Year: 2004
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Parental assessments of child temperament have been assigned superior predictive validity compared to independent assessments of temperament.The potential subjectivity in parental perceptions is presupposed to imply etiological significance for the child's development.It is assumed that child development is influenced by parent-child interactions, and in these processes, parental perceptions of the child are important predictors.Recognizing the value of parental perceptions as a valuable source of information rather than a threat to objectivity emphasizes the linking of the research on parental perceptions to the wider contextual theory of development.The studies that comprise this thesis focus on parental perceptions with a view to furthering understanding of the variables that may act as plausible premises of parental perceiving.The research extends equally to mothers and fathers, and to the potential child-induced variables that may affect parents' assessments.The first study relates to insecure attachment representations in adulthood, and to maternal and paternal perceptions of infant temperament.The question was asked whether perceptions of the infant relate to the joint attachment dynamics of the spouses (Study I).It was found that maternal and paternal attachment style dimensions had combined, interactive effects on perceptions of infant temperament.Second, the independent and combined contributions of depressive mood and insecure attachment representations to parental perceptions were examined (Study II).The results emphasized the significance of depressive symptoms to infant negative emotionality.Third, an attempt was made to find out how the characteristics of an infant affect parental views by testing whether perinatal variables elicited linear perceptions in both parents (Study III).It was shown that there is a shared parental experience with infants born small for gestational age, who were rated by both parents as significantly more fearful and more negatively reactive than those born appropriate for gestational age.Fourth, studies showing predictive validity, especially for parental assessments, rarely extend over developmental phases.The continuity from parental perceptions of child temperament to self-assessed adult temperament across developmental phases was assessed from childhood to adulthood, over a 17year period.Significant continuities were found for the construct of difficult temperament (Study IV).The summary of the thesis reviews the literature concerning the significance of parental perceptions of temperament, synthesizes the theoretical context of the study, and discusses the contributions of the results to the development of interventional approaches aimed at enhancing the healthy development of infants.Several suggestions emerge from the empirical data.
Source: Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja
Author: Anu‐Katriina Pesonen
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2785561453