14 research outputs found
CHILDREN'S PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH MOTHERS, FATHERS AND FRIENDS: A CROSS-CULTURAL STUDY
The purpose of this study was to cross-culturally examine children's perceptions of their relationships with mothers, fathers and friends among South Korean and European-American children. During middle childhood and preadolescence, although parent-child relationships are presumed to be the primary source of social support, friendships become increasingly salient; provisions for closeness and interdependence begin to shift from parents to friends. Researchers, however, have mostly examined mother-child and father-child relationships and friendships in isolation. The present study examined children's mother-child and father-child relationships and friendships as relationship networks in terms of various latent relationship constructs (social provisions; negative interactions; power distance). Of particular interest was whether the traditional emphasis on the family system in the South Korean culture would reveal distinct patterns of children's relationships with their mothers, fathers and friends.
Participants included the South Korean and the European-American children ages 10 to 11 years old from two-parent families in the Seoul and the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area. Variable-centered and person-centered approaches were employed to address individual differences (latent classes) on relationship qualities. Results revealed both cultural dissimilarities and similarities. Cultural differences were found in the mean levels of affection, conflict, and punitive aspects. The South Korean children perceived more social provisions from their mothers and fathers than from their friends, whereas the European-American children perceived similar levels of social provisions from their mothers, fathers and friends. Despite the changes in today's South Korean society, the South Korean family system continues to play a major role in providing social provisions for South Korean children. Cultural similarities were found regarding the patterns of relationship networks on power distance in both of the South Korean and European-American samples. Structural Equation Modeling also revealed structural invariance in terms of the manner in which the relationship constructs were associated with children's satisfaction with their mothers and fathers. In addition, considerable heterogeneity was revealed in affection, punitive aspects, and power distance. Taken together, findings from the present study highlight the importance of considering cross-cultural perspectives as well as person-centered approaches in the examination of relationship qualities
VII. Developmental Trajectories of Childrenâs Emotional Reactivity after the Birth of a Sibling
Emotional reactivity in this chapter refers to childrenâs moodiness, worrying, emotional instability, and their inability to emotionally cope with new situations (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) rather than a temperamental characteristic. Emotionally reactive children often have difficulties adapting to change and are described as moody and anxious. Because the birth of a sibling is considered a significant change within the family, emotionally reactive children may become increasingly emotionally labile after the birth. During the transition to siblinghood, Stewart (1990) reported that children experienced an increase in emotional intensity, a decrease in the range of mood expressions, and an increased tendency to approach rather than withdraw from social interaction in the year following the infantâs birth. The likelihood of whether children have problems with emotional reactivity after the siblingâs birth was contingent on whether children were described by mothers as emotionally reactive prior to the birth. Dunn and Kendrick (1982) reported that emotionally reactive children prior to the birth were either emotionally reactive after the birth or actually increased in emotional reactivity in the first 8 months following the siblingâs birth. These findings provide support for the accentuation principle, where life stressors accentuate the individualâs preexisting psychological traits prior to the life event, in this case, the birth of an infant sibling (Elder & Caspi, 1988; Volling, 2012). Dunn and Kendrick (1982) argued that the change in childrenâs miserable moods and worrying was not simply a matter of age-related developmental change because these behaviors increased only from one month before the birth to 8 months after, and not from 8 to 14 months, when the family had already adjusted to the birth. Thus, there is some evidence to suggest that we might see an adjustment and adaptation response for childrenâs emotional reactivity, with an immediate increase in emotional reactivity that either declines or stabilizes shortly afterward.
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In sum, the trajectories of childrenâs emotional reactivity revealed that there are relatively stable patterns of behavior over the transition and that children high on emotional reactivity prior to the birth of a sibling were also relatively high afterward. The vast majority of children fell into a low-stable class well within a normative, nonclinical range of behavior, suggesting that most children have few to no emotional reactivity difficulties in response to the impending birth of their infant sibling. Children, whose mothers were more stressed and hassled about parenting responsibilities prenatally, were more emotionally reactive and actually increased in their emotional reactivity after the birth of a sibling. These findings underscore the fact that parenting stresses (with the firstborn) experienced by mothers during the pregnancy with the second-born may set in motion a family dynamic that gives rise to increased emotional reactivity before and after the birth. It is also possible that emotionally reactive children create additional burdens and stresses for parents. No doubt the process is probably bidirectional, with emotionally reactive children creating more parenting stress, which, in turn, contributes to childrenâs feelings of emotional insecurity, worrying, and reactivity over time, and future work would be well advised to consider investigating these developmental processes.
