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Parental subjective reactions to perceived temperament behavior in their 6- and 24-month-old children
INFANT
BEHAVIOR
AND
DEVELOPMENT
12,
185-198
(1989)
Parental Subjective Reactions to Perceived Temperament Behavior in Their 6- and 24-Month-Old Children NANCY C. HUBERT University
of Alabama
at Birmingham
Parents’ subjective reactions to specific temperament-related behaviors perceived in their young children were ossessed in this study as a means of obtaining a parental perspective on the definition of easiness/difficultness. Mothers and fathers of 60 children, either 6 or 24 months old, completed a standardized temperament questionnaire and, subsequently, a follow-up questionnaire that requested ratings of how pleasing they found specific behaviors representing the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS) easy/difficult dimensions. The highest correlations between temperoment rotings and pleasure ratings, for both mothers and fathers, were obtained for Mood and Adaptobility. indicating the significance of these dimensions for parents. Exomination of the possible moderating effects of child classification variables (age, birth order, ond gender) on these relationships indicated thot. in general, correlations between temperament and pleasure ratings ore not different under different child conditions. The implications of these results for the construct of easiness/difficultness ore discussed.
parental
reactions
temperament
children
The notion of temperamental easiness/difficultness was initially defined by Thomas and his colleagues in the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS; Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968; Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig, & Korn, 1963) and has served as the basis for much subsequent research. The NYLS group proposed the following behavioral dimensions to define this construct: Rhythmicity in Biological Functions, Approach/Withdrawal to Novel Stimuli, Adaptability, Quality of Mood, and Intensity of Reactions. Clinical observation suggested to Thomas and his colleagues that “easy children” are characterized by relatively high Rhythmicity, Approach and Adaptability, predominantly positive Mood, and mild Intensity of Reactions, whereas “difficult children” typically display the opposite characteristics. This research was funded by an intramural grant obtained by the author from the Research and Education Institute at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. I am grateful to Linda Philpott who assisted in data collection and Robert Herrick who provided statistical consultation. Special thanks are extended to the parents who participated in this project. Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Nancy C. Hubert, SparksCenter, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 7th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233. 185
186
HUBERT
The construct of easiness/difficultness has been central to much of the research investigating relations between temperament and parental behavior as well as child outcomes (e.g., Kelly, 1976; Lee & Bates, 1985; Milliones, 1978; Thomas & Chess, 1977). The research literature investigating easiness/difficultness is based on the general hypothesis that difficult children will elicit different behaviors from their caretakers than easy children. Studies investigating this hypothesis have resulted in inconsistent findings, however (see Crockenberg, 1986, for a review). Some studies have indicated a relationship between parent-reported difficult temperament and less responsive caregiving (e.g., Dunn & Kendrick, 1980; Kelly, 1976; Milliones, 1978; Peters-Martin & Wachs, 1984), but others have reported that mothers who perceive their infants as difficult are more engaged with their children (e.g., Bates, Olson, Pettit, & Bayles, 1982; Caron & Miller, 1981; Crockenberg & Smith, 1982; Fish & Crockenberg, 1981). Several factors may contribute to this mixed pattern of results. One possibility is that those behaviors that have been regarded as easy or difficult by investigators may not be regarded as such by parents and, consequently, may not predict parenting responses. Previous research has relied on definitions of child easiness/difficultness that are based on parents’ objective descriptions of their child’s behavior (e.g., Thomas & Chess, 1977) as opposed to a direct assessment of those characteristics that parents believe contribute to easiness/ difficultness. The empirical question about which behaviors or characteristics parents use to define easy/difficult temperament in their children has remained largely unexplored. In response to this gap in the research literature, Hubert and Wachs (1985) studied parental beliefs about the behavioral components of easiness/difficultness in 6- and 13-month-old infants. First, parents were asked to rate independently their child’s overall behavior with regard to easiness/difficultness. They were then requested to provide a written list of their child’s behaviors or characteristics which they believed contributed to their perception of their child’s easiness/difficultness. A free-response procedure was used so that parents’ responses would not be constrained by investigators’ a priori notions about those behaviors and characteristics that are important to parents. A content analysis of freely generated responses from parents indicated that the NYLS dimensions of Mood and Adaptability were central to mothers’ as well as fathers’ definition of infant easiness/difficultness. These results are generally consistent with factor analytic studies of the nine NYLS dimensions, in which factors representing Mood and Adaptability emerge most strongly and consistently (Daniels, Plomin, & GreenhaIgh, 1984; Matheny, Wilson, & Nuss, 1984; Matheny, Wilson, & Thoben, 1987; Persson-Blennow & McNeil, 1982; Stevenson-Hinde & Simpson, 1982). Hubert and Wachs did not obtain support from parents for the importance of behaviors representing Rhythmicity, Approach/Withdrawal, or Intensity of Reactions. This may have resulted from parents’ inability to cognitively retrieve and describe behaviors representing these dimensions within the con-
PARENTAL
REACTIONS
187
text of a free-response procedure. For example, if a parent were to describe their child’s Intensity Level with respect to Mood, they would need to refer not only to the quality of the child’s mood on a positive-negative dimension, but also to the intensity of its expression (e.g., “cries loudly”). Thus, while Intensity may be important to parents, the relatively high level of behavioral description required of subjects to endorse this category within the context of a free-response procedure, may have resulted in relatively few responses. Further investigation of parents’ subjective responses to behavior across all five NYLS easy/difficult dimensions is therefore needed, using a procedure that does not rely on parents’ ability to spontaneously generate relevant responses. The current study was designed for this purpose. That is, parents’ subjective reactions to their young children’s behaviors representing the five NYLS easy/ difficult dimensions were assessed. This study, like that of Hubert and Wachs’ (1985), is based on the premise that the direct assessment of parents’ reactions will help to define, or redefine, temperamental easiness/difficultness in a manner congruent with the perceptions and experiences of parents. Defined as such, the construct of easiness/difficultness may prove to be more ecologically valid and thus may provide a critical link between early child behavior and parents’ behavioral responses. In this study, a parental perspective on easiness/difficultness was sought by asking mothers and fathers to provide evaluative responses to specific behaviors perceived in their 6- or 24-month-old children. Specifically, parents were asked to rate their pleasure/displeasure with their child’s temperament behaviors. An evaluative response, such as pleasure/displeasure, was sought because previous research has indicated that parents have a strong tendency to respond to social behavior in children along an evaluative continuum (e.g., Bacon & Ashmore, 1985). It was hypothesized, based on the Hubert and Wachs data, that the parent-reported frequency of behaviors related to Mood and Adaptability would be highly correlated with parents’ evaluative responses to these behaviors in terms of pleasure/displeasure. Also based on the Hubert and Wachs study, significant differences in these relationships were not expected when mothers were compared with fathers. The question remains open, however, as to whether, for one or more of the remaining three easy/diffic& dimensions, significant relationships between perceived child behavior and parental pleasure/displeasure will be found. A second objective of this study was to examine several classification variables that may moderate the relationships between parents’ perception of their children’s behavior and parents’ pleasure/displeasure ratings. That is, the behavioral components of easiness/difficultness may vary as a function of such variables as the child’s age, birth order, or gender. Parents of toddlers, for example, might find high Intensity in their children’s reactions more problematic than parents of infants because toddlers are more likely to express their emotions physically as well as verbaily. Birth order of the child may also be a moderating variable because more experienced parents may have a different
