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Bidirectional Associations Among Sensitive Parenting, Language Development, and Social Competence

Year: 2012

Type: article

Abstract: Rapid changes in language skills and social competence, both of which are linked to sensitive parenting, characterize early childhood. The present study examines bidirectional associations among mothers' sensitive parenting and children's language skills and social competence from 24 to 36 months in a community sample of 174 families. In addition, this study examines how these developmental pathways vary by child sex. Findings indicate stability across time in sensitive parenting, expressive language skills, and social competence, as well as positive main effects of sensitive parenting on expressive and receptive language skills for girls and boys. We find mixed evidence over time of reciprocal links between social competence and sensitive parenting. Further, boys' receptive language skills at 24 months uniquely contribute to increases in mothers' observed sensitive parenting from 24 to 36 months. These findings highlight the utility of applying transactional frameworks to the study of sex-based differences in early developmental processes.

Source: Infant and Child Development

DOI: 10.1002/icd.1750

Authors: Melissa A. Barnett, Hanna Gustafsson, Min Deng, W. Roger Mills‐Koonce, Martha Cox

Institutions: University of Arizona, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 3C Institute

Language: English

Topic: Language Development and Disorders

Subfield: Developmental and Educational Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Gender equality

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development