April 24-27, 2003 Presented at the Society for Research on Child Development, Tampa, FL Parent-Child Relationships During Middle Childhood: Relations to Children’s Behavior Pamela Davis-Kean and Sandra Simpkins University of Michigan

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the principals, teachers, parents, and students in the participating districts for their participation in this study. We would also like to thank Amy Arbreton, Phyllis Blumenfeld, Carol Freedman-Doan, Jacquelynne Eccles, Rena Harold, Janis Jacobs, Toby Jayaratne, Mina Vida, Allan Wigfield, and Kwang Suk Yoon for their work on the project. The data collection was funded by Grant HD17553 from NICHD to Eccles, Wigfield, and their colleagues. This study was supported by funds to the first author from the National institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD) Network on Child and Family Well-being (Grant # HD37565) and to the second author from the MacArthur Research Network on Successful Pathways through Middle Childhood.

Introduction Researchers have examined the associations between children’s socio-emotional development and multiple aspects of the parent-child relationship, including parent-child interactions, parenting strategies, discipline, and attachment. One aspect that has received little attention is the perceived affective relationship between parent and child during middle childhood. This study will examine this stability of the parent-child affective relationship across time as well as how this relationship is associated with children’s negative behaviors.

Questions We will examine 3 questions in this study: 1.What is the relation between parent-child (mother and father) affective relationship and children’s problem behavior? 2. Are changes in parent-child affective relationships related to children’s problem behavior? 3.Are changes in children’s problem behavior associated with the positive parent-child affective relationship?

Methods Childhood and Beyond Study (CAB) Cohort-sequential design Wave 1 (1987): Kindergarten, 1 st, and 3 rd graders Wave 3 (1989): 2 nd, 3 rd, and 5 th graders Wave 5 (1994): 7 th, 8 th, and 10 th graders Wave 6 (1995): 8 th, 9 th, and 11 th graders

Participants Children at Wave kindergarten children mean age of 5.41 years, SD =.34 49% female; 51% male st grade children mean age of 6.36 years, SD =.36 52% female; 48% male rd grade children mean age of 8.37 years, SD =.35 52% female; 48% male Mostly European-American and spoke English 40% of mothers and 54% of fathers earned a degree from a 4-year college Median annual household income: $50,000 - $60,000

Scales: Affective Relationship Parent Report (Waves 1 & 3) I am easy going and relaxed with this child. Scale: 1 = not at all true, 7 = very true Reliability Wave 1: mother =.68, father =.69 Wave 3: mother =.77, father =.65 Youth Report (Waves 5 & 6) How often did your mom/dad let you know s/he really cares about you? Scale: 1 = almost never, 7 = every day Reliability Wave 5: mother =.78, father =.77 Wave 6: mother =.81, father =.77

Scales: Problem Behavior Teacher Report (Waves 1 & 3) How often is this child physically aggressive with peers? Scale: 1 = rarely, 7 = most of the time Reliability Wave 1 =.86 Wave 3 =.83 Youth Report (Waves 5 & 6) In the last 6 months, how often did you drink alcohol? Scale: 1 = never, 7 = 31 or more times Reliability Wave 5 =.92 Wave 6 =.87

Descriptive Statistics

Correlations: Is There a Relationship Between Affective Relationship and Problem Behavior?

Predicting Changes in Maternal Affective Relationship

Predicting Changes in Paternal Affective Relationship Step Cohort.19 * -.23 ** -.04 Sex -.24 ** Parent education Income Prior affective rel..29 ***.19 **.55 *** Step *** ** *** Cohort *** -.03 Sex -.20 * Parent education Income Prior affective rel..25 **.17 *.52 *** Prior problem beh a -.15 * -.09 Note.. *p <.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. Wave 3 Wave 5 Wave 6 β F β F β F ∆R 2

Predicting Changes in Problem Behavior Step *** *** *** Cohort ***.02 Sex.22 **.18 ** -.06 Parent education Income Prior problem beh.47 ***.25 ***.68 *** Step *** *** *** Cohort ***.03 Sex.21 **.18 ** -.06 Parent education Income Prior problem beh.46 ***.26 ***.69 *** Prior M-C aff. rel Prior F-C aff. rel Note. *p <.05. **p<.01. ***p<.001. Wave 3 Wave 5 Wave 6 β F β F β F ∆R 2

Results There is a negative relation between parental affective relationships with child and problem behavior. As reports of problem behavior increase, the affective relationship with both parents decrease. There are no differences by gender of the child or gender of parent for this relation. Parent-child affective relationship and child problem behaviors were moderately stable. In general, problem behavior did decrease the perception of affective relationship by the parents over time. Changes in children’s problem behavior seem to be unaffected by the positive perception of the parent-child relationship.

Discussion In this paper we examined how the parent-child relationship in middle childhood remains stable or changes due to the negative behavior of a child. It was expected that the continuing stress of problem behavior might decrease the positive feelings between the parent and the child. We found some evidence that this does happen from early elementary through junior high but does not predict into the high school years This may be due to the stability of both the affective relationship and the problem behavior. Once parents are confronted with problem behavior, they may make initial adjustments in their affective relationships and then these relationships remain stable over time.

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