The impact of parents' expectations on parenting behaviour: an experimental investigation

Creswell, C., O'Connor, T. G. and Brewin, C. R. (2008) The impact of parents' expectations on parenting behaviour: an experimental investigation. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 36 (4). pp. 483-490. ISSN 1352-4658 doi: 10.1017/s1352465808004414

Abstract/Summary

Over-involved parenting is commonly hypothesized to be it risk factor for the development of anxiety disorders in childhood. This parenting style may result from parental attempts to prevent child distress based on expectations that the child will be unable to cope in a challenging situation. Naturalistic studies are limited in their ability to disentangle the overlapping contribution of child and parent factors in driving parental behaviours. To overcome this difficulty, an experimental study was conducted in which parental expectations of child distress were manipulated and the effects on parent behaviour and child mood were assessed. Fifty-two children (aged 7 - 11 years) and their primary caregiver participated. Parents were allocated to either a "positive" or a "negative" expectation group. Observations were made of the children and their parents interacting whilst completing a difficult anagram task. Parents given negative expectations of their child's response displayed higher levels of involvement. No differences were found on indices of child mood and behaviour and possible explanations for this are considered. The findings are consistent with suggestions that increased parental involvement may be a "natural" reaction to enhanced perceptions of child vulnerability and an attempt to avoid child distress.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/14098
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Winnicott Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY)
Uncontrolled Keywords	Parents, cognitions, expectations, behaviour, over-involvement, ANXIETY DISORDERS, CHILDHOOD ANXIETY, ANXIOUS CHILDREN, COGNITIONS
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
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