| Summary: | High levels of self-esteem (the individual's
assessment of self-worth) have been associated with a
variety of positive child outcomes, while low levels of
self-esteem have been related to problems in child
growth and development. The purpose of this study was
to explore the relationship between specific child
temperament and parenting behaviors to the child's selfesteem.
More specifically it determined the
relationship between child quality of mood, child
adaptability, maternal responsiveness, maternal
reasoning guidance, child gender, and family
socioeconomic status with the child's perceived
competence and social acceptance. The interactive
effects of child quality of mood x maternal
responsiveness and child adaptability x maternal
reasoning guidance were also explored.
The sample for this study consisted of 45 preschool
children and their mothers. The children were enrolled
in the O.S.U. Child Development Center and the L.B.C.C.
Family Resource Center. Mothers completed a
questionnaire consisting of an adaptation of the Parent
Temperament Questionnaire for Children (Thomas, Chess, &
Korn, 1977), an adaptation of the Iowa Parent Behavior
Inventory (Crase, Clark, & Pease, 1979), and descriptive
information. Children were assessed for self-esteem
using Harter and Pike's Pictorial Scale of Perceived
Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children
(1984).
The analyses consisted of the following:
descriptive statistics of all variables, a correlation
matrix using all variables, univariate and hierarchical
regressions between the independent variables and
perceived competence and social acceptance, and
regression analyses to test for interactive effects of
the selected independent variables against perceived
competence and social acceptance. Results revealed
these significant findings: maternal responsiveness
positively correlated with social acceptance; child
adaptability negatively correlated with social
acceptance; positive interaction effects were
demonstrated between child quality of mood x maternal responsiveness and child adaptability against social
acceptance; negative interaction effects were revealed
between child adaptability x maternal reasoning guidance
against social acceptance; also, child adaptability x
maternal reasoning guidance with maternal responsiveness
significantly predicted greater social acceptance. No
significant relationships were found with perceived
competence. This study supported the expectation that
specific child temperament characteristics interacted
with particular parenting behaviors to affect the
development of positive child self-esteem. === Graduation date: 1991
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