Mother-child conversations about peers, mother-child interaction, children's social knowledge, and social skills

Ting Lu, Purdue University

Abstract

This study examined the associations between mother-child conversations about past peer experiences and children's social skills. Specifically, three aspects of the conversation (i.e., maternal elaboration, emotion explanation, and social coaching) were used to predict children's social competence, physical aggression, and relational aggression. In addition, the study tested potential pathways to understand the associations between conversation characteristics and children's outcomes through social interaction knowledge (i.e., attribution bias and strategy knowledge). Finally, moderation hypotheses were explored to examine whether the associations between conversation and social skills differed depending on the quality of mother-child interaction style. Seventy-three mother-child dyads (children's mean age = 61.50 months) participated in the study. Mother-child interaction style was assessed through 15 minutes play session; the conversation characteristics were coded from mother-child reminiscing of three past events with peers in which the child felt happy, sad, and angry; children's social interaction knowledge was measured by child interview and enactive play; and children's social skills were reported by both mothers and teachers. The results showed that mothers' elaborative reminiscing style positively predicted social competence and negatively predicted physical aggression reported by both mothers and teachers. Furthermore, the study provided some evidence that the associations between conversation and child outcomes could be partially explained by children's strategy knowledge. Lastly, both conversation and mother-child interaction quality were important predictors of children's development of social skills. In some cases, conversation might serve as a protective factor that buffers the negative impact of poor interaction quality.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Posada, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Social psychology|Developmental psychology|Psychology|Individual & family studies

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