The relation of mothers' controlling vocalizations to children's intrinsic motivation

Teachers' motivational prosody: A pre-registered experimental test of children's reactions to tone of voice used by teachers

BACKGROUND

Teachers' behaviours drive motivational climates that shape children's engagement and well-being in the classroom, but few studies examine how specific teachers' behaviours such as wording, body language, or voice contribute to these outcomes in isolation of one another.

AIMS

This pre-registered experiment sought to examine the often-forgotten role that teachers' tone of voice plays in children's education. Informed by the theoretical framework of self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci, Self-determination theory: Basic psychological needs in motivation, development, and wellness, 2017), conditions manipulated controlling (pressuring, demanding), autonomy-supportive (inviting of choice), or motivationally neutral, tones of voice to explore their effects on children's self-reported psychological needs satisfaction, well-being, intention to self-disclose to and intention to cooperate with their teacher.

SAMPLE AND METHOD

Children aged 10-16 years (n = 250) heard pre-recorded teachers' voices holding sentence content and speakers constant across conditions, but varying tones of voice.

RESULTS

We hypothesized a-priori and found that when children heard controlling sounding voices, they anticipated lower basic psychological need satisfaction, well-being, and intention to disclose to teachers, as compared to neutral-sounding voices. We also anticipated beneficial effects for autonomy-supportive versus neutral voices, but pre-registered analyses did not support these expectations. Intention to cooperate with teachers did not differ across conditions. Supporting relational motivation theory (RMT; Deci & Ryan, Human Motivation and Interpersonal Relationships, 2014), exploratory analyses showed that hearing autonomy-supportive sounding voices increased autonomy and relatedness need satisfactions (but not competence need satisfaction), and through doing so indirectly related to beneficial outcomes (well-being, intention to cooperate and self-disclose).

CONCLUSION

In summary, tones of voice seem to play an important role in shaping teachers' impact on their students.

Longitudinal links between maternal directives, children's engagement in family conversations, and child linguistic skills

Background

Research on mother-child verbal interaction is largely inspired by Vygotsky. The results align with his view that children acquire language and culture-specific ways of using language through actively participating in daily conversations with adults. Supporting Vygotsky's concept of the Zone of Proximal Development, the facilitative features of such conversations have been found to depend on age, the level of the child's language skills, and the interactional context. Most previous studies in the field have been conducted in English-speaking Western families with a focus on the first years of children's lives. As Estonian middle-class mothers have been found to put greater emphasis on controlling children than mothers from other cultural contexts, we included the frequency of using directives as one of the features of mothers' speech that might have an impact on child language development.

Aim

Accordingly, the current study explored the relative impact of various aspects of mother-child interaction (e.g., mothers' vocabulary diversity, use of attentional and behavioral directives, wh-questions, and the amount of children's talk) on children's language skills using data collected from Estonian middle-class families at two timepoints, 1 year apart. As a novel approach to this topic, the study also examined the correlation between mothers' input features and children's participation in the parent-child conversation.

Method

A total of 87 children aged 3;0 and 4;0 and their mothers participated in the study. We observed the mother-child interactions during a semistructured videotaped game played at home. Mothers reported their children's language skills via the ECDI-III. Children's language comprehension and production were measured using the examiner-administered NRDLS.

Results and conclusion

Although the results showed somewhat differential effects of various aspects of mothers' speech on different measures of child language skills at two timepoints, the diversity of mothers' speech was positively, and mothers' frequent use of directives negatively related to children's language skills. At both ages, the diversity of mothers' speech predicted the amount of children's verbal contribution to conversations. The findings will be discussed in light of Vygotskian and his followers' theoretical views and theories about child language development.

Message Frame-Tailoring in Digital Health Communication: Intervention Redesign and Usability Testing (Preprint)

Background

Message frame–tailoring based on the need for autonomy is a promising strategy to improve the effectiveness of digital health communication interventions. An example of a digital health communication intervention is Personal Advice in Stopping smoking (PAS), a web-based content-tailored smoking cessation program. PAS was effective in improving cessation success rates, but its effect sizes were small and disappeared after 6 months. Therefore, investigating whether message frame–tailoring based on the individual’s need for autonomy might improve effect rates is worthwhile. However, to our knowledge, this has not been studied previously.

