Trajectory of Quality of Mother-Child Interactions: Prospective Links With Child Socio-Affective Functioning

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Research shows that the quality of mother-child interactions is a reliable predictor of child subsequent socio-affective functioning (Bornstein, 2019). Yet, relatively little is known about the evolution of this relational quality over time, and even less about how changes in relational quality may impact the course of child development. This is unexpected, as developmental theory posits that over time, family factors form developmental cascades with considerably more predictive power of child adjustment than single assessments (Masten & Cicchetti, 2010). Yet, only two studies have examined the associations between trajectories of mother-child relational quality and developmental outcomes, one with adolescents (Feldman, 2010) and one pertaining to cognitive development (Hirsh-Pasek & Burchinal, 2006). Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between the trajectory of quality of mother-child interactions and child subsequent socio-affective functioning.
The quality of interactions of 233 mother-child dyads was assessed during 10-minute sequences of structured play when children were aged 2, 4, and 7 years. The videotaped interactions were rated with the Mutually Responsive Orientation scale (Aksan et al., 2006), which assesses harmonious communication, mutual cooperation and emotional ambiance. At each time point, approximately 30% of videos were rated independently by two research assistants. Inter-rater reliability was excellent: .93 at 2 years, .83 at 4 years, and .92 at 7 years. Child socio-affective functioning was reported by mothers, fathers (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; Goodman, 1997) and teachers (Social Behavior Questionnaire; Tremblay et al., 1992) when children were aged 8. Growth curves describing quality of mother-child interactions were fitted in Mplus 7.4 using a multilevel modeling framework. First, individual linear growth curves were estimated by fitting separate Level-1 growth models for each individual dyad. Next, we extracted the estimated growth parameters (intercept and slope) for each dyad (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012) and used these estimates as predictors of child socio-affective functioning. Extracted growth parameters yield unbiased results when used as independent variables (Skrondal & Laake, 2001) and have been used successfully as predictors of child outcomes (Hirsh-Pasek & Burchinal, 2006).
Analyses showed that the average slope describing the trajectory of quality of mother-child interactions was slightly yet significatively negative, decreasing (on a 1-5 scale) from 3.65 at 2 years to 3.36 at 7 years on average. Turning to individual differences, variations in this trend were predictive of some aspects of child socio-affective functioning. A more pronounced deterioration in the quality of mother-child interactions over time predicted more teacher-reported inattention problems (r = -.26, p = .003), more father-reported conduct problems (r = -.29, p = .001), as well as more hyperactivity reported by both mother (r = -.19, p = .021) and father (r = -.25, p = .006).
Overall, the findings suggest that normative age-related changes in children may lead to slight average decreases in communication, cooperation and emotional ambiance between mothers and children between toddlerhood and early school age. However, there are also individual differences in the rhythm of this normative process, and children appear to fare better when these decreases unfold more slowly.

Group Authors

Marquis-Brideau, Camille
Sirois, Marie-Soleil
Cimon-Paquet, Catherine
Bernier, Annie

Authors

• Camille Marquis-Brideau, Université de Montréal (UdeM)
  Presenting Author

• Marie-Soleil Sirois
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine Cimon-Paquet, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Annie Bernier, University of Montreal
  Non-Presenting Author