What mothers say and what they do: The relation between parenting, theory of mind, language and conflict/cooperation

We used a longitudinal study with 55 middle‐ and upper middle‐class children to investigate the relation between early mother characteristics (e.g. mental state talk, general parenting style) and later child characteristics (e.g. theory of mind, conflict/cooperation). Children were tested once when...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of developmental psychology 2006-03, Vol.24 (1), p.105-124
Main Authors: Ruffman, Ted, Slade, Lance, Devitt, Kerry, Crowe, Elena
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Affective Behavior
Age Differences
Beliefs
Child development
Child psychology
Child Rearing
Cognitive Development
Conflict
Conflict theory
Cooperation
Correlation
Developmental Psychology
Early motherhood
Economic Status
Emotions
Individual Characteristics
Individual Differences
Interpersonal Competence
Interpersonal Relationship
Language use
Logical Thinking
Longitudinal Studies
Moral Development
Mother-Child communication
Mothers
Parent Child Relationship
Parent-child relations
Parenting style
Parenting Styles
Parents
Theory of Mind
Young children
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Summary:We used a longitudinal study with 55 middle‐ and upper middle‐class children to investigate the relation between early mother characteristics (e.g. mental state talk, general parenting style) and later child characteristics (e.g. theory of mind, conflict/cooperation). Children were tested once when they were around 3 years and then again around 4 years. At each time point, children were given a task in which mothers helped the child and a friend draw items with a drawing toy. We examined 2 measures of child theory of mind (task performance and mental state talk), and 4 measures of conflict/cooperation. Early mother mental state talk was uniquely related to both later theory of mind measures and 2 of 4 later conflict/cooperation measures. Mother parenting style (warmth) was uniquely related only to 1 later child conflict/cooperation measure. Child theory of mind was not related to any child conflict/cooperation measures. Thus, it seems to be only what mothers say (their mental state talk) that relates to child theory of mind, and both what they say and what they do (their warmth) that relates to child conflict/cooperation.
ISSN:0261-510X
2044-835X
DOI:10.1348/026151005X82848