Objective

To investigate whether adding message frame–tailoring based on the need for autonomy increases the effectiveness of content-tailored interventions, the PAS program was redesigned to incorporate message frame–tailoring also. This paper described the process of redesigning the PAS program to include message frame–tailoring, providing smokers with autonomy-supportive or controlling message frames—depending on their individual need for autonomy. Therefore, we aimed to extend framing theory, tailoring theory, and self-determination theory.

Methods

Extension of the framing theory, tailoring theory, and self-determination theory by redesigning the PAS program to include message frame–tailoring was conducted in close collaboration with scientific and nonscientific smoking cessation experts (n=10), smokers (n=816), and communication science students (n=19). Various methods were used to redesign the PAS program to include message frame–tailoring with optimal usability: usability testing, think-aloud methodology, heuristic evaluations, and a web-based experiment.

Results

The most autonomy-supportive and controlling message frames were identified, the cutoff point for the need for autonomy to distinguish between people with high and those with low need for autonomy was determined, and the usability was optimized.

Conclusions

This resulted in a redesigned digital health communication intervention that included message frame–tailoring and had optimal usability. A detailed description of the redesigning process of the PAS program is provided.

Trial Registration

Netherlands Trial Register NL6512 (NRT6700); https://www.trialregister.nl/trial/6512

Relationship between parent involvement and academic achievement through metacognitive strategies: A multiple multilevel mediation analysis

BACKGROUND

Different studies reveal an association between parent involvement, metacognition, and academic achievement; however, the majority analyse the developmental process of acquisition in experimental or quasi-experimental designs with students enrolled in child education. Adolescence is an important stage in personal and academic development. Given the complexity of learning, and according to the metacognitive and affective model of self-regulated learning (Efklides, 2011, Educational Psychologist, 46, 6), different types of metacognitive processes are relevant for the optimal development of individuals in academic contexts. At the same time, individuals need stimuli from the environment, based on observation of their own and other's behaviour, as well as through communication and interaction with others.

AIM

The present study examined the relations among parent involvement, metacognitive strategies, and academic achievement to investigate the mediational role of metacognition in the relation between parent involvement and academic achievement.

SAMPLE

The participants were 1,398 high school students from Spain (47% female, M = 12. 5 years).

METHOD

Multiple multilevel mediation analyses with Monte Carlo confidence intervals were used for measuring within-subjects effects at the student level and between-subjects effects at the class level. Parent involvement (perception of support, organization, and interest in the educational process; expectations; school relationship; time of support with homework) and metacognition were measured by questionnaires, whereas academic achievement was assessed using the end-of-term grades obtained by students for nine subjects.

RESULTS

First, there was a significant direct effect of most parent involvement constructs on the mediational and dependent variables at both the within and between levels. Expectations had the highest predictive power on academic achievement. On the other hand, metacognitive strategies were an important mediator for all parent involvement constructs at both levels of analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

These results highlight the importance of metacognition during early adolescence and suggest that parent involvement is crucial for the future development of educational models.

Measuring preschool learning engagement in the laboratory

Learning engagement is a critical factor for academic achievement and successful school transitioning. However, current methods of assessing learning engagement in young children are limited to teacher report or classroom observation, which may limit the types of research questions one could assess about this construct. The current study investigated the validity of a novel assessment designed to measure behavioral learning engagement among young children in a standardized laboratory setting and examined how learning engagement in the laboratory relates to future classroom adjustment. Preschool-aged children (N = 278) participated in a learning-based Tangrams task and Story sequencing task and were observed based on seven behavioral indicators of engagement. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the construct validity for a behavioral engagement factor composed of six of the original behavioral indicators: attention to instructions, on-task behavior, enthusiasm/energy, persistence, monitoring progress/strategy use, and negative affect. Concurrent validity for this behavioral engagement factor was established through its associations with parent-reported mastery motivation and pre-academic skills in math and literacy measured in the laboratory, and predictive validity was demonstrated through its associations with teacher-reported classroom learning behaviors and performance in math and reading in kindergarten. These associations were found when behavioral engagement was observed during both the nonverbal task and the verbal story sequencing tasks and persisted even after controlling for child minority status, gender, and maternal education. Learning engagement in preschool appears to be successfully measurable in a laboratory setting. This finding has implications for future research on the mechanisms that support successful academic development.

