There was explored the connection among parental directiveness, child behaviour and parental difficulty. We put forward a hypothesis that parents of “difficult” children would achieve higher scores in aggressive directiveness, parents of well-behaved children would achieve higher scores in heart – full directiveness. It was expected that parental difficulty would determinate upbringing mistake. The sample consisted of 204 people, parents of children who attend to kindergartens in Warsaw, Cracow, Częstochowa. Results confirmed research hypotheses: parents of “difficult” children achieved higher scores in aggressive directiveness, parents of well-behaved children achieved higher scores in heart – full directiveness. A spectacular outcomes demonstrate the crucial role of the type of parental directiveness, and prove that parental difficulty determinates parental mistake but only in group of “difficult” children’s parents.
One’s proper reaction to difficulties is seen as an important factor of parental abilities. This research study verifies whether parents of either “badly-behaved” or “well-behaved” children vary in their reactions to difficult parenting situations connected with their relationship with their child. The group of “badly-behaved” children had externalizing and internalizing problem behaviours. The “well-behaved” children’s group consisted of extraordinarily mature and properly behaved children according to their kindergarten teachers. The research sample consisted of 204 parents of “badly-behaved” and “well-behaved” children. The research was conducted in Poland. The DAiS scale was used to assess the level and type of parental directiveness, and the PAiNK scale was used to assess obedience enforcement and teaching the rules of proper behaviour. Multiple regression, the Sobel test and partial correlation were used to identify mediation effects. The results show that the two groups differ in their reactions to difficulties: a) the parents of “well-behaved” children emphasize the teaching of rules, and this effect is stronger in older children, b) the parents of “badly-behaved” children use aggressive directiveness. This effect is stronger when the children approach school age.
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