188
HUBERT
TABLE Sample
N by Child
Age,
1
Gender,
and
Birth
Order
6-Month-Olds Males Firstborn Later-born
0 11
24-Month-Olds Females 11 2
Males 0 7
Females 9 4
perspective on behavioral easiness/difficultness compared with first-time parents. Some previous studies have reported small but significant relationships between birth order and parents’ perceptions of difficultness (e.g., Bates, Freeland, & Lounsbury, 1979; Sameroff, Seifer, & Elias, 1982), whereas others have reported no effect (e.g., Persson-Blennow & McNeil, 1982). Finally, Child gender may serve as a potential moderating variable; however, the general absence of significant findings with respect to gender in the temperament literature (e.g., Bates & Bayles, 1984; Carey & McDevitt, 1978) suggested that this variable would not play a significant moderating role. METHOD Subjects Subjects were mothers and fathers of 60 children who were 6 or 24 months of age. Subjects participated within a 2-week period, either before or after their child’s monthly birthdate. Parents of 6- and 24month-olds were chosen because previous studies on temperament have frequently investigated these populations and because standardized temperament questionnaires have been developed, based on the NYLS, for these ages. Names of parents were obtained from birth records published in the local newspaper. A letter requesting participation was sent to parents whose infants were in either age group. This was followed by a phone call to identify interested parents and to schedule an appointment. Only those families in which both parents were available to participate were included. Fifty-five percent of the children with participating parents were 6month-olds, 48% were female, and 57% were firstborn. Sample Ns by age, sex, and birth order are presented in Table 1. Mothers ranged in age from 22 to 38 years (M= 31 years) with 12 to 22 years of education (M= 15 years). Fathers ranged in age from 23 to 45 years (M= 34 years) and in education level from 12 to 22 years (it4= 16 years). Fathers were significantly more educated than mothers. All fathers were employed outside the home. Twenty-four percent of mothers indicated an occupation of housewife or mother, and 76% indicated at least part-time work outside the home. Procedure Subjects were visited in their home by an experimenter. After basic demographic data were obtained, parents were requested to provide a rating of their child’s
PARENTAL
TABLE Test-Retest
and
Internal
189
REACTIONS
2
Consistency Estimates far Easy/Difficult on the RITQ and TTS
Dimension
Scares
TTSb
RITQ’ Easy/Difficult Rhythmicity Approach Adaptability Mood Intensity
Dimension
Retest .75 .77 .74 .81 .&5
Note Internal consistency was estimated ’ Estimates obtained by Carey 8 McDevitt b Estimates obtained by Fullard, McDevitt,
r
Retest
a .65
.81 .89
.71 .57 .53 .56 using Cronbach’s (1978). 8 Carey (1984).
r
CY .72 .85 .53
.76 .a7
.b3
.71
.67
alpha.
overall easiness/difficultness ranging from 1 (easy) to 7 (difficult) over the past month. Parents were then asked to complete, independently of one another, two questionnaires: an age-appropriate standardized temperament measure and a questionnaire that assessed parental attributions for specific child behaviors relevant to the NYLS construct of easiness/difficultness. Measures Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ). The RITQ (Carey & McDevitt, 1978) is a parent-report measure of temperament characteristics in children 4 to 8 months of age. It was administered to the parents of 6-monthold children in this study. The RITQ assessesthe nine temperament dimensions delineated in the NYLS (Thomas et al., 1968; Thomas et al., 1963), including Rhythmicity, Approach/Withdrawal, Adaptability, Mood, Intensity, Activity Level, Distractibility, Attention Span/Persistence, and Threshold of Responsiveness-the first five of which are believed to contribute to infants’ easiness/ difficultness. This 95item questionnaire used 6-point rating scales to measure parents’ perceptions of the frequency with which specific temperament behaviors are observed in their children (ranging from “almost never” to “almost always”). Test-retest reliability estimates, over approximately 1 month, for easy/difficult dimension scores on both the infant and toddler temperament questionnaires are presented in Table 2. Internal consistency estimates for both measures are also presented in Table 2. Toddler Temperament Scale (TTS). The TT’S (Fullard, McDevitt, & Carey, 1984) is a parent-report measure of temperament in l- to 3-year-old children which was administered to the parents of 24-month-olds. It is similar in content and format to the RITQ. Ninety-seven items representing the nine NYLS dimensions are rated on the same 6-point frequency rating scales as for the RITQ. Parental perceptions of toddlers’ behavior are measured with respect to
190
HUBERT
similar situations (e.g., feeding, dressing, bath, play) as those sampled on the RITQ. Test-retest reliability estimates and internal consistency values are found in Table 2. Parental Attributions Questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed for this study as a means of assessing parents’ causal explanations, or attributions, for their reported easy/difficult behavior in their children. Specifically, a subset of 30 items from the RITQ or TTS was presented again to each parent along with his or her temperament rating.’ This was done when the experimenter indicated, on the parent attribution questionnaire, the parent’s response to each of 30 items as he/she had answered on the RITQ or TSS. Immediately following each of the 30 items was a 4-point pleasure/displeasure rating scale, ranging from “agree very much” to “disagree very much” with the statement “This behavior in my child pleases me.” The data from this questionnaire that assessed parental reactions thus consisted of 30 pleasure/displeasure ratings that were responses to each of 30 specific behavioral ratings made by the parent on either the RITQ or the TTS. The actual temperament items included on the attribution questionnaire varied slightly in content for 6- versus 24-month-old groups because they were taken from the RITQ and TTS, respectively. To minimize potential differences between age groups, items representing similar or identical behavioral content and situations were selected from the RITQ and TTS for inclusion on the attribution questionnaires. For example, the RITQ and TTS Rhythmicity item “The infant/child gets sleepy at about the same time each evening (within % hour)” was included on the questionnaire for both age groups. An attempt was also made to include items that sample children’s behavior across a range of situations, such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and dressing. The six items in each of the five easy/difficult categories were balanced in terms of direct versus reverse-scored items. That is, three of the temperament items representing each category were stated such that a high behavioral frequency rating was consistent with relative difficultness, as conceptualized in the NYLS, whereas for the remaining three items, a low frequency rating suggested difficultness. RESULTS Relationships Between Temperament Ratings and Parental Subjective Responses Means and standard deviations for mothers’ and fathers’ mean temperament ratings and mean pleasure ratings (each calculated for six items per category ’ The length of time required to complete the follow-up questionnaire and the total number of ratings requested of subjects did not allow for the assessment of parental reactions to each RITQ or TTS item (95 and 97 items, respectively).
PARENTAL
TABLE Means
and
Standard
Deviations by Category,
for
Temperament Cateaorv Rhythmicity Approach Adaptability Mood Intensity
Note. 0 Low b Low
Values values values
Rhythmicity Approach Adaptability Mood Intensity + p<
and
l
and
Pleasure
Pleasure
Ratingsa
Ratings,
Ratingsb
Mothers
Fathers
2.50 (0.83) 2.71 (1.15) 2.40 (0.90) 2.73 (0.86) 3.80 (0.68)
2.16 (0.79) 2.86 (1.08) 2.53 (0.83)
1.61 (0.45) 1.56 (0.44) 1.57 (0.47) 1.72
1.78 (0.49)
2.07 (0.73) 3.52 (0.64) are standard deviations. ratings consistent with ratings of high pleasure
Temperament Temperament
(0.60) 1.75
$0) 1.65 (0.47) 1.79 (0.56) 1.78
(0.52)
(0.44)
easiness as defined in the NYLS. with perceived child behavior.
