Work

Early Relational Experience: A Foundation for the Unfolding Dynamics of Parent–Child Socialization

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Psychologists have long tried to understand why trajectories of socialization in individual parent-child dyads can be distinct, leading to adaptive or maladaptive developmental outcomes. In this article, we elucidate origins of those differences by examining the subtle yet enduring implications of early parent-child relationships in longitudinal studies of low- and high-risk families, using correlational and experimental designs, and multiple measures. Those relationships are key for socialization because they can alter cascades from children's biologically based difficult temperament to parents' negative control to negative children's outcomes, as demonstrated by social-learning theories. We suggest that those cascades unfold only in parent-child dyads whose early relationships lack positive mutuality and security. Such relationships set the tone for adversarial cascades. In contrast, early mutually positive, secure relationships initiate cooperative, effective socialization and defuse risks of negative cascades. Parents' and children's internal representations of each other may explain how such divergent sequelae unfold.

Source: Child Development Perspectives

DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12308

Authors: Grazyna Kochanska, Lea J Boldt, Kathryn C Goffin

Institution: University of Iowa

Language: English

Topic: Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

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