Patterns of Parent-Child Conflict Discourse: Links with Ethnicity and Child Maladjustment in Middle Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

There is growing evidence that parent-child communication is a relational process that has consequences for children’s self-esteem, willingness to self-disclose, and overall well-being (Laible et al., 2014). The quality of parent-child conversations, especially in the context of conflict, predicts children’s social cognitive competence and subsequent parent-child communication quality (Allen et al., 1994; Laursen & Collins, 2004). However, cultural scholars have noted that parent-child discourse can differ across ethnic groups as a result of parental ethnocentric beliefs and that such differences might differentially predict child outcomes (Carlo & de Guzman, 2009). Indeed, little is known about whether patterns of discourse quality vary across ethnic/racial groups and whether discourse quality predicts children’s outcomes similarly across European American (EA), African American (AA), and U. S. Mexican (USM) families. The goal of the current study is to address these gaps.

The study utilizes archival data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a randomized control experimental evaluation that followed 3001 high-risk mothers and children (36.1% EA, 33.9% AA, 18.4% USM) from 14-months to Grade 5. At 5th grade, mothers and children selected three conflict topics and tried to resolve those conflicts in 8-minutes. One hundred and fifty families were randomly selected from each ethnic group and their conversations were coded for intersubjectivity, collaboration, perspective taking, and problem solving. Mothers also completed measures of externalizing behavior (CBCL, Achenbach, 1991) and children completed a measure of delinquency.

Discourse codes were submitted to an LPA analysis and fit indices (LMRT, BIC, entropy) revealed a 4-profile solution fit the data best (see Figure 1 for profiles). Ethnicity was associated with the discourse profiles (X2 =30.94, p=.0001). Follow-up analyses suggested that EA families were more likely to fall into both extreme profiles (high quality discourse and low-quality discourse). AA were evenly distributed against all three profiles and USM dyads were more likely to fall into the low-quality discourse profile and less likely to fall into the high intersubjectivity profile.

There were significant interactions between race/ethnicity and discourse profiles in predicting externalizing and delinquency (see Figure 2). Ultimately, discourse patterns predicted outcomes only for EA only and not for the other two ethnic groups. EA children from dyads with high discourse quality (profile 4) or high intersubjectivity (profile 2) had low levels of externalizing behavior. Low and moderate discourse quality profiles (Profiles 2 and 4) were associated with highest levels of externalizing behavior in EA children. EA children from dyads low in discourse quality (profile 1) reported the most delinquency.

The present findings are consistent with cultural developmental theorists that postulate unique culture-related parenting and associated child outcomes. Although traditional markers of discourse quality (e.g., problem solving and intersubjectivity) are present in the conversations of AA and USM mother-child dyads, these discussions were unrelated to outcomes for children in these groups. The findings suggest the need for parenting models that incorporate culture-related mechanisms and for future research designed to understand the links between parenting and child outcomes in racial/ethnic minority families.

Authors

• Deborah J. Laible, Lehigh University
  Presenting Author

• Gustavo Carlo, University of California, Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jean M Ispa, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alexandra Main, University of California, Merced
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alysia Cruz, Lehigh University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jihee Im, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sahitya Maiya, University of New Hampshire
  Non-Presenting Author

• Meredith A McGinley, University of Wisconsin - Parkside
  Non-Presenting Author