Content

Thönnissen, Walper, Langmeyer, Schmahl, Schaer, Bremen, 03.07.20091

Carolin Thönnissen, Sabine Walper, Alexandra

Langmeyer, Franziska Schmahl and Markus Schaer

LMU Munich

Research Aims and Assessment Program

in the Domain of Parenting, Parent-

Child Relations, and Child Development


Content

I. Parenting, Parent-Child Relations and Child Well-Being als Research Topics in the Pairfam Project

II. Research Issues and Goals1. Parenting as Goal-Oriented Behavior

2. Parenting and Child-Well-Being

3. Parenting and parent-child relations in the family system

4. Personal and Contextual Influences on Parenting and Parent-Child Relations

III. Assessment Program

IV. Questions for Discussion


I. Parenting, Parent-Child-Relationships and Child Well-Being as Research Topics in the Pairfam Project

Background:

• social change in parenting since the 1960ies

• little empirical research in Germany

Starting Point:

• High significance of parenting for children’s well-being

• High salience of experiences in the parenting role for parents Motivational perspective: a focus on parents’ and

children's’ needs

• Parent-child relationships are linked to other family relations Systemic perspective: a focus on mutual influences

between subsystems of the family


The motivational perspective:

• Personal goals for well-being (Deci & Ryan, 1993, Nieboer et al.,

2005, Baltes & Silverberg, 1994):

Pursued / met in parent-child-relationships?

comfort / security affection / relatedness behavioral confirmation /

competence

status stimulation autonomy

I. Parent-child relations as research topics in the pairfam project


Inter-generational

&Partnership

relations

Child well-being

Parent-child relations / parenting

Parental well-being

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I. Parent-child relations as research topics in the pairfam project


II. Research Issues

(1) Parenting as goal-oriented behavior

(2) Parenting and child well-being

(3) Parenting and parent-child relations in the family system

(4) Personal and contextual influences on parenting and parent-child relationships

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(1) Parenting as goal oriented behavior

Basic assumption:

parenting goals play an organizing role in child rearing (e.g. Brezinka, 1995)

Influences on parenting goals: Social change increasing emphasis on children‘s self

actualization instead of obedience (e.g. Schneewind & Ruppert, 1995; Hillmann, 2003)

Cultural background (Friedlmeier et al., 2003)

Regional differences (Häder, 1998)

Socio-economic status and occupational experiences (Meulemann, 1997)

Intergenerational transmission (Schneewind & Ruppert, 1995)

II. Research Issues


Discrepancies between parenting goals and parenting practices are likely, e.g. due to

economical problems (Gershoff et al., 2007)

partnership conflicts (Cui & Conger, 2008)

social pressure (Park & Kwon, 2009)

Research goals here: view parenting goals within the larger framework of parents’ goals (e.g. VOC, value of partnership)

investigate changes in parenting goals due to life circumstances and experiences in the parenting role

investigate links between parenting goals and practices

address issues of intergenerational transmission and partner match / mutual influences between partners

(1) Parenting as goal oriented behavior

II. Research Issues and Goals


• Parenting: highly influential factor in children‘s social development (Gabriel & Bodenmann, 2006; Reichle & Gloger-Tippelt, 2007)

• Basic dimensions: Warmth

Control Authoritative parenting (Baumrind, 1991; Steinberg, 2001)

• But: different types of control different outcomes (Cowan et al., 2005; Galambos et al., 2003)

• Stimulation and promoting competence: Increasing focus on cultural capital, but problems in assessing stimulating, age appropriate experiences (e.g. Schauenberg, 2008)

• Strong need for longitudinal data e.g. due to mutual influences between parenting and child development (Beelmann et al., 2007)


II. Research Issues


Research Goals:

• Replication of parenting styles (focusing different types of control)

• basic “epidemiological” information differences between mothers and fathers, by SES etc.