Children with better emotional understanding before the birth were also more likely to be emotionally reactive and increase in their emotional reactivity over time (i.e., mid-increasing) than children in the low-stable class. Because children with better emotional understanding are more prone to emotional problems through an over-internalization of othersâ and oneâs own distress (Keenan & Shaw, 1997), perhaps children with better emotional understanding are more attuned to the emotional climate of the family and are better able to comprehend the impending changes that accompany the birth of a sibling. Finally, children in the high-stable class of emotional reactivity were not only characterized by greater negative emotionality, but were also at-risk for developing conflictual interactions with their siblings 1 year after the birth, which is not surprising given prior research finding that children high in negative emotionality are more involved in sibling conflict and have higher internalizing and externalizing behavior problems (Dirks et al., 2015). Given the predictive utility of early sibling conflict for later sibling conflict (Dunn et al., 1994), and the links between sibling conflict and other negative developmental outcomes for children and adolescents (e.g., externalizing and internalizing problems; Buist et al., 2013), these highly emotionally reactive children, although few in number, may be potentially at-risk for later developmental difficulties
VII. Developmental Trajectories of Childrenâs Emotional Reactivity after the Birth of a Sibling
Emotional reactivity in this chapter refers to childrenâs moodiness, worrying, emotional instability, and their inability to emotionally cope with new situations (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) rather than a temperamental characteristic. Emotionally reactive children often have difficulties adapting to change and are described as moody and anxious. Because the birth of a sibling is considered a significant change within the family, emotionally reactive children may become increasingly emotionally labile after the birth. During the transition to siblinghood, Stewart (1990) reported that children experienced an increase in emotional intensity, a decrease in the range of mood expressions, and an increased tendency to approach rather than withdraw from social interaction in the year following the infantâs birth. The likelihood of whether children have problems with emotional reactivity after the siblingâs birth was contingent on whether children were described by mothers as emotionally reactive prior to the birth. Dunn and Kendrick (1982) reported that emotionally reactive children prior to the birth were either emotionally reactive after the birth or actually increased in emotional reactivity in the first 8 months following the siblingâs birth. These findings provide support for the accentuation principle, where life stressors accentuate the individualâs preexisting psychological traits prior to the life event, in this case, the birth of an infant sibling (Elder & Caspi, 1988; Volling, 2012). Dunn and Kendrick (1982) argued that the change in childrenâs miserable moods and worrying was not simply a matter of age-related developmental change because these behaviors increased only from one month before the birth to 8 months after, and not from 8 to 14 months, when the family had already adjusted to the birth. Thus, there is some evidence to suggest that we might see an adjustment and adaptation response for childrenâs emotional reactivity, with an immediate increase in emotional reactivity that either declines or stabilizes shortly afterward.
. . .
In sum, the trajectories of childrenâs emotional reactivity revealed that there are relatively stable patterns of behavior over the transition and that children high on emotional reactivity prior to the birth of a sibling were also relatively high afterward. The vast majority of children fell into a low-stable class well within a normative, nonclinical range of behavior, suggesting that most children have few to no emotional reactivity difficulties in response to the impending birth of their infant sibling. Children, whose mothers were more stressed and hassled about parenting responsibilities prenatally, were more emotionally reactive and actually increased in their emotional reactivity after the birth of a sibling. These findings underscore the fact that parenting stresses (with the firstborn) experienced by mothers during the pregnancy with the second-born may set in motion a family dynamic that gives rise to increased emotional reactivity before and after the birth. It is also possible that emotionally reactive children create additional burdens and stresses for parents. No doubt the process is probably bidirectional, with emotionally reactive children creating more parenting stress, which, in turn, contributes to childrenâs feelings of emotional insecurity, worrying, and reactivity over time, and future work would be well advised to consider investigating these developmental processes.
