Coparenting and early conscience development in the family.
In the current research, the authors examined children's observed compliance in a family clean-up paradigm and parents' reports of coparenting to predict young children's conscience (e.g., affective discomfort and moral regulation) in a sample of 58 families with two parents and at least two children. The authors found relations between parents' reports of children's conscience development and observer-rated compliance in a family clean-up session, and significant correlations between coparenting and conscience development. There were a greater number of significant results for younger, 2-year-old siblings than for older siblings, which may reflect the importance of the period between 2 and 3 years for the emergence of conscience. Multiple regressions revealed that younger siblings' age, observed compliance/noncompliance, and parents' reports of coparenting were all significant in predicting parents' reports of affective discomfort and moral regulation. Findings underscore the importance of continuing research on whole-family dynamics when studying young children's early conscience and moral regulation.
Groenendyk
Allison E
AE
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109-1043, USA.
Volling
Brenda L
BL
D000339:Affect; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003242:Conscience; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D035863:Moral Development; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D035781:Siblings; D012951:Socialization