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The Mothering of Conduct Problem and Normal Children in Spain and the USA: Authoritarian and Permissive Asynchrony

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Robert G. Wahler  and
M. Angeles Cerezo
Robert G. Wahler
Affiliation:
University of Tennessee
M. Angeles Cerezo*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Valencia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to M. Angeles Cerezo, Unidad de Investigación “Agresión y Familia”, Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Valencia, Avda. Blasco Ibañez, 21, 46010 Valencia (Spain). E-mail: angeles.cerezo@uv.es
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Abstract

Ninety-two clinic-referred and nonclinical mother-child dyads in Spain and the USA were observed in their home settings under naturalistic conditions for a total of 477 hours. Children in the clinic-referred dyads were considered troubled because of conduct problems. The observations were aimed at assessing two forms of mother-child asynchrony, either of which was expected to differentiate clinic referred from nonclinical dyads. Authoritarian asynchrony was defined as a mother's indiscriminate use of aversive reactions to her child, whereas the permissive form entailed indiscriminate positive reactions. Results showed the American mothers to generate more permissive asynchrony, whereas the Spanish mothers were inclined in the authoritarian direction. Only authoritarian asynchrony differentiated the clinical versus nonclinical dyads in each country. Discussion was centered on the greater salience of aversive as opposed to positive maternal attention, and cultural differences between countries that might have accounted for the different parenting styles.

Se observaron a noventa y dos díadas madre-hijo clínicas y no clínicas en España y USA en el hogar durante 477 horas en total. Los niños de las díadas clínicas se consideraron desajustados por sus problemas de conducta. El objetivo era evaluar dos formas de asincronía madre-niño, que se esperaba diferenciaran las díadas clínicas de las no-clínicas. La “asincronía autoritaria” se definió como el uso materno de reacciones aversivas indiscriminadas hacia el niño, y la “asincronía permisiva” como reacciones indiscriminadas pero positivas. Los resultados mostraron que las madres americanas generaban más asincronía permisiva y las españolas más asincronía autoritaria. Solo la asincronía autoritaria diferenciaba las díadas por su status: clínico versus no clínico en ambos países. La discusión se centró en la mayor saliencia de la atención aversiva frente a la positiva y en aspectos culturales que pueden dar cuenta de los diferentes estilos parentales.

Keywords

asynchronyconduct-problem childrennaturalistic observationSOC IIIasincroníaniños con problemas conductualesobservación naturalistaSOC III
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , November 2005 , pp. 205 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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