"No, Don't, Stop, Quit!": Parental Negative Talk, Child Negative Affect, and Aggression in Preschoolers

• In Event: Negative parenting

Abstract

Introduction
Externalizing problems are common in childhood and can negatively affect children as well as their families, peers, communities, and society at large (Liu et al., 2004). Aggression is an aspect of externalizing that includes behaviors intended to cause harm to others. Negative parenting, criticism, and a poor parent-child relationship may be linked to aggression (McKee et al., 2008). Child temperament may also be linked to aggression, particularly negative affectivity (NA). In this study, we examined the interaction between parental negative talk (NT) and child NA on child aggression. Hypotheses were: 1) Negative affectivity would moderate the relationship between parent NT and child aggression, in that children high on NA would exhibit more aggression when they experience large amounts of NT; versus 2) Parental NT would mediate the relationship between child NA and aggression, in that children with high NA would elicit more NT from their parents, resulting in more child aggression.

Methods
The sample consisted of 280 children tested at age 4 as part of a longitudinal twins and triplets study. During testing, children completed puzzles with one parent for 10 minutes during a recorded parent-child interaction. Videos were coded for child aggression by summing all aggressive behaviors occurring over the 10-minute period (e.g., kicking, hitting, throwing objects). Parent negative talk (NT) was scored based on the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding Scheme (DPICS; Eyberg et al., 2013). NT includes phrases that criticize a child or their attributes, such as phrases including “no,” “don’t,” “stop,” and “quit.” Child negative affectivity (NA) was measured using parent ratings on the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart et al., 1994; Rothbart et al., 2001) at age 4.

Results
To test moderation, a multilevel model (MLM) regression analysis was run with children nested in families as a random effect and NT, NA, and their interaction included as fixed effects. The interaction between parental NT and child NA significantly predicted child aggression, t(276) = 4.60; p= <.001 (see Figure 1). Examination of interaction slopes showed that NT significantly related to child aggression only for children high in NA. As a preliminary step to assess mediation, three MLM analyses were run regressing each variable on its predictor (see Figure 2). The analysis revealed that NA did not significantly predict parental NT. Therefore, a mediation model was not pursued.

Discussion
Results indicate that the relationship between negative talk and negative emotionality in predicting aggression occurs through a moderation, rather than mediation, pathway. Thus, for children predisposed to negative emotions, experiencing verbal criticism from their parents resulted in more aggression. The combined results indicate that children with a difficult temperament are more prone to aggression when experiencing high rates of criticism from parents, but that parents are not necessarily likely to respond to child negative affect with criticism. Support for the moderation model, but not the mediation model, could indicate that aggression is associated with negative affectivity due to mutual negativity between parents and children, rather than due to children’s negative affect eliciting parent negativity.

Authors

• Emily Pali, Southern Illinois University
  Presenting Author

• Lisabeth Fisher DiLalla, Southern Illinois University