TABLE 4 Rating Means and Pleasure Rating Means Dimension for Mothers and Fathers Mothers .53*** .66*** &I**+ .81 l ** .31*
.05.
Ratings Fathers
Fathers
in parentheses indicate parental indicate parental
Dimension
3
Temperament for Mothers
Mothers
Correlations Between by Easy/Difficult Easy/Difficult
191
REACTIONS
Fathers .69”’ .65”* .75f” .g1*** .31 l
** p<.OOl.
found on the attribution questionnaire) are presented in Table 3. Overall, the parents in this sample described their children in relatively positive terms with regard to behavior and their own subjective responses to this behavior. To investigate relations between temperament ratings and pleasure responses, bivariate correlations were calculated for the means of each of the five temperament dimensions. That is, for each dimension, subjects’ mean temperament rating was correlated with their mean pleasure rating. Correlations were computed separately for mothers and fathers because of the lack of independence of data from these two groups. These correlations are presented in Table 4. All correlations were statistically significant in the expected direction. High pleasure ratings were associated with relatively high degrees of Rhythmicity, Approach, Adaptability, and positive Mood, but low Intensity. However, a
192
HUBERT
wide range in the magnitude of correlations across dimensions was found. For both mothers and fathers, correlations involving Mood and Adaptability were highest, thereby supporting the study hypothesis. To evaluate whether the correlations for these categories were significantly higher than those of the remaining categories, analyses suggested by Steiger (1980) for testing the significance of the differences between dependent correlation coefficients were performed. For mothers, the correlations for both Adaptability and Mood were significantly higher (z for Mood = 1.86, pc .05) than for Approach, the next highest category. For fathers, although the correlations for Mood and Adaptability were highest, these were not significantly different from those for either Rhythmicity or Approach. A significant difference was obtained, however, between Mood and Adaptability, and Intensity (z= 3.50, p< .OOl for Mood; z = 3.77, p< .OOl for Adaptability). Similar analyses were conducted to examine the significance of the differences between correlations obtained for mothers versus fathers. The z value associated with each temperament dimension was not significant, thereby indicating a similar pattern, between mothers and fathers, in the relationships between parental perceptions of their child’s behavior and pleasure ratings. Moderators of Relationships Between Temperament Ratings and Subjective Reactions The analyses reported in this section address the second objective of this study, which was to investigate the possibility that one or more child classification variables (age, birth order, or gender) may moderate the relationships between parent-rated temperament behaviors and parents’ pleasure ratings. That is, different relationships between parents’ perceptions of the frequency of specific behaviors and parents’ pleasure ratings may be observed for 6- versus 24-month-olds, first- versus later-borns, or males versus females. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to investigate this question. The inclusion of interaction terms between temperament rating mean and each classification variable addressed the question of the presence of moderator effects (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Cohen & Cohen, 1983). That is, do parental reactions to their children’s easy/difficult behavior vary under different conditions of child age (6- vs. 24-month-olds), birth order (first- vs. later-born) or gender? Analyses were conducted separately for each of the five temperament dimensions. Mothers’ and fathers’ data were also analyzed separately. The criterion variable in each analysis was subjects’ mean pleasure rating, and predictor variables were entered in the following order: mean temperament rating, child age, birth order, gender, and the three corresponding interaction terms. Mean temperament rating was entered first as was necessary to address the question of whether subsequently considered moderator variables had a significant influence on the relationship between this rating and the mean pleasure rating. As suggested by Cohen and Cohen (1983), the remaining variables were ordered
PARENTAL
REACTIONS
193
on the basis of their expected relevance to the criterion variable. Based on the previous discussion of each of these classification variables, it was expected that child age would have the greatest effect on pleasure ratings, followed by birth order and gender. The entry of these variables and their interaction terms was thus ordered according to their expected theoretical relevance. The results of the regression analyses are presented in Table 5. For each regression system, the mean temperament rating was significantly correlated with the criterion, as was indicated in the bivariate correlations. For each of the temperament dimensions except Intensity, the mean temperament ratings accounted for the greatest amount of variance, among all predictors, in mean pleasure ratings. In the case of Intensity, child age accounted for more variance in pleasure responses of both mothers and fathers than did the mean temperament ratings. This finding indicates that parents’ pleasure ratings, in response to their child’s Intensity level, are more strongly related to the child’s age than to his or her observed behavior. The results in Table 5 also indicate that consideration of child classification variables in some cases significantly increases the amount of variance found in pleasure ratings after the effects of the child’s reported temperament behavior have been taken into account. This is particularly the case for mothers. Specifically, child age and subsequently the child’s birth order each account for additional variance in mothers’ pleasure ratings for the categories of Rhythmicity and Mood. After temperament ratings have been taken into account, mothers of 6-month-olds express greater pleasure with their child’s Rhythmicity and Mood than mothers of 2Cmonth-olds. With respect to birth order, mothers of later-borns report greater pleasure with Rhythmicity and Mood than mothers of firstborns. In addition, child age made a significant contribution to pleasure ratings related to Intensity for both mothers and fathers. In both groups, higher pleasure ratings were obtained for 6-month-olds compared with 24-month-olds. Investigation of potential moderating effects of one or more child classification variables resulted in two significant interaction terms for mothers. Child age moderated the relationship between mothers’ reports of approach/withdrawal behavior and their pleasure with these behaviors in their children. Specifically, increasing frequency of Approach behavior was more strongly associated with pleasure in mothers of 6-month-olds compared with 24-montholds. Birth order moderated the relationship between mothers’ perception of their children’s Mood and mothers’ pleasure responses. Displeasure was more strongly associated with increasing negativity in Mood among mothers of firstborn versus later-born children. One interaction term was significant for fathers, indicating the moderating effect of child gender on the relationship between fathers’ behavioral frequency ratings and pleasure ratings. Specietally, increasing Approach was associated with greater pleasure in boys compared with girls.
gender
Tm XChild
l
p<.o5.
rating
rating
Multiple
** pc.01.
Mean temperament Child age Birth order Child gender Tm XChild age Tm X Birth order Tm XChild gender
Fathers
age order
Tm XChild Tm X Birth
Mothers Mean temperament Child age Birth order Child gender
Predictors
Hierarchical
+ p<.lO.
