Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Associations between marital intimacy and child self-control, as indexed by compliance, frustration tolerance, and fewer externalizing behaviors were investigated in 176 families taken from a subsample of the NICHD Study of Early Child Care when the children were 36 months old. Maternal and paternal sensitivity were examined as potential mediators of the proposed relationships between marital intimacy and child self-control. Parent gender differences in the association between marital intimacy and maternal and/or paternal sensitivity were also explored. Mothers' and fathers' reports of marital intimacy were obtained at 1, 6, 15, 24, and 36 months old. A composite score was created for each parent by averaging all available ratings. Child self-control outcomes at 36 months were assessed using both observational and maternal report measures. Finally, parental sensitivity was observed during mother-child and father-child semi-structured play interactions at 36 months. Associations were examined after controlling for maternal and paternal education, child gender, and parent personality. Results indicated that fathers' ratings of marital intimacy were not related to any of the child self-control variables, nor were mothers' ratings after controlling for parent personality. Maternal sensitivity was negatively correlated with two of the three child self-control outcomes: active time engaged with the forbidden toy (frustration tolerance) and child externalizing behavior. Paternal sensitivity, however, was unrelated to the child self-control measures. Proposed mediational hypotheses could not be tested due to the lack of significant associations between marital intimacy and child self-control and marital intimacy and parental sensitivity. Implications of these findings for understanding the relationships between marital intimacy, parental sensitivity, and child self-control are discussed.
Author: Patricia Matestic
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W644145683