdam

Discussant

• Eddie Brummelman, University of Amsterdam

Individual Presentations

• Implications of Parents’ Goals for Their Responses to Children’s Performance: An Experimental Investigation - Presenting Author: Janice Ng, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign; Non-Presenting Author: Florrie Ng, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Non-Presenting Author: Eva Pomerantz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Neural Activation to Maternal Praise Influences the Development of Depressive Symptoms in At-Risk Adolescents - Presenting Author: Stefanie L Sequeira, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Rosalind D. Elliott, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Cecile D Ladouceur, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Erika Forbes, University of Pittsburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Jennifer Silk, University of Pittsburgh

• Is Praise an Effective Tool for Reducing Child Externalizing Behavior? A Longitudinal Experiment - Presenting Author: Joyce Weeland, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Eddie Brummelman, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Rabia R. Chhangur, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Sara Jaffee, University of Pennsylvania; Non-Presenting Author: Danielle Van der Giessen, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Walter Matthys, Department of Child and Adolescent Studies, Utrecht University, and Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht; Non-Presenting Author: Bram Orobio de Castro, Utrecht University; Non-Presenting Author: Geertjan Overbeek, University of Amsterdam