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The Quality of Joint Activity Between Mothers and Their Children with Behaviour Problems
Author(s) -
Gardner Frances E. M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.1994.tb02303.x
Subject(s) - observational study , psychology , developmental psychology , intervention (counseling) , affect (linguistics) , psychiatry , medicine , communication , pathology
This study used a detailed home observational system to analyse mother‐child interaction during spontaneous joint play. Compared to matched controls, mothers of preschool children with behaviour problems initiated a smaller proportion of activities, made fewer contributions to keeping the activity going, and were less responsive to the child's contributions. In contrast to controls, problem children played a stronger role than their mothers in initiating and maintaining activities. Less positive affect was shown in the problem group, and play more frequently degenerated into conflict. The findings imply that low maternal involvement in play may be an important factor in the development of behaviour problems. Intervention studies are needed for further verification.