Using the Intervention Mapping Protocol to develop an online video intervention for parents to prevent childhood obesity: Movie Models

BACKGROUND

The increasing prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity caused by an unhealthy diet, insufficient physical activity (PA) and high levels of sedentary behaviour (SB) is a prominent public health concern. Parenting practices may contribute to healthy behaviour change in children, but well-researched examples are limited. The aim of this study is to describe the systematic development of an intervention for parents to prevent childhood overweight/obesity through the improvement of parenting practices.

METHODS

The six steps of the Intervention Mapping Protocol (IMP), a theory- and evidence-based tool to develop health-related interventions, were used as a framework to develop the 'Movie Models' programme.

RESULTS

In Step 1, a needs assessment was performed to better understand the health problem of overweight/obesity in children and its association with diet, PA and SB. In Step 2, the programme goal (increasing the adoption of effective parenting practices) was sub-divided into performance objectives. Change objectives, which specify explicit actions required to accomplish the performance objectives, were also identified. Step 3 included the selection of theoretical methods (e.g. 'modelling' and 'images'), which were then translated into the practical strategy of online parenting videos. Step 4 comprised the development of a final intervention framework, and Step 5 included the planning of programme adoption and implementation. The final phase, Step 6, included the development of an effect- and process-evaluation plan.

DISCUSSION

The IMP was used to structure the development of 'Movie Models', an intervention targeting specific parenting practices related to children's healthy diet, PA, SB, and parental self-efficacy. A clear framework for process analyses is offered, which aims to increase the potential effectiveness of an intervention and can be useful for those developing health promotion programmes.

Parenting and independent problem-solving in preschool children with food allergy

OBJECTIVE

To examine autonomy-promoting parenting and independent problem-solving in children with food allergy.

METHODS

66 children with food allergy, aged 3-6 years, and 67 age-matched healthy peers and their mothers were videotaped while completing easy and difficult puzzles. Coders recorded time to puzzle completion, children's direct and indirect requests for help, and maternal help-giving behaviors.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy peers, younger (3- to 4-year-old) children with food allergy made more indirect requests for help during the easy puzzle, and their mothers were more likely to provide unnecessary help (i.e., explain where to place a puzzle piece). Differences were not found for older children.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that highly involved parenting practices that are medically necessary to manage food allergy may spill over into settings where high levels of involvement are not needed, and that young children with food allergy may be at increased risk for difficulties in autonomy development.

Maternal supportive and interfering control as predictors of adaptive and social development in children with and without developmental delays

BACKGROUND

Parents of children with developmental delays (DD) have been found to use more controlling behaviour with their children than parents of children with typical development (TD). While controlling behaviour is related to poorer developmental outcomes in TD children, there is little research on how it predicts outcomes in DD children. Furthermore, existing research tends to use inconsistent or non-specific definitions of controlling behaviour, often combining parent control which follows the child's goal (e.g. supportive direction) and that which interferes with the child's goal (e.g. interference).

METHODS

Participants were 200 mother-child dyads observed at child age 3, with follow-up assessments of adaptive behaviour and social skills administered at child ages 5 and 6, respectively. We coded the frequency of both types of controlling behaviour based on mothers' interactions with their children with TD (n = 113) or DD (n = 87) at age 3.

