title: Determinants of Change in Maternal Sensitivity: Contributions of Context, Temperament, and Developmental Risk.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Maternal sensitivity is a fundamental parenting construct and a determinant of positive child outcomes and healthy parent-child relationships. Few longitudinal studies have investigated determinants of sensitive parenting, particularly in a population of children at risk for developmental delay.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study modeled trajectories of maternal sensitivity observed in two independent parenting contexts at child ages 3-, 4-, and 5-years. The sample includedN= 247 mother-child dyads, withn= 110 children classified as at risk for developmental delays. Predictors included maternal distress, child anger proneness, and developmental risk status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Maternal sensitivity changed during more demanding parenting tasks over the 3-year period but not during a low-demand task. Mothers of children with developmental risk, relative to mothers of typically developing children, and mothers of boys relative to mothers of girls, showed less sensitivity during more demanding parenting tasks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early developmental risk and child gender contribute to the nature of maternal sensitivity over time, but their contributions depend on the situational demands of the interaction. This contextualized view of sensitivity provides further evidence in support of parenting as a dynamic developmental process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1104.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ciciolla
authors.forename: Keith A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Crnic
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: West
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