Parenting Goals and Practices: How Child Behavior Expectations and Effortful Control Perceptions Impact Maternal Control

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Considerable research has examined the impact of parental control on children, but attitudinal determinants of controlling behavior has received relatively little study. The current study examined the roles of parenting goals and expectations for their child. From an early age, parents expect their children to develop traits that are highly valued by their culture (Goodnow & Collins, 1990). Because parents have goals for their children’s development, they will parent in ways that they believe are consistent with reaching those goals (Darling & Steinberg, 1993). Within the United States, there are high expectations for early academic success building on school readiness. Indeed, both academic and social expectations for children entering Kindergarten have increased over the years, with Kindergarten now considered the “new First Grade” (Bassok et al., 2016). Especially with this societal push towards earlier academic and behavioral competencies, parents often hold strong expectations for their children to be mature, independent, and well-behaved, which likely play out in their parenting practices. In conjunction with these expectations, parents’ perceptions about their children’s abilities likely factor into their parenting goals and practices. In other words, parents are natural observers of their children’s effortful control, a key aspect of temperament reflecting children’s regulatory capacities (Caspi & Shiner, 2006). What remains to be understood then, is the influence of these parenting beliefs and perceptions on actual parenting behavior, which would offer a perspective that can contribute to interventions designed to diminish controlling parenting practices.
In the current study, observed maternal control, expectations for their children’s behavior, and perceptions of children’s effortful control were examined using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 1,138; 83% European/White). From 54-month mother-child interaction ratings, the 7-point Respect for Autonomy item was reverse coded to capture maternal control. Highly controlling behavior was evidenced by physical derailments of the child’s play, attempts to make the child follow the mother’s agenda, and offering over-stimulation without allowing the child to process information. Parenting expectations was a sum of expectations for child independence, self-control, prosocial behavior, and total maturity, using the Maternal Demands for Maturity Report (Greenberger & Goldberg,1989). Effortful control perceptions were assessed using the Child Behavior Questionnaire (Rothbart et al., 1994).
Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine multivariate prediction of controlling parenting from maternal expectations for child behavior and perceptions of child effortful control. Results indicated that higher expectations for independence and higher child effortful control accounted for significant variance in ratings of controlling parenting. Descriptive statistics and results from the multiple regression are presented in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
Findings from this study suggest that higher expectations for children’s independence and perceptions of greater effortful control capabilities both contribute to less controlling maternal behavior in mother-child interactions. Holding expectations for developing independence and observing temperament qualities of effortful control appear to protect against a controlling style of parenting, and predicted greater respect for the child’s autonomous behavior. Findings from this study have implications for parenting interventions that seek to reduce controlling parenting.

Authors

• Samantha Leigh Redig, University of Texas at Dallas
  Presenting Author

• Margaret Tresch Owen, University of Texas at Dallas
  Non-Presenting Author