AUTONOMY IN TODDLERS

Abstract

In order to understand how toddlers develop autonomy, we developed an assessment of toddler-parent negotiation of compliance and limits in a laboratory playroom. Forty healthy, first-born toddlers (22-26 months, 20 males, 20 females) were seen together with their mothers and fathers. Five minutes of free play followed by two parent-initiated limit-setting episodes, two minutes each, (a clean-up task and a prohibition) were videotaped. Independent variables were sex of child and sex of parent giving the clean-up or prohibition statement. Dependent variables of toddler compliance were 1) number of toys put away (clean-up) and 2) number of times the tape recorder was touched (prohibition). Preliminary analyses revealed that toddlers were less compliant with maternal than with paternal commands. There was a trend for boys to be less compliant than girls. Further analyses will show the relationship of parental cooperation/competition, toddler temperament, and social referencing to toddler compliance. In defining the normal range of toddler sex differences in compliance and of parents' limit-setting style, this paradigm is useful for assessing families with concerns about their toddlers' behavioral problems, such as negativism, tantrums' and resistant behavior.