(Tm)
(Tm)
.48” .40** .40** .50” .50** .50** .53**
.2v* x3** .46*’ .47** .47** .47** .49”
Rr
Regression
.oo .oo .02 .oo .oo 33’
.OS .13** .Ol St0 .oo .02
.42** .45” .45” .45”’ .47” .40** .52”
.43f’ .45** .45** .45” .54** .55** .56’*
Rz
of Predictors
Rhythmicity R’ Chanae
Analyses
TABLE Mothers’
.03+ .oo .oo .02 .Ol .04’
.02 a0 .oo .09** .Ol .Ol
Approach R2 Chanae
for
5 and
.56** .56*’ .57** se’* .60+’ ho** ho”
.71** .72” .72” .73** .74** .74” .75”
R’
Pleasure
.oo .Ol .Ol .02 .oo .oo
.Ol .oo .Ol .Ol .Ml .Ol
Adaptability R’ Chanae
Fothers’
Ratings
.65** .65*’ .66” .66** .66” .66” .66‘S
.73** .75** .75**
.t%” .69*’ .72” .73”
R’
Across
.oo .oo
.oo .oo
.oo .Ol
.03’ .03’ .Ol .oo .02 .w
Mood Rr Change
Easy/Difficult
.09” .20” .23* .23’ .23* .27 .30
.30** 33” .35** .39” .39” .42”
.ll’f
R’
.oo .ca .04+ .03
.11** .03
.19” .03 .02 .04+ .oo .03
Intensity R’ Change
Dimensions
PARENTAL
REACTIONS
195
DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to extend previous research related to the definition, from a parental perspective, of young children’s temperamental easiness/ difficultness. Previously, Hubert and Wachs (1985) used an open response Procedure in which clear support was obtained for the importance of the NYU dimensions of Mood and Adaptability. The relative importance of the remaining easy/difficult dimensions (Rhythmicity, Approach, and Intensity) was unclear because child behaviors relevant to these dimensions may be less readily recalled and articulated by parents when a free-response procedure is used. The current study addressed this methodological issue when parents were asked to respond to specific behaviors representing all five easy/difficult dimensions. The results are informative in several respects. First, the importance of children’s Mood and Adaptability, to both mothers and fathers, is clear and corroborates previous findings. The lack of significant differences between mothers and fathers, across all categories, is also consistent with prior work. Second, when parents are explicitly requested to respond to their child’s Rhythmicity and Approach behaviors, moderately high correlations are obtained between behavioral ratings and parents’ pleasure/displeasure. These findings are in contrast to those obtained by Hubert and Wachs (1985) and suggest that these differences may be attributable to the methodology used to elicit parental reactions. Third, although statistically significant correlations were obtained between frequency and pleasure ratings for Intensity, these correlations are of low magnitude and are significantly lower than those obtained for other categories. This may be due to the fact that the behavioral items on the Intensity scale include children’s reactions that are both positive and negative. Thus, parents may be pleased with intense positive reactions (e.g., “The child is easily excited by praise”) but not so for intense negative reactions (e.g., “The child shows much bodily movement when upset or crying”), such that the overall low correlation reflects these opposing responses. These findings are also consistent with previous research in which Intensity does not emerge as a particularly salient aspect of easiness/difficultness (e.g., Stevenson-Hinde & Simpson, 1982; Thomas et al., 1968). Several investigators have suggested that the definition of difficultness is likely to change with development (e.g., Carey dc McDevitt, 1978; Plomin, 1983), however few studies have addressed this issue empirically. By the same token, questions about whether the definition of easiness/difficultness varies as a function of child characteristics, such as gender or birth order, have been neglected. Results of this study suggest that the temperament dimensions that are relevant to parents’ perspective on easiness/difficultness are not different, overall, across the child characteristics of age, birth order, and gender, as defined in this study. That is, the predominantly nonsignificant interaction terms in the regression analyses indicate that the relationships between temperament ratings and Parental pleasure are not different under different child
196
HUBERT
characteristic conditions. In other words, child characteristics generally do not moderate the relationship between the frequency of specific behaviors perceived by parents and parents’ subjective responses. It is worth noting, however, that two of the six interaction terms involving children’s Approach behavior were significant. That is, increasing frequency of Approach was more strongly associated with pleasure for mothers of 6-montholds compared with those of 24-month-olds. Although the reason for this is unclear, it may be that mothers of 24-month-olds are wary of their toddlers’ ready approach toward strangers, whereas this is not the case for mothers of 6-month-olds (half of the items at each age involved approach toward strangers). The second significant interaction indicated that child gender moderated the relationship between Approach ratings and fathers’ reported pleasure with these behaviors. That is, a stronger association was found for fathers of boys versus girls. This suggests that fathers of young girls may not view their relatively low Approach as contributing to difficultness as might be the case in boys. This finding is generally consistent with studies reporting fathers’ differential perceptions of and behavior toward their sons versus daughters (e.g., Parke & Sawin, 1980; Rubin, Provenzano, & Luria, 1974). Although the focus of this study was on moderating variables that might interact with parental perceptions to affect parents’ subjective reactions to their children’s behavior, several main effects for child classification variables were found. Most frequently, child Age was significant. For mothers, child age alone accounted for additional variance in pleasure rating (after that accounted for by temperament rating) for the dimensions of Rhythmicity, Mood, and Intensity. These findings indicate that mothers of 6-month-olds express significantly greater pleasure with their child’s Rhythmicity, Mood, and Intensity compared with mothers of 24-month-olds, independently of the direction or magnitude of these behaviors. The same effect was obtained for fathers for Intensity. In the case of birth order, mothers of later-borns expressed significantly greater pleasure than mothers of firstborns with their child’s Rhythmicity and Mood. This overall pattern of results for mothers versus fathers suggests that mothers are generally more reactive to the context in which they observe their child’s behavior-context specifically in terms of the developmental stage of the child and the mother’s previous experience with parenting.
REFERENCES Bacon, M.K., & Ashmore, R.D. (1985). How mothers and fathers categorize descriptions of social behavior attributed to daughters and sons. Social Cognition, 3, 193-217. Baron, R.M., & Kenny, D.A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182. Bates, J.E., 8c Bayles, K. (1984). Objective and subjective components in mothers’ perceptions of their children from age 6 months to 3 years. Merrill-Pulmer Quarterly, 30, 11l-130.
PARENTAL
Bates,
REACTIONS
197
Freeland, C., & Lounsbury, M. (1979). Measurement of infant difficultness. Child& velopment, SO, 794-803. Bates, J., Olsen, S., Pettit, G., & Bayles, K. (1982). Dimensions of individuality in the motherinfant relationshp at six months of age. Child Development, 53, 446-461. Carey, W.B., & McDevitt, SC. (1978). Revision of the Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Pediatrics, 61, 735-739. Caron, J., & Miller, P. (1981, April). Effects of infanr characferisfics on caretaker fesponsivefless among [he Gusii. Paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Boston. Cohen, J., &Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysisfor the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Crockenberg, S.B. (1986). Are temperamental differences in babies associated with predictable differences in caregiving? In J.V. Lerner & R.M. Lerner (Eds.), Temperamenf and social interaction in infants and children: Vol. 31, New directions for child development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Crockenberg, S., & Smith, P. (1982). Antecedents of mother-infant interaction and infant irritability in the first three months of life. Infanr Behavior and Developmenf, 5, 105-l 19. Daniels, D., Plomin, R., & Greenhalgh, J. (1984). Correlates of difficult temperament in infancy. Child Development, 55, 1184- 1194. Dunn, J., & Kendrick, C. (1980). Studying temperament and parent-child interaction: Comparison of interview and direct observation. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 22, 484-496. Fish, M., & Crockenberg, S. (1981). Correlates and antecedents of nine-month infant behavior and mother-infant interaction. Infant Behavior and Development, 4, 69-81. Fullard, W., McDevitt, S.C., & Carey, W.B. (1978). The Toddler Temperament Scale. Unpublished manuscript, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA. Hubert, N.C., & Wachs, T.D. (1985). Parental perceptions of the behavioral components of infant easiness/difficultness. Child Development, 56, 1525-1537. Kelly, P. (1976). The relation of infant’s temperament and mother’s psychopathology to interactions in early infancy. In K.F. Riegel & J.A. Meacham @ds.), The developing individual in a changing world. Chicago: Aldine. Lee, C.L., & Bates, J.E. (1985). Mother-child interaction at age two years and perceived difficult temperament. Child Development, 56, 1314-1325. Matheny, A.P., Jr., Wilson, R.S., & Nuss, S.M. (1984). Toddler temperament: Stability across settings and over ages. Child Development, 55, 1200-1211. Matheny, A.P., Wilson, R.S., & Thoben, A.S. (1987). Home and mother: Relations with infant temperament. Developmental Psychology, 23, 323-331. Milliones, J. (1978). Relationship between perceived child temperament and maternal behaviors. Child Development, 49, 1255-1257. Parke, R.D., & Sawin, D.B. (1980). The family in early infancy: Social interactional and attitudinal analyses. In F.A. Pedersen (Ed.), The father-infant relationship: Observational studies in a famiIy context. New York: Praeger. Persson-Blennow, I., & McNeil, T.F. (1982). Factor analysis of temperament characteristics in children at 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years of age. British JournalofEducationalPsychology, J.,
52, 51-57.
