The associations among maternal negative control, children's social information processing patterns, and teachers' perceptions of children's behavior in preschool

Abstract

The links between social information processing (SIP) and social behavior in preschool are well documented. However, the antecedents of SIP in that age group are less clear. A number of influential theoretical models suggest that a major contributor to SIP is the quality of the child's relationships with the parent. Therefore, we examined the links among quality of the mother-child relationships (measured via direct observations of dyadic play interactions), the child's SIP patterns (measured via direct interview with the child), and the child's perceived behavior in preschool (measured via teacher reports) in a sample of 218 preschool and kindergarten children and their mothers. Applying structural equation modeling, we found support for our theoretical model with a specific emphasis on the negative nature of this association. Specifically, we found a strong indirect path from maternal negative control to the teacher's negative perception of the child's behavior in preschool and kindergarten via less competent SIP patterns. This empirical path remained intact after controlling for various variables such as the family income, the mother's education level, and the child's expressive language abilities, thereby providing further support for the robustness of this association.

Keywords: Disruptive behavior; Kindergarten; Maternal negative control; Mother–child relationships; Preschool; Social information processing; Social skills.