Appraisals of child behavior by mothers of problem and nonproblem toddlers

• Published in: Journal of abnormal child psychology 1998-08, Vol.26 (4), p.247-255
• Main Authors: KENDZIORA, K. T, O'LEARY, S. G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Appraisal; Attention; Behavior; Behavior Problems; Behavioural problems; Bias; Biological and medical sciences; Child Behavior; Child Behavior Disorders - classification; Child Behavior Disorders - diagnosis; Child Behavior Disorders - psychology; Child Development; Child psychology; Child Rearing; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Family environment. Family history; Female; Generalization; Humans; Infant; Information Processing; Internal-External Control; Male; Medical sciences; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Mothers - psychology; Parents; Personality Assessment; Preschool children; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Research Design; Social Adjustment; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Socialization; Toddlers; Video Technology; Videotape Recording; Young Children
• ISSN: 0091-0627; 2730-7166; 1573-2835; 2730-7174
• DOI: 10.1023/A:1022650316551

Mothers of problem and nonproblem toddlers rated videotapes of their own and unfamiliar children's behavior. They classified the behaviors as positive, negative, or neutral, and evaluated the intensity of the positive or negative behaviors. Ratings did not differ by problem status; however, all mothers classified their own children's behavior as less negative than did an independent observer. Mothers also evaluated all children's negative behavior as less aversive than did the observer. Finally, mothers "mistakenly" classified less of their own children's behavior as negative and more as positive when compared to their biases in classifying unfamiliar children's behavior.