Peters-Martin, P., & Wachs, T.D. (1984). A longitudinal study of temperament and its correlates in the first 24 months. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 285-298. Plomin, R. (1983). Childhood temperament. In B. Lahey &A. Kazdin (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 6). New York: Plenum. Rubin, J., Provenzano, F., & Luria, Z. (1974). The eye of the beholder: Parents’ views of sex of newborns. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 43, 720-731. Sameroff, A.J., Seifer, R., & Elias, P.K. (1982). Sociocultural variability in infant temperament ratings. Child Development, 53, 164-173.
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Steiger, J.H. (1980). Testing for comparing elements of a correlation matrix. Psychological lelin,
Bul-
87, 245-251.
Stevenson-Hinde, J., & Simpson, A.E. (1982). Temperament and relationships. In R. Porter & G.M. Collins (Eds.), Temperumenf differences in infants and young children (Ciba Foundation Symposium 89). London: Pitman. Thomas, A., & Chess, S. (1977). Temperament and development. New York: Brunner/Mazel. Thomas, A., Chess, S., & Birch, H. (1968). Temperament and behavior disorders in children. New York: New York University Press. Thomas, A., Chess, S., Birch, H., Hertz& M.E., & Kern, S. (1963). Behavioral individualify in early childhood. New York: New York University Press. 23 September
1988;
Revised
4 January
1989
n
BEHAVIOR
AND
DEVELOPMENT
12,
185-198
(1989)
Parental Subjective Reactions to Perceived Temperament Behavior in Their 6- and 24-Month-Old Children NANCY C. HUBERT University
of Alabama
at Birmingham
Parents’ subjective reactions to specific temperament-related behaviors perceived in their young children were ossessed in this study as a means of obtaining a parental perspective on the definition of easiness/difficultness. Mothers and fathers of 60 children, either 6 or 24 months old, completed a standardized temperament questionnaire and, subsequently, a follow-up questionnaire that requested ratings of how pleasing they found specific behaviors representing the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS) easy/difficult dimensions. The highest correlations between temperoment rotings and pleasure ratings, for both mothers and fathers, were obtained for Mood and Adaptobility. indicating the significance of these dimensions for parents. Exomination of the possible moderating effects of child classification variables (age, birth order, ond gender) on these relationships indicated thot. in general, correlations between temperament and pleasure ratings ore not different under different child conditions. The implications of these results for the construct of easiness/difficultness ore discussed.
parental
reactions
temperament
children
The notion of temperamental easiness/difficultness was initially defined by Thomas and his colleagues in the New York Longitudinal Study (NYLS; Thomas, Chess, & Birch, 1968; Thomas, Chess, Birch, Hertzig, & Korn, 1963) and has served as the basis for much subsequent research. The NYLS group proposed the following behavioral dimensions to define this construct: Rhythmicity in Biological Functions, Approach/Withdrawal to Novel Stimuli, Adaptability, Quality of Mood, and Intensity of Reactions. Clinical observation suggested to Thomas and his colleagues that “easy children” are characterized by relatively high Rhythmicity, Approach and Adaptability, predominantly positive Mood, and mild Intensity of Reactions, whereas “difficult children” typically display the opposite characteristics. This research was funded by an intramural grant obtained by the author from the Research and Education Institute at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. I am grateful to Linda Philpott who assisted in data collection and Robert Herrick who provided statistical consultation. Special thanks are extended to the parents who participated in this project. Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Nancy C. Hubert, SparksCenter, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1720 7th Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233. 185
186
HUBERT
The construct of easiness/difficultness has been central to much of the research investigating relations between temperament and parental behavior as well as child outcomes (e.g., Kelly, 1976; Lee & Bates, 1985; Milliones, 1978; Thomas & Chess, 1977). The research literature investigating easiness/difficultness is based on the general hypothesis that difficult children will elicit different behaviors from their caretakers than easy children. Studies investigating this hypothesis have resulted in inconsistent findings, however (see Crockenberg, 1986, for a review). Some studies have indicated a relationship between parent-reported difficult temperament and less responsive caregiving (e.g., Dunn & Kendrick, 1980; Kelly, 1976; Milliones, 1978; Peters-Martin & Wachs, 1984), but others have reported that mothers who perceive their infants as difficult are more engaged with their children (e.g., Bates, Olson, Pettit, & Bayles, 1982; Caron & Miller, 1981; Crockenberg & Smith, 1982; Fish & Crockenberg, 1981). Several factors may contribute to this mixed pattern of results. One possibility is that those behaviors that have been regarded as easy or difficult by investigators may not be regarded as such by parents and, consequently, may not predict parenting responses. Previous research has relied on definitions of child easiness/difficultness that are based on parents’ objective descriptions of their child’s behavior (e.g., Thomas & Chess, 1977) as opposed to a direct assessment of those characteristics that parents believe contribute to easiness/ difficultness. The empirical question about which behaviors or characteristics parents use to define easy/difficult temperament in their children has remained largely unexplored. In response to this gap in the research literature, Hubert and Wachs (1985) studied parental beliefs about the behavioral components of easiness/difficultness in 6- and 13-month-old infants. First, parents were asked to rate independently their child’s overall behavior with regard to easiness/difficultness. They were then requested to provide a written list of their child’s behaviors or characteristics which they believed contributed to their perception of their child’s easiness/difficultness. A free-response procedure was used so that parents’ responses would not be constrained by investigators’ a priori notions about those behaviors and characteristics that are important to parents. A content analysis of freely generated responses from parents indicated that the NYLS dimensions of Mood and Adaptability were central to mothers’ as well as fathers’ definition of infant easiness/difficultness. These results are generally consistent with factor analytic studies of the nine NYLS dimensions, in which factors representing Mood and Adaptability emerge most strongly and consistently (Daniels, Plomin, & GreenhaIgh, 1984; Matheny, Wilson, & Nuss, 1984; Matheny, Wilson, & Thoben, 1987; Persson-Blennow & McNeil, 1982; Stevenson-Hinde & Simpson, 1982). Hubert and Wachs did not obtain support from parents for the importance of behaviors representing Rhythmicity, Approach/Withdrawal, or Intensity of Reactions. This may have resulted from parents’ inability to cognitively retrieve and describe behaviors representing these dimensions within the con-
PARENTAL
REACTIONS
187
text of a free-response procedure. For example, if a parent were to describe their child’s Intensity Level with respect to Mood, they would need to refer not only to the quality of the child’s mood on a positive-negative dimension, but also to the intensity of its expression (e.g., “cries loudly”). Thus, while Intensity may be important to parents, the relatively high level of behavioral description required of subjects to endorse this category within the context of a free-response procedure, may have resulted in relatively few responses. Further investigation of parents’ subjective responses to behavior across all five NYLS easy/difficult dimensions is therefore needed, using a procedure that does not rely on parents’ ability to spontaneously generate relevant responses. The current study was designed for this purpose. That is, parents’ subjective reactions to their young children’s behaviors representing the five NYLS easy/ difficult dimensions were assessed. This study, like that of Hubert and Wachs’ (1985), is based on the premise that the direct assessment of parents’ reactions will help to define, or redefine, temperamental easiness/difficultness in a manner congruent with the perceptions and experiences of parents. Defined as such, the construct of easiness/difficultness may prove to be more ecologically valid and thus may provide a critical link between early child behavior and parents’ behavioral responses. In this study, a parental perspective on easiness/difficultness was sought by asking mothers and fathers to provide evaluative responses to specific behaviors perceived in their 6- or 24-month-old children. Specifically, parents were asked to rate their pleasure/displeasure with their child’s temperament behaviors. An