Challenging Parenting Behavior and Toddlers’ Social Skills and Self-Regulation in Ethnic-Minority Families

• In Event: Beyond Caregiver Sensitivity: An Exploration of Parental Behaviors in Mothers and Fathers

Abstract

Introduction. Challenging parenting behavior (CPB) involves encouraging children to push their limits, go outside their comfort zone, and exhibit risky behavior in a playful manner (Majdandžić et al., 2016). These behaviors excite and promote assertiveness in children through physical and socio-emotional or verbal play behaviors, such as tickling, chasing, and teasing (Majdandžić et al., 2018). However, the empirical evidence on whether CPB is distinct from other types of parenting and whether it is related to children’s social skills is still emerging, as this concept is fairly new in the literature. Researchers have examined the buffering effect of CPB among children who are fearful (Majdandžić et al., 2018), but whether CPB is helpful for non-anxious children is relatively unknown. One study of CPB among Latinx and African American U.S. families found no associations between mothers’ and fathers’ CPB at 9 months with infants’ social skills (Deneault et al., 2021). Framed within Cabrera and colleagues’ (2014) model of father-child relationships, we build on this work to explore whether 1) the use of mothers’ and fathers’ CPB changes across early childhood (9, 18, 24, and 30 months), 2) CPB is related to children’s social skills at 24 months, and 3) CPB is related to children’s self-regulation skills at 24 months? We hypothesize that mothers’ and fathers’ CPB will increase across time and that higher levels of CPB will be associated with children’s improved social skills and self-regulation.

Methods. This study uses a sample of n = 210 U.S. primarily Latinx and Black families participating in a parenting intervention. When babies were 9, 18, 24, and 30 months, researchers conducted home visits and videotaped mothers and fathers playing with their baby during a 5-minute no-toy play interaction. These observations have been coded for both verbal and physical CBP on a scale of 1-5 for each 1 minute interval of the interaction (Majdandžić et al., 2016). At the 24 months visit, mothers and fathers reported on their children’s social competence and problem behaviors via the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (Briggs-Gowan & Carter, 2006). At 24 months, children were observed completing a snack delay task to assess their self-regulation skills.

Preliminary Results. Descriptive statistics for study variables are listed in Table 1 based on videos coded thus far. Both parents are observed to be “slightly” (score of 2) and “somewhat” (score of 3) engaged in CPB consistently from 9 through 24 months. Parents’ CPB scores are correlated at 18 months (r = 0.20, p = 0.04) and 24 months (r = 0.29, p = 0.01). Paired t-tests revealed no significant differences between mothers’ and fathers’ levels of CPB across all time points. Linear regression analyses revealed that neither parents’ CPB at 9, 18, or 24 months are associated with children’s social competence, problem behaviors, or self-regulation at 24 months, controlling for parental education and study condition. Once the remaining videos are coded for self-regulation and CPB, growth curve analysis and structural equation modeling in MPlus software will be used to address the research questions.

Authors

• Rachel Ghosh, University of Maryland - College Park
  Presenting Author

• Natasha J Cabrera, University of Maryland - College Park

• Audrey-Ann Deneault, University of Calgary (U of C)

• Angelica Alonso, University of Maryland - College Park