Parent-Child Communication 1

Parent-Child Communications: A Research Proposal Camille McGoven Communication 201

Parent-Child Communication 2 Topic: Much research strongly suggests that the basis for communications skills originates within the family. Generally, parents are who children learn to model themselves after in order to build up a sense of self-concept. Communication skills are one facet of selfconcept that children begin to understand and gain a sense of competency at a young age. Thus, parents are most likely the initial source of influence on children. Although it is well established that parents are an integral part of child communication skill competency development, little research has focused on the distinctions between mother and father influence, and whether certain skills are learned particularly from one parent. In light of increasing divorce rates, single parenting, and other atypical family structures, it would be beneficial to research possible differences that may exist between mother and father communication skill development influence on children. This research proposal will explore the distinct communication influence that each parent provides in a childs communication skill development. Review of Literature: A substantial body of research suggests that Attachment Theory, a model for understanding how development of communication skills originates from parents, explains how a high level of parent attachment security will lead a child to have high communication competency with peers (Y, 2006; Black & Schutte, 2006; Black et al., 2007). Attachment security is an important aspect of parent-child communication because it indicates how children first learn skills from parents, and then employ those skills in peer relationships. Y (2006) conducted a study that shows support of the notion that childrens relationships and expectations for relationships are affected by level of maternal and paternal attachment. This study also found that attachment to the same-sex parent correlated with the participants perceived peer support and friendship. In a similar study, Black and Schutte (2006) found that secure adults generally had parent attachment security; therefore, these adults find it easier to trust other people, such as romantic partners, later in life. Additionally, the research of Black et al. (2007) supports that people who recall parents who were loving and open to communicating are more likely later in life to be capable of sharing personal information with friends and clearly express feelings about problems with friends. The level of the mothers support was particularly a strong indicator of the childs peer relationship competence. Overall, this research suggests that parents have a significant role in a childs development and competency of communication skills. Not only does current research find strong implications supporting parental influence on a childs development of communication skill competence with peers, but studies also strongly suggest that parent attachment influences social behavior as a whole (Laible, 2006; Denollet et al., 2006; Y, 2006, Veenstra et al., 2006). Social behavior includes emotional security, levels of emotional awareness, empathy, positive expressiveness, lower levels of negative dominance, and depressive symptoms (Laible, 2006). Research suggests that higher levels of parental attachment will result in fewer negative expectations in peer relationships and fewer depressive symptoms (Y, 2006). Denollet et

Parent-Child Communication 3 al.s (2006) research also suggests that adults who recall parental rejection when growing up are more likely to have anxiety and depression problems. Veenstra et al.s (2006) study also suggests that adults who recall parental rejection when growing up are at a higher risk for antisocial behavior. In general, these studies advocate that adults perception of their parents level of support and openness when they were growing up is a significant factor of the adults social behavior and social risks. Another major aspect pervading research of parent attachment is the relevance of the sex of the child. According to research, both attachment security and communication skills development tends to vary between males and females (Y, 2006; Laible, 2006; Koesten, 2004; Kenny & Gallagher, 2005; Osborne & McLanahan, 2007). A body of research suggests that females develop a greater amount of communication skills than boys do, showing possible evidence for females being more socially competent with peers (Laible, 2006; Y, 2006). Other research provides possible implications that males and females develop different skills, but not necessarily more or better skills than one another (Koesten, 2004; Kenny & Gallagher, 2005; Osborne & McLanahan, 2007). This research shows that it is important to study the differences between males and females in communication skill development. Throughout the majority of this body of research, studies are focused on only the childs perception of the communication between parent and child (Y, 2006; Laible, 2006; Koesten, 2004; Veenstra et al., 2006; Denollet et al., 2006; Black and Schutte, 2006; Black et al., 2007). This discounts the importance of the parents view of communication skill development, preventing a complete picture of what the interfamily communication was really like. This presents a reliability issue within the measurement of communication skill development between parent and child. For the research instrument to maintain reliability, both parent and child should be involved in the evaluation of parent attachment and communication skills development. Additionally, by including the parents in the study, it will increase the possibility of finding support identifying how influential each individual parent is on the childs skill development. In addition to the issue of instrument reliability, a validity problem in the construct of the measurement is present in many studies reliance on retrospective questionnaires or various other measurements, asking current adults to recall childhood parent attachment levels (Denollet et al, 2007; Koesten, 2004; Black & Schutte, 2006; Black et al., 2007). Retrospective measures asking participants to remember what kind of communication they had with their parents is not a valid way to measure parent attachment or communication skill development because it essentially relies solely on a participants memory and perception of his or her childhood. In effect, the researchers are not measuring communication skill development, but perception of skill development. It could be beneficial to determine how, or if, each parent plays a distinct role in a childs communication skill development. The family construct has evolved over time, with more single parents, divorces, and same-sex parents (Osborne & McLanahan, 2007). Identifying the different skills that children learn from specifically the mother and specifically the father could help current families recognize early on how to compensate

