Premium
Maternal Caregiving Moderates the Relation Between Temperamental Fear and Social Behavior with Peers
Author(s) -
Penela Elizabeth C.,
Henderson Heather A.,
Hane Amie A.,
Ghera Melissa M.,
Fox Nathan A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-7078.2012.00114.x
Subject(s) - socioemotional selectivity theory , psychology , temperament , developmental psychology , aggression , shyness , maternal sensitivity , strange situation , prosocial behavior , personality , anxiety , social psychology , attachment theory , psychiatry
Temperament works in combination with a child’s environment to influence early socioemotional development. We examined whether maternal caregiving behavior at infant age 9 months moderated the relation between infant temperamental fear (9 months) and observations of children’s social behavior with an unfamiliar peer at age 2 in a typically developing sample of 155 children. When infants received lower quality maternal caregiving, temperamental fear was inversely related to observed social engagement and aggression. These relations were nonsignificant when infants received higher quality maternal caregiving. Findings indicate that variations in temperamental fear may predict individual differences in future peer interactions, but sensitive, nonintrusive caregiving behaviors can attenuate these associations.