• Predictors of parenting practices / parenting styles: Early precursors? Stability across time? Effects of family structure? Economic conditions Intergenerational transmission

• Short- and long term outcomes of parenting – Moderating effects of child characteristics– Joint and unique influences of maternal / paternal parenting– The role of separated fathers


II. Research Goals


• Interparental relationship as predictor for child aspects

• Coparenting: salient in everyday parenting (Belsky et al., 1995; Gabriel & Bodenmann, 2006)

• Match of parenting strategies

• Active mutual support / undermining between both parents

• Coparenting conflicts • predictor for negative parenting (Hetherington, 2006)

• Children‘s problem behavior (Feinberg et al., 2007)

• Emotional strain (Katz & Low, 2004)

cross-sectional data, no causal evidence


II. Research Issues


Research goals:

• Investigate links between coparenting and other features of the partnership (e.g. partner match, marital quality) and the direction of effects across time

• Identify other predictors of coparenting quality (e.g. economic strain, parents’ personality and well-being)

• Identify longitudinal effects of coparenting on children‘s well-being/ behavioral development, e.g. with a focus on parenting

• Test for reciprocal effects between child adjustment and coparenting


II. Research Goals


• Parents‘ personality and well-being as influence on parenting and parent-child-relations• maternal depressiveness (Foster et al., 2008)

• parents’ competence/ self-efficacy (Sanders & Wooley, 2005)

• self-esteem (Saile & Kühnemund, 2001)

• The role of contextual stressors / resources: marital quality, economic resources, occupational demands, …

• Recent focus on negative attributions: vicious circle

Studies are mostly cross-sectional or do not focus reverse effects

(4) Personal and contextual influences on parenting and parent-child relations

II. Research Issues


Research Goals:

• To investigate effects of external stressors / resources on parenting and parent-child relations (and vice versa) in longitudinal perspective

– Particularly: unemployment, poverty

• To identify spill-over effects of individual stressors into the partner’s parenting (e.g. father’s unemployment mother’s parenting)

• To address the mediating role of parents‘ negative attributions

(4) Personal and contextual influences on parenting and parent-child relations

II. Research Issues



Wave 2: Assessment of parenting only for youngest child age 8 – 15 in the target person‘s household

Dyadic (Triadic) approach: • Maternal report

• Paternal report

• Child report (age 8+) about maternal parenting

• Child report (age 8+) about paternal parenting

Focus (shifting across waves) on • Parents in the household (including stepparents) or• Biological parents (irrespective of household

membership)

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Domains within the Assessment Program:

• Perceptions and Dispositions in the Parenting Role autonomy Self-efficacy / competence Negative attributions Readiness to make sacrifices Subjective strain

• Parenting goals• Control

– Induction– Monitoring– strict control– inconsistent parenting– Child dominance

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• Relationship quality– Parental warmth

– negative parental communication

– Child intimacy with parents

– Parental estimation of child

– Conflict

– Parental reliability

• Child emotional insecurity (only adolescent self report)– Ambivalence

– Fear of love withdrawal

– Engulfment anxiety



• Child Behavior– SDQ: hyperactivity

» Conduct problems

» emotional problems

» Problems with peers

» Prosocial behavior

– Social integration

– Temperament (newborns)

• Selected contextual factors– Economic deprivation

– Coparenting

– Classroom cohesion

– Peer rejection



IV. Questions

Issues of Measurement: • Measuring parenting across childhood and adolescence

Selection of age-appropriate indicators:

How about children below age 3? Equivalence of indicators for different age groups?

• Measuring child characteristics / children‘s development across different life stages of the children – Assessment of child temperament up to age 6?

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IV. Questions

Issues of Design:

• Advantages and disadvantages of extending the assessment to other children in the household

• High assessment load for parents Child self report instead of or in addition to parental self report?

• Changing content focus as solution for the high assessment load for parents?

– Either focus on parenting / parent child relations

– Or focus on child behavior / development

• Shift from CAPI to CASI or PAPI when children reach age 11: methodological problems?

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Thank you for your attention

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