Mother-Infant Conflict and Problem Behavior Development

描述（由申请人提供）：多项关于母婴（M-I）互动的研究表明，支持性的养育环境与儿童的积极发展有关，而冲突的亲子关系与不太理想的发展有关。与这些发现相反，一些研究人员认为，母亲和婴儿之间的冲突互动可能对儿童发展有积极影响。然而，很少有研究探讨M-I冲突与儿童发展之间的关系，也没有探讨可能的影响机制。甚至更少的研究关注了早期M-I冲突相互作用的影响如何根据母亲/儿童二元体的种族/民族而有所不同。鉴于事实上，父母与孩子的冲突在幼儿时期是规范和频繁的，研究冲突的性质和冲突在儿童早期社会情感发展中的作用是重要的。 该项目依赖于对作为幼儿健康步骤方案国家评估的一部分而收集的数据进行的二级分析。健康步骤（HS）项目的目的是加强父母的知识，态度和行为的方式，促进他们的孩子的发展和健康。这项研究的主要目的是评估16-18个月的言语前儿童与母亲的冲突互动是否与他们36个月时的社会情感发展有关。具体的研究目标是：1）提供关于言语前儿童和不同种族儿童M-I冲突行为性质的描述性信息; 2）确定早期M-I冲突行为是否对后来儿童的依恋和行为问题发展有积极影响; 3）探索这些关联是否因种族/民族而异。 这项研究依赖于家庭观察数据，在婴儿16个月大时录像;在36个月时从母亲的自我报告中获得的儿童行为问题和依恋的测量;以及在2-4个月时收集的访谈和父母问卷调查数据。将使用冲突事件记录方法对观察数据进行编码。行为，如冲突和影响的类型和行为反应的冲突事件的母亲和儿童将包括在内。然后，将使用序贯分析和分层回归模型来分析数据，以生成M-I冲突与儿童的依恋和行为问题发展之间的关联的总体估计。这项研究的结果将对理解早期精神病理学以及指导早期预防方案设计具有重要意义。本研究为研究者提供了信息，即M-I冲突是否与精神病理学的发展有关，以及冲突的M-I互动是否存在文化差异。这也将增强我们对幼儿依恋和行为问题发展过程的认识。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Multiple studies of mother-infant (M-I) interaction have suggested that a supportive caregiving environment is associated with positive child development, and a conflicted parent-child relationship is associated with less optimal development. In contrast to these findings, some researchers have suggested that conflicted interactions between mothers and infants may have positive effects on child development. Yet, few studies have examined the relation between M-I conflict and child development nor explored the possible mechanisms of influence. Even fewer studies have looked at the how the influence of early M-I conflicted interactions might differ depending on the race/ethnicity of the mother/child dyad. Given the facts that parent-child conflict during the toddler years is both normative and frequent, studying the nature of conflict and the role of conflict in children's early socio-emotional development is important. This project relies on secondary analyses of data collected as part of the National Evaluation of the Healthy Steps for Young Children Program. The Healthy Steps (HS) project was designed to strengthen parents' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors in ways that promote their child's development and health. The primary objective of the proposed study is to assess whether 16-18 month preverbal children's conflicted interaction with their mothers is related to their social emotional development at 36 months. The specific study aims are: 1) To provide descriptive information on the nature of M-I conflicted behaviors in preverbal children and children of different races; 2) To determine whether early M-I conflicted behaviors have positive influences on later children's attachment and behavioral problem development; and 3) To explore whether these associations vary by race/ethnicity. The proposed study relies on home observation data, videotaped when infants were 16 months old; measures of child behavior problems and attachment from maternal self-reports obtained at 36 months; and interview and parent questionnaire data collected at 2-4 months. Observational data will be coded using a conflict-event recording method. Behaviors such as types of conflicts and affect and behavioral responses to conflict incidents for both mothers and children will be included. Data then will be analyzed using sequential analysis and hierarchical regression models to generate overall estimates of the association between M-I conflict and children's attachment and behavior-problems development. The results of the study will have important implications for understanding early psychopathology as well as guiding program design for early prevention. This study may inform researchers whether M-I conflict is associated with development of psychopathology and whether there are cultural differences in terms of conflicted M-I interactions. It will also enhance our knowledge of the processes of developing attachment and behavior problems in toddlers.