Abstract
Childhood aggression is important to acknowledge due to its social impact and importance in predicting future problems. The temperament of a child and parental socialization have been essential in explaining behavioral problems, particularly in the case of childhood aggression. The aim of this study is to examine—from the parents’ perspective—the role of childhood temperament in the dynamic by which mothers’ reactions socialize their children’s aggression. We also explore how children’s gender and age differences affect these relationships. The sample was composed of 904 participants between 1 and 6 years old. The Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire and the Children’s Behavior Questionnaire were used to evaluate children’s negative affect and effortful control. The Parent–Child Relationship Inventory Maternal was used to assess maternal communication and discipline, and child aggression was assessed using the Children’s Behavior Checklist. The results supported the mediating role of temperament in the processes by which perceived mothers’ reactions socialize their children’s aggression and suggested that maternal behaviors may not have the same consequences for girls and boys. Specifically, the aggressiveness of girls is dependent on a negative affect throughout toddlerhood and early childhood, while for boys, the duration of the negative affect’s contribution is shorter, and aggressiveness is more sensitive to the maternal behaviors of discipline and communication.
Highlights
Childhood aggression and its social impact play important roles in predicting future externalizing problems when children become adolescents or adults [1,2]
The temperament of a child and parental socialization have been essential in explaining behavioral problems, in the case of childhood aggression
The aggressiveness of girls is dependent on a negative affect throughout toddlerhood and early childhood, while for boys, the duration of the negative affect’s contribution is shorter, and aggressiveness is more sensitive to the maternal behaviors of discipline and communication
Summary
Childhood aggression and its social impact play important roles in predicting future externalizing problems when children become adolescents or adults [1,2]. Studies of physical aggression show that by 17 months of age, the large majority of children are physically aggressive toward others (i.e., siblings, peers, and adults), and during preschool years, children start learning to regulate their use of aggression through different alternatives [3,4]. Child temperament and parental socialization have been established as potential mechanisms that contribute to behavioral problems [5,6]. Both temperament and parenting seem to contribute uniquely and simultaneously to children’s behavioral and emotional adjustment, but they can both affect each other in a bidirectional process that may contribute to exacerbating or inhibiting behavioral problems [7,8,9,10]. Parents can shape children’s temperament and emotional and self-regulatory characteristics, which in turn are key predictors of children’s adjustment [11,12,13].
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