Aim: We studied the effects of early mother-child relationship quality and child temperament on the development of child compliance and active resistance in a large population-based cohort study (n = 534).
Background: Parenting and the quality of the parent-child relationship can either hamper or support the development of child compliance directly or in interplay with child temperament.
Methods: Mother-infant dyads were observed at 14 and 36 months and maternal and child behaviours were independently coded. The quality of compliance was assessed at 36 months in a clean-up task. Child behaviour was coded using a system differentiating between two dimensions: Compliance and Active Resistance.
Results: Controlling for concurrent maternal sensitivity, child temperament, and gender children with a more insecure attachment relationship showed higher levels of active resistance during Clean-Up than more securely attached children. The effect was stronger for boys than for girls and mainly driven by attachment avoidance.
Conclusions: Early attachment is an important contributor to child socialization of moral behaviour.
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.