evaluative response, such as pleasure/displeasure, was sought because previous research has indicated that parents have a strong tendency to respond to social behavior in children along an evaluative continuum (e.g., Bacon & Ashmore, 1985). It was hypothesized, based on the Hubert and Wachs data, that the parent-reported frequency of behaviors related to Mood and Adaptability would be highly correlated with parents’ evaluative responses to these behaviors in terms of pleasure/displeasure. Also based on the Hubert and Wachs study, significant differences in these relationships were not expected when mothers were compared with fathers. The question remains open, however, as to whether, for one or more of the remaining three easy/diffic& dimensions, significant relationships between perceived child behavior and parental pleasure/displeasure will be found. A second objective of this study was to examine several classification variables that may moderate the relationships between parents’ perception of their children’s behavior and parents’ pleasure/displeasure ratings. That is, the behavioral components of easiness/difficultness may vary as a function of such variables as the child’s age, birth order, or gender. Parents of toddlers, for example, might find high Intensity in their children’s reactions more problematic than parents of infants because toddlers are more likely to express their emotions physically as well as verbaily. Birth order of the child may also be a moderating variable because more experienced parents may have a different
188
HUBERT
TABLE Sample
N by Child
Age,
1
Gender,
and
Birth
Order
6-Month-Olds Males Firstborn Later-born
0 11
24-Month-Olds Females 11 2
Males 0 7
Females 9 4
perspective on behavioral easiness/difficultness compared with first-time parents. Some previous studies have reported small but significant relationships between birth order and parents’ perceptions of difficultness (e.g., Bates, Freeland, & Lounsbury, 1979; Sameroff, Seifer, & Elias, 1982), whereas others have reported no effect (e.g., Persson-Blennow & McNeil, 1982). Finally, Child gender may serve as a potential moderating variable; however, the general absence of significant findings with respect to gender in the temperament literature (e.g., Bates & Bayles, 1984; Carey & McDevitt, 1978) suggested that this variable would not play a significant moderating role. METHOD Subjects Subjects were mothers and fathers of 60 children who were 6 or 24 months of age. Subjects participated within a 2-week period, either before or after their child’s monthly birthdate. Parents of 6- and 24month-olds were chosen because previous studies on temperament have frequently investigated these populations and because standardized temperament questionnaires have been developed, based on the NYLS, for these ages. Names of parents were obtained from birth records published in the local newspaper. A letter requesting participation was sent to parents whose infants were in either age group. This was followed by a phone call to identify interested parents and to schedule an appointment. Only those families in which both parents were available to participate were included. Fifty-five percent of the children with participating parents were 6month-olds, 48% were female, and 57% were firstborn. Sample Ns by age, sex, and birth order are presented in Table 1. Mothers ranged in age from 22 to 38 years (M= 31 years) with 12 to 22 years of education (M= 15 years). Fathers ranged in age from 23 to 45 years (M= 34 years) and in education level from 12 to 22 years (it4= 16 years). Fathers were significantly more educated than mothers. All fathers were employed outside the home. Twenty-four percent of mothers indicated an occupation of housewife or mother, and 76% indicated at least part-time work outside the home. Procedure Subjects were visited in their home by an experimenter. After basic demographic data were obtained, parents were requested to provide a rating of their child’s
PARENTAL
TABLE Test-Retest
and
Internal
189
REACTIONS
2
Consistency Estimates far Easy/Difficult on the RITQ and TTS
Dimension
Scares
TTSb
RITQ’ Easy/Difficult Rhythmicity Approach Adaptability Mood Intensity
Dimension
Retest .75 .77 .74 .81 .&5
Note Internal consistency was estimated ’ Estimates obtained by Carey 8 McDevitt b Estimates obtained by Fullard, McDevitt,
r
Retest
a .65
.81 .89
.71 .57 .53 .56 using Cronbach’s (1978). 8 Carey (1984).
r
CY .72 .85 .53
.76 .a7
.b3
.71
.67
alpha.
overall easiness/difficultness ranging from 1 (easy) to 7 (difficult) over the past month. Parents were then asked to complete, independently of one another, two questionnaires: an age-appropriate standardized temperament measure and a questionnaire that assessed parental attributions for specific child behaviors relevant to the NYLS construct of easiness/difficultness. Measures Revised Infant Temperament Questionnaire (RITQ). The RITQ (Carey & McDevitt, 1978) is a parent-report measure of temperament characteristics in children 4 to 8 months of age. It was administered to the parents of 6-monthold children in this study. The RITQ assessesthe nine temperament dimensions delineated in the NYLS (Thomas et al., 1968; Thomas et al., 1963), including Rhythmicity, Approach/Withdrawal, Adaptability, Mood, Intensity, Activity Level, Distractibility, Attention Span/Persistence, and Threshold of Responsiveness-the first five of which are believed to contribute to infants’ easiness/ difficultness. This 95item questionnaire used 6-point rating scales to measure parents’ perceptions of the frequency with which specific temperament behaviors are observed in their children (ranging from “almost never” to “almost always”). Test-retest reliability estimates, over approximately 1 month, for easy/difficult dimension scores on both the infant and toddler temperament questionnaires are presented in Table 2. Internal consistency estimates for both measures are also presented in Table 2. Toddler Temperament Scale (TTS). The TT’S (Fullard, McDevitt, & Carey, 1984) is a parent-report measure of temperament in l- to 3-year-old children which was administered to the parents of 24-month-olds. It is similar in content and format to the RITQ. Ninety-seven items representing the nine NYLS dimensions are rated on the same 6-point frequency rating scales as for the RITQ. Parental perceptions of toddlers’ behavior are measured with respect to
190
HUBERT
similar situations (e.g., feeding, dressing, bath, play) as those sampled on the RITQ. Test-retest reliability estimates and internal consistency values are found in Table 2. Parental Attributions Questionnaire. This questionnaire was developed for this study as a means of assessing parents’ causal explanations, or attributions, for their reported easy/difficult behavior in their children. Specifically, a subset of 30 items from the RITQ or TTS was presented again to each parent along with his or her temperament rating.’ This was done when the experimenter indicated, on the parent attribution questionnaire, the parent’s response to each of 30 items as he/she had answered on the RITQ or TSS. Immediately following each of the 30 items was a 4-point pleasure/displeasure rating scale, ranging from “agree very much” to “disagree very much” with the statement “This behavior in my child pleases me.” The data from this questionnaire that assessed parental reactions thus consisted of 30 pleasure/displeasure ratings that were responses to each of 30 specific behavioral ratings made by the parent on either the RITQ or the TTS. The actual temperament items included on the attribution questionnaire varied slightly in content for 6- versus 24-month-old groups because they were taken from the RITQ and TTS, respectively. To minimize potential differences between age groups, items representing similar or identical behavioral content and situations were selected from the RITQ and TTS for inclusion on the attribution questionnaires. For example, the RITQ and TTS Rhythmicity item “The infant/child gets sleepy at about the same time each evening (within % hour)” was included on the questionnaire for both age groups. An attempt was also made to include items that sample children’s behavior across a range of situations, such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and dressing. The six items in each of the five easy/difficult categories were balanced in terms of direct versus reverse-scored items. That is, three of the temperament items representing each category were stated such that a high behavioral frequency rating was consistent with relative difficultness, as conceptualized in the NYLS, whereas for the remaining three items, a low frequency rating suggested difficultness. RESULTS Relationships Between Temperament Ratings and Parental Subjective Responses Means and standard deviations for mothers’ and fathers’ mean temperament ratings and mean pleasure ratings (each calculated for six items per category ’ The length of time required to complete the follow-up questionnaire and the total number of ratings requested of subjects did not allow for the assessment of parental reactions to each RITQ or TTS item (95 and 97 items, respectively).
