Mothers' social coaching, mother-child relationship style, and children's peer competence: is the medium the message?
Contributions of mothers' social coaching and responsive style to preschoolers' peer competence were evaluated in 2 studies. In Study 1, 43 mother-child dyads participated in 3 laboratory tasks; videotapes were coded for responsive interaction style in play, advice regarding videotaped peer dilemmas (coaching), and nonsocial teaching in a puzzle task. Coaching and style were largely independent and were correlated with measures of social competence. In Study 2 (n = 62), coaching and style uniquely predicted teacher ratings, but only style predicted peer acceptance. To investigate whether coaching mediated the effects of style and/or whether style moderated the effects of coaching, the samples were combined. No evidence was found for mediation, but coaching was a more powerful predictor of lower levels of boys' aggression when the mother-child relationship was less responsive. Discussion focuses on models of socialization that stress the interplay of general style and specific socialization practices in promoting social competence.
Mize
J
J
Department of Family and Child Development, Auburn University, AL 36849, USA. mizejac@mail.auburn.edu
Pettit
G S
GS
D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010379:Peer Group; D010552:Personality Assessment; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012919:Social Behavior; D012951:Socialization