RESULTS

Mothers in the DD group used more interfering but not more supportive directive acts compared to mothers in the TD group. Adaptive behaviour was assessed at child age 5 and social skills were assessed at age 6. Higher frequency of supportive directive acts predicted better adaptive functioning for the TD group and better social skills for the DD group. Higher frequency of interfering acts predicted lower adaptive and social skills for children with DD but not with TD.

CONCLUSIONS

Results are discussed in terms of the differential developmental needs of children with and without DD as well as implications for early intervention.

What practices do parents perceive as effective or ineffective in promoting a healthy diet, physical activity, and less sitting in children: parent focus groups

Background

To support parents in improving the health of their young children, examples of effective parenting practices for a healthy diet, physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) are needed. This study explores perceived effective and ineffective parenting practices in difficult situations concerning raising healthy children and investigates their relationship with Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT). The current study is formative work to inform the content of a randomized controlled trial.

Methods

Four focus groups were conducted between June and October 2012 at worksites during lunch break. A total of 21 unrelated parents of primary schoolchildren (6 fathers, 15 mothers) participated. A short written questionnaire introduced typical difficult situations derived from parental anecdotal reports, concerning healthy diet, PA and SB. These situations formed the backbone for the subsequent focus group discussion. In October 2012, discussions were audio-recorded and analyzed in Nvivo to identify key response items using thematic analysis.

Results

Parents experienced explaining why the child should behave healthily, monitoring, being consistent, offering alternatives, reacting empathetically, modeling, motivating, increasing intrinsic value and availability, and using time-out as effective practices, whereas anger was considered ineffective. Opinions were mixed about the effectiveness of giving as much freedom as possible, obliging, rewarding and punishing, and setting rules and agreements. Parenting practices were consistent with principles from both SDT and SCT.

Conclusions

Parents identified numerous perceived effective practices to respond to their child’s health-related behavior. Since many of them coincide with the evidence base and the success of a parenting program depends upon the degree to which parents’ concerns and motivations are integrated into the program design, important opportunities are created for future intervention programs.

Parents' views on child physical activity and their implications for physical activity parenting interventions: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND

Establishing healthy physical activity (PA) behaviours in early childhood is important for future PA behaviours. Parents play a central role in young children's PA. However, there is currently little research on parenting interventions to increase child PA. This study was formative work to inform the content of a pilot randomised-controlled trial.

METHODS

In-depth telephone interviews were carried out with 32 parents of 6 to 8 year old children residing in two areas that varied in their socio-economic characteristics, in Bristol, UK. Data were analysed thematically using a framework approach.

RESULTS

Most parents described their child as being active or very active and indicated that they did not perceive a need for an increase in their child's PA. Parents used a variety of visual cues to make this judgement, the most common being that they perceived their child as having lots of energy or that they did not view them as overweight. Parents reported environmental factors such as monetary cost, time constraints, lack of activity provision and poor weather as the main barriers to their child's PA. Parental support and child's enjoyment of PA appeared to be important facilitators to children participating in PA.

CONCLUSION

Improving parents' knowledge of the PA recommendations for children, and increasing their awareness of the benefits of PA beyond weight status may be an important first step for a parenting PA intervention. Although parents commonly perceive environmental factors as the main barriers to their child's PA, parental concern about low levels of child PA, their capacity to support behaviour change, child motivation, self confidence and independence may be key areas to address within an intervention to increase child PA. Effective methods of helping parents address the latter have been developed in the context of generic parenting programmes.

Identifying effective behavioural models and behaviour change strategies underpinning preschool- and school-based obesity prevention interventions aimed at 4-6-year-olds: a systematic review

The aim of this comprehensive systematic review was to identify the most effective behavioural models and behaviour change strategies, underpinning preschool- and school-based interventions aimed at preventing obesity in 4-6-year-olds. Searching was conducted from April 1995 to April 2010 using MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and The Cochrane Library. Epidemiological studies relevant to the research question with controlled assignment of participants were included in the review, if they had follow-up periods of 6 months or longer. Outcomes included markers of weight gain; markers of body composition; physical activity behaviour changes and dietary behaviour changes. Twelve studies were included in the review. The most commonly used model was social cognitive theory (SCT)/social learning theory (SLT) either as a single model or in combination with other behavioural models. Studies that used SCT/SLT in the development of the intervention had significant favourable changes in one, or more, outcome measures. In addition, interventions that (i) combined high levels of parental involvement and interactive school-based learning; (ii) targeted physical activity and dietary change; and (iii) included long-term follow-up, appeared most effective. It is suggested that interventions should also be focused on developing children's (and parents') perceived competence at making dietary and physical changes.