PARENTAL
TABLE Means
and
Standard
Deviations by Category,
for
Temperament Cateaorv Rhythmicity Approach Adaptability Mood Intensity
Note. 0 Low b Low
Values values values
Rhythmicity Approach Adaptability Mood Intensity + p<
and
l
and
Pleasure
Pleasure
Ratingsa
Ratings,
Ratingsb
Mothers
Fathers
2.50 (0.83) 2.71 (1.15) 2.40 (0.90) 2.73 (0.86) 3.80 (0.68)
2.16 (0.79) 2.86 (1.08) 2.53 (0.83)
1.61 (0.45) 1.56 (0.44) 1.57 (0.47) 1.72
1.78 (0.49)
2.07 (0.73) 3.52 (0.64) are standard deviations. ratings consistent with ratings of high pleasure
Temperament Temperament
(0.60) 1.75
$0) 1.65 (0.47) 1.79 (0.56) 1.78
(0.52)
(0.44)
easiness as defined in the NYLS. with perceived child behavior.
TABLE 4 Rating Means and Pleasure Rating Means Dimension for Mothers and Fathers Mothers .53*** .66*** &I**+ .81 l ** .31*
.05.
Ratings Fathers
Fathers
in parentheses indicate parental indicate parental
Dimension
3
Temperament for Mothers
Mothers
Correlations Between by Easy/Difficult Easy/Difficult
191
REACTIONS
Fathers .69”’ .65”* .75f” .g1*** .31 l
** p<.OOl.
found on the attribution questionnaire) are presented in Table 3. Overall, the parents in this sample described their children in relatively positive terms with regard to behavior and their own subjective responses to this behavior. To investigate relations between temperament ratings and pleasure responses, bivariate correlations were calculated for the means of each of the five temperament dimensions. That is, for each dimension, subjects’ mean temperament rating was correlated with their mean pleasure rating. Correlations were computed separately for mothers and fathers because of the lack of independence of data from these two groups. These correlations are presented in Table 4. All correlations were statistically significant in the expected direction. High pleasure ratings were associated with relatively high degrees of Rhythmicity, Approach, Adaptability, and positive Mood, but low Intensity. However, a
192
HUBERT
wide range in the magnitude of correlations across dimensions was found. For both mothers and fathers, correlations involving Mood and Adaptability were highest, thereby supporting the study hypothesis. To evaluate whether the correlations for these categories were significantly higher than those of the remaining categories, analyses suggested by Steiger (1980) for testing the significance of the differences between dependent correlation coefficients were performed. For mothers, the correlations for both Adaptability and Mood were significantly higher (z for Mood = 1.86, pc .05) than for Approach, the next highest category. For fathers, although the correlations for Mood and Adaptability were highest, these were not significantly different from those for either Rhythmicity or Approach. A significant difference was obtained, however, between Mood and Adaptability, and Intensity (z= 3.50, p< .OOl for Mood; z = 3.77, p< .OOl for Adaptability). Similar analyses were conducted to examine the significance of the differences between correlations obtained for mothers versus fathers. The z value associated with each temperament dimension was not significant, thereby indicating a similar pattern, between mothers and fathers, in the relationships between parental perceptions of their child’s behavior and pleasure ratings. Moderators of Relationships Between Temperament Ratings and Subjective Reactions The analyses reported in this section address the second objective of this study, which was to investigate the possibility that one or more child classification variables (age, birth order, or gender) may moderate the relationships between parent-rated temperament behaviors and parents’ pleasure ratings. That is, different relationships between parents’ perceptions of the frequency of specific behaviors and parents’ pleasure ratings may be observed for 6- versus 24-month-olds, first- versus later-borns, or males versus females. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to investigate this question. The inclusion of interaction terms between temperament rating mean and each classification variable addressed the question of the presence of moderator effects (Baron & Kenny, 1986; Cohen & Cohen, 1983). That is, do parental reactions to their children’s easy/difficult behavior vary under different conditions of child age (6- vs. 24-month-olds), birth order (first- vs. later-born) or gender? Analyses were conducted separately for each of the five temperament dimensions. Mothers’ and fathers’ data were also analyzed separately. The criterion variable in each analysis was subjects’ mean pleasure rating, and predictor variables were entered in the following order: mean temperament rating, child age, birth order, gender, and the three corresponding interaction terms. Mean temperament rating was entered first as was necessary to address the question of whether subsequently considered moderator variables had a significant influence on the relationship between this rating and the mean pleasure rating. As suggested by Cohen and Cohen (1983), the remaining variables were ordered
PARENTAL
REACTIONS
193
on the basis of their expected relevance to the criterion variable. Based on the previous discussion of each of these classification variables, it was expected that child age would have the greatest effect on pleasure ratings, followed by birth order and gender. The entry of these variables and their interaction terms was thus ordered according to their expected theoretical relevance. The results of the regression analyses are presented in Table 5. For each regression system, the mean temperament rating was significantly correlated with the criterion, as was indicated in the bivariate correlations. For each of the temperament dimensions except Intensity, the mean temperament ratings accounted for the greatest amount of variance, among all predictors, in mean pleasure ratings. In the case of Intensity, child age accounted for more variance in pleasure responses of both mothers and fathers than did the mean temperament ratings. This finding indicates that parents’ pleasure ratings, in response to their child’s Intensity level, are more strongly related to the child’s age than to his or her observed behavior. The results in Table 5 also indicate that consideration of child classification variables in some cases significantly increases the amount of variance found in pleasure ratings after the effects of the child’s reported temperament behavior have been taken into account. This is particularly the case for mothers. Specifically, child age and subsequently the child’s birth order each account for additional variance in mothers’ pleasure ratings for the categories of Rhythmicity and Mood. After temperament ratings have been taken into account, mothers of 6-month-olds express greater pleasure with their child’s Rhythmicity and Mood than mothers of 2Cmonth-olds. With respect to birth order, mothers of later-borns report greater pleasure with Rhythmicity and Mood than mothers of firstborns. In addition, child age made a significant contribution to pleasure ratings related to Intensity for both mothers and fathers. In both groups, higher pleasure ratings were obtained for 6-month-olds compared with 24-month-olds. Investigation of potential moderating effects of one or more child classification variables resulted in two significant interaction terms for mothers. Child age moderated the relationship between mothers’ reports of approach/withdrawal behavior and their pleasure with these behaviors in their children. Specifically, increasing frequency of Approach behavior was more strongly associated with pleasure in mothers of 6-month-olds compared with 24-montholds. Birth order moderated the relationship between mothers’ perception of their children’s Mood and mothers’ pleasure responses. Displeasure was more strongly associated with increasing negativity in Mood among mothers of firstborn versus later-born children. One interaction term was significant for fathers, indicating the moderating effect of child gender on the relationship between fathers’ behavioral frequency ratings and pleasure ratings. Specietally, increasing Approach was associated with greater pleasure in boys compared with girls.
