1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«[T]he aim of this study is to examine the prospective influence of specific child behavior problems at 41 months on coercive interactions and parental binge drinking at 60 months, above and beyond other risk factors that may co-vary with child behavior problems, such as low maternal education or marital dysfunction or even difficult temperament during infancy.» (p. 16)

Questions/Hypothèses :
The authors «hypothesize that early behavior problems will show a prospective association with unhealthy parental habits, while accounting for pre-existing parenting distress and alcohol binge use.» (p. 17)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Participants for this […] study are drawn from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD). This birth cohort originates from a randomly selected stratified sample of 2837 infants born between spring 1997 and spring 1998 in Quebec, Canada.» (p. 16)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«These results tell a tale of developmental continuity in shared risk predispositions between parents and children. Preschool oppositional, aggressive, and turbulent behavior problems predicted harsh, negative parental behavior a year and a half later. On one hand, the negative child characteristics measured in this study could be referred to as coercive behavior. This coercive behavior can set off counter-coercive processes on the part of parents. […] Our results are net of earlier binge drinking and earlier coercive parenting at 41 months, thus isolating the relationship between preschool behavior problems, which are often manifested as coercive, and subsequent negative parenting at 60 months. In the same vein, early inattentive and hyperactive behavior at age 41 months forecasted later binge alcohol use by parents when children became of school entry age. This relationship endured despite stringent child and family control variables, including binge alcohol use when children were 41 months old. Parents of children with inattentive and hyperactive problems may have executive function problems of their own, which makes parenting such children very challenging for them.» (p. 18-19)