Maternal communication style, problem-solving and dietary adherence in young children with type 1 diabetes

The incidence of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in young children is increasing markedly however young children have been overlooked in paediatric adherence research despite the unique challenges their care presents. We investigated the relation between maternal communication style and adherence to the dietary regimen in 40 children with T1D, aged 2-8 years, and their mothers. Mothers completed measures of children's sugar consumption, parent-child communication quality, and child psychological functioning. Mothers and children engaged in a videotaped problem-solving task related to the dietary regimen, with maternal utterances analysed for behavioural control style (e.g., commands versus suggestions) and cognitive complexity (e.g., provision of labels versus questions). Maternal communications which engaged children, behaviourally and cognitively, in the task were associated with better adherence, medical, communication quality, and child adjustment outcomes. We conclude that adherence and health (medical and psychological) are optimized when young children are given opportunities to participate in their care.

Maternal support for autonomy: relationships with persistence for children with Down syndrome and typically developing children

Maternal behaviors and child mastery behaviors were examined in 25 children with Down syndrome and 43 typically developing children matched for mental age (24-36 months). During a shared problem-solving task, there were no group differences in maternal directiveness or support for autonomy, and mothers in the two groups used similar verbal strategies when helping their child. There were also no group differences in child mastery behaviors, measured as persistence with two optimally challenging tasks. However, the two groups differed in the relationships of maternal style with child persistence. Children with Down syndrome whose mothers were more supportive of their autonomy in the shared task displayed greater persistence when working independently on a challenging puzzle, while children of highly directive mothers displayed lower levels of persistence. For typically developing children, persistence was unrelated to maternal style, suggesting that mother behaviors may have different causes or consequences in the two groups.

The developmental line of autonomy in the etiology, dynamics, and treatment of borderline personality disorders

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is considered as a disorder of autonomy, and is related to both predisposing vulnerabilities and social relationships that fail to support basic psychological needs. Autonomy, which is defined within the self-determination theory as the capacity for self-endorsed action based on integrative, reflective awareness, is discussed as a developmental line that is dependent on specific supports from caregivers. Unresponsiveness, invalidation, or abuse by caregivers is argued to impair the capacity for autonomy and to catalyze an array of processes, both biological and psychological, which impact subsequent development and, in vulnerable individuals, can lead to BPD. Aspects of treatment, including the emphases on validation and acceptance of the patient's experience, and the cultivation of more reflective or mindful regulation of behavior, can be deduced, from this analysis of autonomy disturbance, and these in turn have appeared as the cornerstones of effective treatments for BPD.

A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship of Maternal Autonomy Support to Children's Adjustment and Achievement in School

A longitudinal study examined the relations of maternal autonomy support to children's school adjustment. Autonomy support and other parenting dimensions were measured when children were 5 years old. School measures were teacher-rated academic and social adjustment and achievement in reading and math in grade 3. Regression analyses controlling for age 5 family and child factors (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES], kindergarten adjustment, IQ) revealed that autonomy support was positively related to grade 3 adjustment (social and academic) and reading achievement. Maternal emphasis on school performance was positively related to achievement measures but negatively related to social adjustment. Maternal use of rewards and praise was unrelated to grade 3 school measures. Finally, supplemental analyses revealed that autonomy support was associated with greater consistency in children's adjustment across social and academic domains as well as higher overall adjustment. These results highlight the developmental significance of parental autonomy support in early childhood.