Children with better emotional understanding before the birth were also more likely to be emotionally reactive and increase in their emotional reactivity over time (i.e., mid-increasing) than children in the low-stable class. Because children with better emotional understanding are more prone to emotional problems through an over-internalization of othersâ and oneâs own distress (Keenan & Shaw, 1997), perhaps children with better emotional understanding are more attuned to the emotional climate of the family and are better able to comprehend the impending changes that accompany the birth of a sibling. Finally, children in the high-stable class of emotional reactivity were not only characterized by greater negative emotionality, but were also at-risk for developing conflictual interactions with their siblings 1 year after the birth, which is not surprising given prior research finding that children high in negative emotionality are more involved in sibling conflict and have higher internalizing and externalizing behavior problems (Dirks et al., 2015). Given the predictive utility of early sibling conflict for later sibling conflict (Dunn et al., 1994), and the links between sibling conflict and other negative developmental outcomes for children and adolescents (e.g., externalizing and internalizing problems; Buist et al., 2013), these highly emotionally reactive children, although few in number, may be potentially at-risk for later developmental difficulties
Patterns of Marital Relationship Change across the Transition from One Child to Two
Patterns of marital change after the birth of a second child were explored in a sample of 229 married couples, starting in pregnancy, and at 1, 4, 8 and 12 months postpartum. Five trajectory patterns that reflected sudden, persistent decline (i.e., crisis), sudden, short-term decline (i.e., adjustment and adaptation), sudden, short-term gain (i.e., honeymoon effect), linear change, and no change were examined with dyadic, longitudinal data for husbands and wives. Six distinct latent classes emerged using growth mixture modeling: (a) wife decreasing positivity-husband honeymoon (44%), (b) wife increasing conflict-husband adjustment and adaptation (34.5%), (c) wife honeymoon-discrepant spouse positivity (7.4%), (d) wife adjustment and adaptation (6.9%), (e) couple honeymoon with discrepant positivity and negativity (5.2%) and (f) husband adjustment and adaptation (1.7%). Classes were distinguished by individual vulnerabilities (i.e., depression, personality), stresses associated with the transition (i.e., unplanned pregnancy), and adaptive processes (i.e., marital communication, social support). Marital communication, parental depression, and social support emerged as important targets for intervention that can assist parents planning to have additional children
Distinct profiles of relationships with mothers, fathers, and best friends and socialâbehavioral functioning in early adolescence: A crossâcultural study
Adolescentsâ dyadic relationships are likely influenced by the cultural context within which they exist. This
study applied a person-oriented approach to examine how perceived support and negativity were manifested
across youthsâ relationships with mothers, fathers, and best friends, simultaneously, and how distinct relationship
profiles were linked to adaptive and maladaptive functioning (aggression, anxious-withdrawal, prosociality)
within and across cultures. Participants resided in metropolitan areas of South Korea, the United States,
and Portugal (10â14 years; N = 1,233). Latent profile analyses identified relationship profiles that were culturally common or specific. Additional findings highlighted commonality in the relations between a high-quality
relationship profile and adaptive functioning, as well as cultural specificity in the buffering and differential
effects of distinct relationship profiles on social-behavioral outcomes.Fundação para a CiĂȘncia e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Cross-cultural measurement of social withdrawal motivations across 10 countries using multiple-group factor analysis alignment
The goal of this study was to evaluate the measurement invariance of an adapted assessment of motivations for social withdrawal (Social Preference ScaleâRevised; SPS-R) across cultural contexts and explore associations with loneliness. Participants were a large sample of university students (N=4,397; Mage=20.08years, SD=2.96; 66% females) from 10 countries (Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, South Korea, Norway, Turkey, and the United States). With this cross-cultural focus, we illustrate the multiple-group factor analysis alignment method, an approach developed to assess measurement invariance when there are several groups. Results indicated approximate measurement invariance across the 10 country groups. Additional analyses indicated that overall, shyness, avoidance, and unsociability are three related, but distinct factors, with some notable country differences evident (e.g., in China, India, and Turkey). Shyness and avoidance were related positively to loneliness in all countries, but the strength of the association between shyness and loneliness differed in Italy and India relative to the other countries. Results also indicated that unsociability was related positively to loneliness in the United States only. Theoretical and assessment implications are discussed