Parents' problem solving with preadolescents and its association with social withdrawal at school: considering parents' stress and child gender

Fathering, Spring, 2005 by Scott R. Miller, Velma McBride Murry, Gene H. Brody

The early adolescent years are a critical period for social skill development, especially for children at risk for social failure. Data from the Adolescent Development Research Program (ADRP) were used to examine the interrelationship of parents' stress, problem solving with their adolescent child, and youths' social withdrawal. Data were collected from 231 families in the rural South, each of which included an 11- or 12-year-old child. Fathers' but not mothers' constructive problem solving with children was negatively associated with teachers' reports of youths' social withdrawal, with the association for fathers being especially strong for sons. Neither parents' self-reported stress was associated with self-reported problem solving with children, nor was parents' stress associated with children's social withdrawal. Interventions with fathers that teach and encourage problem solving with children may benefit children's social development, a benefit that may be especially helpful for socially withdrawn sons.

Keywords: fathering, fathers' problem solving, social withdrawal, shyness, parental stressors

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The first few years of a child's life are critical in the development of social skills and attitudes toward social interaction. Infants and young children who feel confident in exploring their social environments are able to learn positive communication skills through social interactions (Shiner, 2000), but those who are reluctant to explore their social environments are less likely to have this learning opportunity (Rubin, 1993). Individuals born with varying predispositions toward sociability may show variations in development that are associated with exposure to a variety of caregiving environments. Furthermore, children who are more sociable may evoke responsive caregiving that reinforces their sociability, whereas children who are less sociable may not evoke as positive a reaction from caregivers (Scarr & McCartney, 1983). Parents who are responsive to their socially inhibited children, however, may help to encourage greater sociability in their children. Fox and Calkins (1993), for example, reported that infants who had been unsociable and nonreactive at five months of age did not necessarily display the same type of behavior at 24 months. This finding led them to hypothesize that caregiver responsiveness may modify a child's behaviorally inhibited temperament.

According to Rubin and Krasnor (1986), social withdrawal may begin to engender negative outcomes when children are between the ages of eight and 10 years, because mutual respect for peers' opinions and values becomes more important during this time. During middle childhood, self-isolation may lead to peer rejection because other children perceive social withdrawal to be a nonnormative behavior. According to Bowlby (1969), during middle childhood youngsters are expected to build a working model of social interactions based on their social exploration with peers. This expectation, coupled with high demands for conformity to group norms, may lead to increasingly poorer social outcomes for those children who do not engage in social exploration. Furthermore, children whose classmates perceive them as withdrawn may be at risk for social anxiety, poor self-concept, and depression (Strauss, Forehand, Smith, & Frame, 1986) during middle childhood, which may translate to continued anxiety, depression, and poor social competence during later adolescence (Rubin & Mills, 1988).

Prior studies have made significant contributions to enhancing our understanding of social skill development and possible links between patterns of social withdrawal and children's interactions with peers (La Greca & Lopez, 1998; Rubin & Krasnor, 1986; Rubin & Mills, 1988). What is missing from this body of research, however, is the consideration of ways in which family contexts, including stressors experienced by caregivers, may remediate or exacerbate social withdrawal during the transition to early adolescence. Also, although prior studies have shown differential effects of parenting styles on social development (Baumrind, 1995), the cumulative effect of environmental stressors on childrearing practices among parents of socially withdrawn children has not been sufficiently addressed.

The purpose of the present study is to examine the role of family context in inhibiting or fostering social withdrawal tendencies among young adolescents. Specifically, the extent to which parental stress may inhibit positive parental involvement with the child and how these factors interrelate with preadolescent social withdrawal, will be examined. Consideration of how stress influences caregiving may be especially useful to parents who are not aware of the negative effects that chronic stress can have on their children's social development.

POSITIVE PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND CHILD SOCIAL WITHDRAWAL

Bowlby (1969) proposed that normative child development depends on caregiver responsiveness, which helps children to develop a sense of security from interactions with caregivers. Secure children, in turn, feel confident in exploring their social environments.