gender
Tm XChild
l
p<.o5.
rating
rating
Multiple
** pc.01.
Mean temperament Child age Birth order Child gender Tm XChild age Tm X Birth order Tm XChild gender
Fathers
age order
Tm XChild Tm X Birth
Mothers Mean temperament Child age Birth order Child gender
Predictors
Hierarchical
+ p<.lO.
(Tm)
(Tm)
.48” .40** .40** .50” .50** .50** .53**
.2v* x3** .46*’ .47** .47** .47** .49”
Rr
Regression
.oo .oo .02 .oo .oo 33’
.OS .13** .Ol St0 .oo .02
.42** .45” .45” .45”’ .47” .40** .52”
.43f’ .45** .45** .45” .54** .55** .56’*
Rz
of Predictors
Rhythmicity R’ Chanae
Analyses
TABLE Mothers’
.03+ .oo .oo .02 .Ol .04’
.02 a0 .oo .09** .Ol .Ol
Approach R2 Chanae
for
5 and
.56** .56*’ .57** se’* .60+’ ho** ho”
.71** .72” .72” .73** .74** .74” .75”
R’
Pleasure
.oo .Ol .Ol .02 .oo .oo
.Ol .oo .Ol .Ol .Ml .Ol
Adaptability R’ Chanae
Fothers’
Ratings
.65** .65*’ .66” .66** .66” .66” .66‘S
.73** .75** .75**
.t%” .69*’ .72” .73”
R’
Across
.oo .oo
.oo .oo
.oo .Ol
.03’ .03’ .Ol .oo .02 .w
Mood Rr Change
Easy/Difficult
.09” .20” .23* .23’ .23* .27 .30
.30** 33” .35** .39” .39” .42”
.ll’f
R’
.oo .ca .04+ .03
.11** .03
.19” .03 .02 .04+ .oo .03
Intensity R’ Change
Dimensions
PARENTAL
REACTIONS
195
DISCUSSION The purpose of this study was to extend previous research related to the definition, from a parental perspective, of young children’s temperamental easiness/ difficultness. Previously, Hubert and Wachs (1985) used an open response Procedure in which clear support was obtained for the importance of the NYU dimensions of Mood and Adaptability. The relative importance of the remaining easy/difficult dimensions (Rhythmicity, Approach, and Intensity) was unclear because child behaviors relevant to these dimensions may be less readily recalled and articulated by parents when a free-response procedure is used. The current study addressed this methodological issue when parents were asked to respond to specific behaviors representing all five easy/difficult dimensions. The results are informative in several respects. First, the importance of children’s Mood and Adaptability, to both mothers and fathers, is clear and corroborates previous findings. The lack of significant differences between mothers and fathers, across all categories, is also consistent with prior work. Second, when parents are explicitly requested to respond to their child’s Rhythmicity and Approach behaviors, moderately high correlations are obtained between behavioral ratings and parents’ pleasure/displeasure. These findings are in contrast to those obtained by Hubert and Wachs (1985) and suggest that these differences may be attributable to the methodology used to elicit parental reactions. Third, although statistically significant correlations were obtained between frequency and pleasure ratings for Intensity, these correlations are of low magnitude and are significantly lower than those obtained for other categories. This may be due to the fact that the behavioral items on the Intensity scale include children’s reactions that are both positive and negative. Thus, parents may be pleased with intense positive reactions (e.g., “The child is easily excited by praise”) but not so for intense negative reactions (e.g., “The child shows much bodily movement when upset or crying”), such that the overall low correlation reflects these opposing responses. These findings are also consistent with previous research in which Intensity does not emerge as a particularly salient aspect of easiness/difficultness (e.g., Stevenson-Hinde & Simpson, 1982; Thomas et al., 1968). Several investigators have suggested that the definition of difficultness is likely to change with development (e.g., Carey dc McDevitt, 1978; Plomin, 1983), however few studies have addressed this issue empirically. By the same token, questions about whether the definition of easiness/difficultness varies as a function of child characteristics, such as gender or birth order, have been neglected. Results of this study suggest that the temperament dimensions that are relevant to parents’ perspective on easiness/difficultness are not different, overall, across the child characteristics of age, birth order, and gender, as defined in this study. That is, the predominantly nonsignificant interaction terms in the regression analyses indicate that the relationships between temperament ratings and Parental pleasure are not different under different child
196
HUBERT
characteristic conditions. In other words, child characteristics generally do not moderate the relationship between the frequency of specific behaviors perceived by parents and parents’ subjective responses. It is worth noting, however, that two of the six interaction terms involving children’s Approach behavior were significant. That is, increasing frequency of Approach was more strongly associated with pleasure for mothers of 6-montholds compared with those of 24-month-olds. Although the reason for this is unclear, it may be that mothers of 24-month-olds are wary of their toddlers’ ready approach toward strangers, whereas this is not the case for mothers of 6-month-olds (half of the items at each age involved approach toward strangers). The second significant interaction indicated that child gender moderated the relationship between Approach ratings and fathers’ reported pleasure with these behaviors. That is, a stronger association was found for fathers of boys versus girls. This suggests that fathers of young girls may not view their relatively low Approach as contributing to difficultness as might be the case in boys. This finding is generally consistent with studies reporting fathers’ differential perceptions of and behavior toward their sons versus daughters (e.g., Parke & Sawin, 1980; Rubin, Provenzano, & Luria, 1974). Although the focus of this study was on moderating variables that might interact with parental perceptions to affect parents’ subjective reactions to their children’s behavior, several main effects for child classification variables were found. Most frequently, child Age was significant. For mothers, child age alone accounted for additional variance in pleasure rating (after that accounted for by temperament rating) for the dimensions of Rhythmicity, Mood, and Intensity. These findings indicate that mothers of 6-month-olds express significantly greater pleasure with their child’s Rhythmicity, Mood, and Intensity compared with mothers of 24-month-olds, independently of the direction or magnitude of these behaviors. The same effect was obtained for fathers for Intensity. In the case of birth order, mothers of later-borns expressed significantly greater pleasure than mothers of firstborns with their child’s Rhythmicity and Mood. This overall pattern of results for mothers versus fathers suggests that mothers are generally more reactive to the context in which they observe their child’s behavior-context specifically in terms of the developmental stage of the child and the mother’s previous experience with parenting.
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