Researchers Look For Answers To Questions About Parenting Styles And Child Development

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Researchers in the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) have begun a five-year project, funded by a $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, to study infant and child development and the factors that influence parenting skills.

"In this study we're looking at children in their first year of school, midway through kindergarten," explained Kenneth E. Leonard, Ph.D., RIA senior research scientist who is lead investigator.

"We had previously looked at the home environment of 12-, 18-, 24-, and 36-month-old infants and children, where the influences on development were parents, siblings, and other caretakers. The developmental milestone of kindergarten gives us the opportunity to see children interacting with peers, sharing a similar experience, and functioning in a social context in addition to examining parent-child interactions."

The new project builds on previous research with over 200 families conducted by Leonard and co-investigator Rina Das Eiden, Ph.D., RIA senior research scientist, who first recruited families in 1995 from birth records in Erie County. Leonard explained that the participating families were interviewed in visits to the institute when the child was 12, 18, 24, and 36 months old. RIA researchers observed the child in three settings: at play with the mother, at play with the father, and in a developmental testing session.

"The findings at 12 months," Leonard added, "showed that parents with their own personal problems, such as feelings of depression or heavy drinking, also reported feeling more aggravated with infants than parents without issues of depression or drinking. When observed with the infants, these parents tended to be less sensitive to the child's cues, displayed more negative emotions toward the child, and were less verbal with the child."

When the child reaches 18 months of age, these same factors come into play. "Parents with personal problems begin to report their children as having behavior problems." Leonard said. "Fathers who indicate that they have depressive feelings also report that their child has internalized problems such as anxiousness and fears, as well as externalizing behavior problems such as tantrums or disruptive activities." Mothers with depressive feelings also reported more externalizing problems among their children.

Data still being collected for the 24- and 36-month stages focuses on children's impulse control and self-regulation while continuing the focus on parenting.

Leonard said the goals of the research include the design of prevention or intervention efforts for families. Examining parent's personal problems and family functioning, he added, should help to predict parent-child interactions and later outcomes for the child. By targeting the multi-problem nature of these behaviors, intervention work can be designed to have a long-term impact on parenting.