Examining the motivational impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic goal framing and autonomy-supportive versus internally controlling communication style on early adolescents' academic achievement

The present experimental research examined whether framing early adolescents' (11- to 12-year-olds) learning activity in terms of the attainment of an extrinsic (i.e., physical attractiveness) versus intrinsic (i.e., health) goal and communicating these different goal contents in an internally controlling versus autonomy-supportive way affect performance. Both conceptual and rote learning were assessed. Three experimental field studies, 2 among obese and 1 among nonobese participants, confirmed the hypothesis that extrinsic goal framing and internal control undermine conceptual (but not rote) learning, even in comparison with a control group. Study 3 indicated that the positive effect of intrinsic goal framing on conceptual learning was mediated by task involvement, whereas the positive effect of autonomy-supportive communication style on conceptual learning was mediated by relative autonomous motivation.

The effects of the Webster-Stratton parenting program on maltreating families: fostering strengths

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effects of the Webster-Stratton parenting program on the parenting skills of maltreating mothers and on the autonomy of their children (3-8 years).

METHOD

A randomized controlled trial was used. Twenty-six maltreating families were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: the 16-hour weekly intervention group, or the 4-month wait list control group. Pre- and post-intervention independent assessments included a 2-hour home visit involving videotaped mother-child interactions during two prescribed, 10-minute play activities.

RESULTS

Compared to the control group, treatment mothers demonstrated significant improvement in involvement and marginally significant improvement in autonomy-support, but no improvement in structure. Treatment group children showed no significant improvement in autonomy when compared to control group children.

CONCLUSIONS

This parenting program proved effective with maltreating parents. The lack of demonstrated effect on children may reflect the need for a larger and more sustained treatment dose and/or the need to include parent-child interaction opportunities in the program. At the same time, while treatment gains were limited to the parent, the high treatment adherence rate (92% attended six or more of the eight program sessions) and low attrition rate (n=1) indicate that the treatment gains may hold potential for more thorough examination.

A community-based obesity prevention program for minority children: rationale and study design for Hip-Hop to Health Jr

BACKGROUND; The increasing prevalence of overweight among children in the United States presents a national health priority. Higher rates of overweight/obesity among minority women place their children at increased risk. Although increased rates of overweight are observed in 4- to 5-year-old children, they are not observed in 2- to 3-year-old children. Therefore, early prevention efforts incorporating families are critical.

METHODS

The primary aim of Hip-Hop to Health Jr. is to alter the trajectory toward overweight/obesity among preschool African-American and Latino children. This 5-year randomized intervention is conducted in 24 Head Start programs, where each site is randomized to either a 14-week dietary/physical activity intervention or a general health intervention.

RESULTS

This paper presents the rationale and design of the study. Efficacy of the intervention will be determined by weight change for the children and parent/caretaker. Secondary measures include reductions in dietary fat and increases in fiber, fruit/vegetable intake, and physical activity. Baseline data will be presented in future papers.

CONCLUSIONS

The problem of overweight/obesity is epidemic in the United States. Behaviors related to diet and physical activity are established early in life and modeled by family members. Early intervention efforts addressing the child and family are needed to prevent obesity later in life. This paper describes a comprehensive, family-oriented obesity prevention program for minority preschool children.

Parental warmth, control, and indulgence and their relations to adjustment in Chinese children: a longitudinal study

A sample of children, initially 12 years old, in the People's Republic of China participated in this 2-year longitudinal study. Data on parental warmth, control, and indulgence were collected from children's self-reports. Information concerning social, academic, and psychological adjustment was obtained from multiple sources. The results indicated that parenting styles might be a function of child gender and change with age. Regression analyses revealed that parenting styles of fathers and mothers predicted different outcomes. Whereas maternal warmth had significant contributions to the prediction of emotional adjustment, paternal warmth significantly predicted later social and school achievement. It was also found that paternal, but not maternal, indulgence significantly predicted children's adjustment difficulties. The contributions of the parenting variables might be moderated by the child's initial conditions.