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A Person‐Centered Approach to Child Temperament and Parenting
Author(s) -
DalimonteMerckling Danielle M.,
BrophyHerb Holly E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/cdev.13046
Subject(s) - temperament , psychology , developmental psychology , reactivity (psychology) , child development , child rearing , maternal sensitivity , stress (linguistics) , personality , social psychology , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology , linguistics , philosophy
The aim of this study was to examine how variations in children's temperamental reactivity and mothers’ parenting stress relate to parenting behavior. A sample of 3,001 mother–child dyads was assessed when children were 14, 24, 36, and 54 months. Latent profile analysis identified a group of temperamentally “easy” children whose mothers experienced little parenting stress, along with two groups of highly reactive children differentiated by mothers’ stress levels. Maternal negative regard over time was highest in the group of reactive children with highly stressed mothers. Mothers in this group also perceived more child behavior problems and had less knowledge of child development. Results are discussed relative to Person × Environment interactions and the complex interplay between parent and child characteristics.