Reciprocal Relations between Maternal Parenting Behavior and Preschoolers’ Compliance/Noncompliance during Mother-child Interactions：A Short-term Longitudinal Study

Abstract

This study examined short-term longitudinal reciprocal relationships between maternal parenting behavior and preschoolers' compliance/noncompliance, as well as stability in both maternal parenting behavior and preschoolers' compliance/noncompliance over time. The sample which was used for this study was taken from a two-wave (one year apart) longitudinal study of preschool-aged children and their mothers (N = 53 dyads). At both times, mothers and their children were invited to a laboratory and engaged in 25 minutes of play involving three episodes of mother-child interaction. Maternal parenting behavior and preschoolers' compliance/noncompliance during play were coded using the Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-III (DPICS-III). Maternal codes included positive, neutral, and negative parenting behaviors and child codes were comprised of compliance and noncompliance. The results revealed that during the play session, maternal neutral and negative parenting behavior and preschoolers' compliance were stable over time. In addition, T1 maternal negative parenting behavior was significantly related to T2 child compliance/noncompliance. However, T1 child compliance/noncompliance were not significantly associated with T2 maternal parenting behavior. These findings suggest that during the preschool period, there are unidirectional effects from mothers to children.