Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School Summer 2017 Longitudinal Predictors of Parental Sensitivity: The Role of Parent Personality and Infant Temperament Across Early Infancy Lauren Grace Bailes Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Child Psychology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Bailes, Lauren Grace, "Longitudinal Predictors of Parental Sensitivity: The Role of Parent Personality and Infant Temperament Across Early Infancy" (2017). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 2023. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2023 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LONGITUDINAL PREDICTORS OF PARENTAL SENSITIVITY: THE ROLE OF PARENT PERSONALITY AND INFANT TEMPERAMENT ACROSS EARLY INFANCY A Thesis Defense Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Psychological Sciences Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, KY In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science By Lauren Grace Bailes August 2017 _______________________________________ Dean, Graduate School Date I dedicate this thesis to my sister, Abbey, and my brother, Zack, who have pushed me to grow and succeed in ways they will never know. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to thank my mentor for the past four years, Dr. Diane Lickenbrock. I would not be half the scholar I am today if it were not for her guidance and support. Thank you for every opportunity to learn and grow as an individual and a researcher. I would also like to thank my committee members; Dr. Elizabeth Lemerise and Dr. Andrew Mienaltowski, who have also provided support throughout this process. I would also like to thank the past and current members of the Children and Families Lab, who have always kept me on my toes and provided many laughs throughout my time in the lab. I appreciate the hundreds of hours of time spent on data collection, coding, and data entry. Without everyone’s hard work, this project would not have been possible. iv CONTENTS List of Figures ............................................................................................................vi List of Tables .............................................................................................................vii Introduction ................................................................................................................1 Method .......................................................................................................................22 Results ........................................................................................................................27 Discussion ..................................................................................................................59 References ..................................................................................................................73 Appendix A ................................................................................................................85 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Adapted Determinants of Parenting Model ...........................................................3 2. Graph of maternal BAS Reward Responsiveness X Infant Orienting at 4 months predicting maternal Sensitivity at 6 months...............................................................40 3. Graph of paternal BAS Drive at 4 months X Infant Surgency at 6 months predicting paternal Sensitivity at 8 months .................................................................................58 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Descriptive Statistics for Study Variables .............................................................29 2. Longitudinal Correlation ........................................................................................31 3. Within Parent Correlation: Mothers.......................................................................32 4. Within Parent Correlation: Fathers ........................................................................33 5. Between Parent Correlations..................................................................................35 6. 46 month Regressions: Negative Reactivity ......................................................38 7. 46 month Regressions: Orienting .......................................................................41 8. 46 month Regressions: Surgency .......................................................................43 9. 48 month Regressions: Negative Reactivity ......................................................46 10. 48 month Regressions: Orienting .....................................................................48 11. 48 month Regressions: Surgency .....................................................................50 12. 68 month Regressions: Negative Reactivity ....................................................52 13. 68 month Regressions: Orienting .....................................................................54 14. 68 month Regressions: Surgency .....................................................................56 vii LONGITUDINAL PREDICTORS OF PARENTAL SENSITIVITY: THE ROLE OF PARENT PERSONALITY AND INFANT TEMPERAMENT ACROSS EARLY INFANCY Lauren G. Bailes August 2017 83 Pages Directed by: Diane Lickenbrock, Elizabeth Lemerise, Andrew Mienaltowski Department of Psychological Sciences Western Kentucky University Parents play a critical role in their infants’ social and emotional development (Zeifman, 2003). High parental sensitivity contributes to greater infant attachment security (De Wolff & van IJzendoorn, 1997), as well as better compliance later in life (van Berkel et al., 2015). Personality influences how parents respond to their infants, such that parents higher in neuroticism are more controlling and less stimulating (Clark, Kochanska, & Ready, 2000), and less responsive (Kochanska, Friesenborg, Lange, & Martel, 2004). However, previous studies have found mixed results with parent extraversion. Some studies found that high parental extraversion could lead to more parent responsiveness (Clark et al., 2000), whereas others have found that these parents are more controlling (Metsepelto & Pulkkinen, 2002). The three components of infant temperament (negative reactivity, orienting, and surgency) have been found to differentially predict parenting (Bridgett et al., 2009; Rothbart & Bates, 2006; Planalp, Braungart-Rieker, Lickenbrock, & Zentall, 2013). In addition, the majority of the research examining predictors of parental sensitivity has involved predominantly mother- infant dyads; father-infant dyads are examined less often. The current study aimed to longitudinally examine how parent personality and infant temperament contribute to parental sensitivity over time in 4 (n = 49), 6 (n = 41), and 8 month old (n = 35) infants in both mothers and fathers. Parent personality and infant temperament were assessed via viii questionnaires filled out by each parent. Parental sensitivity was observationally coded during a dyadic, parent-infant face-to-face play task. Regression analyses revealed differential predictors of parental sensitivity for mothers and fathers and showed partial support for the goodness of fit perspective between the parent’s personality and infant’s temperament. ix Introduction Having a sensitive parent in infancy is critical to the successful social and emotional development of a child (Braungart-Rieker, Hill-Soderlund, & Karrass, 2010; Rothbart & Bates, 2006). Sensitive parents are those whom are appropriately aware and responsive to the infant’s signals. Sensitivity can be influenced by several factors, including the personality of the parent and the infant’s temperament. Previous research has suggested that parent personality can be influential on parenting (Kochanska, Friesenborg, Lange, & Martel, 2004). However, there are discrepancies in the literature concerning how personality influences parenting. In addition, the three components of infant temperament (negative reactivity, orienting, and surgency) have been found to differentially influence parenting (Rothbart & Bates, 2006). It is critical to examine these associations in early infancy because early parent-child interactions are essential for positive long-term developmental outcomes. However, findings on the associations between parent personality, infant temperament, and parental sensitivity are equivocal, possibly due to variability in how constructs were measured. The current study accounted for these issues by examining individual differences in parent personality and infant temperament as contributors of parental sensitivity. The present study used a different perspective of personality than what has been examined before in previous literature and included multiple components of infant temperament. Past research has typically focused only on mother-infant interactions. Therefore, the current study examined the longitudinal associations between parent personality, infant temperament, and parental sensitivity using a sample of infants, mothers, and fathers at 4, 6, and 8 months of age. 1 Determinants of Parenting There are many different theories of parenting, such as attachment theory (Ainsworth, 1979),