Parent-Child Communication 4 for the missing parent to help a childs communication skill development. A study similar to Freitag & Belskys (1996) longitudinal study on parent-child relationships from infancy to childhood could be a more accurate, valid, and reliable option for studying the progress of communication skill development over a course of time. This study includes both interviews and questionnaires for the parents and children, leading to a more complete picture of how influential each parent actually is in the forming of a childs communication skills. Research Question: How does each individual parent influence a childs development of communication skill competency, and does consistency exist between parent and child perception of communication styles portrayed during childhood? Hypothesis: My hypothesis is two-part. First, I predict that research will suggest that mothers will play a larger role than fathers in all areas of communication skill development for children. Second, I also predict that fathers will be influential in daughters future romantic relationship communication competency, and mothers will be influential in sons future romantic relationship communication competency. Methods: Research for this study will longitudinal, and performed on a set number of families, consisting of various family setups. The family setups will consist of families with a mother and a father, just a mother, and just a father. By making the study longitudinal, measurements of communication skill progress will be valid. Within a longitudinal study, progress and growth can be noted as the children grow up. Within the group of families selected, some will be comprised of families that have both a mother and father present, while others will have a single parent raising the children. The different family styles included will indicate how having explicitly the influence of only one parent will affect the child. By having a variety of family styles present within the study, a level of external validity will be more likely. Having a variety of family styles versus just families with both parents present involved will be more representative of todays society. It will not matter how many children each family has; however, at the beginning of the study, the children must be under the age of 5 (kindergarten aged) in order to note progress in communication skills development. The first instrument in the study will be interviews conducted by a qualified researcher, similar to questions asked in the Freitag & Belsky (2006) study, with each of the families every 3 years, until the children reach late adolescence (approximately 18 years old). The interviewer will set up a time to interview the parents, or parent, and age permitting (must be at least 5 years old), the children questions about the levels of communication present within the family. Questions that parent(s) will be asked will indicate what form of

Parent-Child Communication 5 communication style they advocate- ranging from a very communicative family atmosphere to one where conformity to the parents ideas are valued. How each parent answers will also help identify distinctions between what kind of communication is valued by mothers, and what kind is valued by fathers. Questions that children will be asked will indicate which communication style that they perceive their parent(s) advocate. In addition, for families with both parents present, the children will be asked questions about which parent they spend the most time with, and who they feel more comfortable with. Questions will be modified as the children get older and family dynamics change. Additionally, the interviews will be video taped so the research team can view and interpret the interviews together. This form of measurement will promote validity of the experiment by providing data of the communication skill development process as it is occurring. The second instrument in the study will be a Parent-Child Communication Questionnaire issued to the parent(s) on the same day of the interviews. This will be scored with a 5point Lickert scale, 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. The Questionnaire will ask each parent specific questions about the level of communication that he or she has with each individual child in the family. Questions will include ones such as, I encourage my child to talk to me if they are upset, and, I make an effort to spend time alone with my child. The parent(s) will fill out a different questionnaire about each child. This is important because past studies suggest that the sex of a child plays a role in which communication skills are developed. The third instrument will be a Child-Parent Communication Questionnaire issued to the children within the families once they reach early adolescence (approximately 11-13 years old). The Lickert scale will also be utilized within this instrument. This questionnaire will ask questions about the level of communication that her or she has with each individual parent. Each child will fill out a separate questionnaire for each parent in order to determine the differences between parents in level of communication influence. Questions will include ones such as, When I am upset I do not tell my mom, and, When I am excited I tell my dad. The fourth instrument will be a Child-Peer Communication Questionnaire issued to the children within the family along with the Child-Parent Communication Questionnaire. The Lickert scale will measure the level of communication competence with peers. This questionnaire, given to the children once they reach early adolescence will ask the children questions about their peer relationships. This is important because how the children communicate with peers should reflect how they communicate with parents. Questions will include ones such as, Most of my friends are the same sex as me, and I feel comfortable talking to my friends about things that are important to me. The level of communication competence gained from each individual parent will be calculated and evaluated by trained coders who will analyze all four measures together, with sex of the child as a control factor.

Parent-Child Communication 6 The three questionnaires will provide instrument reliability because the answers are rated on a scale from 1-5, so there will be minimal variance when researchers interpret the data. Additionally, questions will remain the same for each questionnaire at every time it is administered in order to track changes in answers as time progresses throughout the study. Predictions: In accordance with my hypothesis I believe the research will support that mothers have a greater influence on both son and daughter communication skill development. I expect this outcome because some previous research indicates that children feel closer, or have higher attachment security to mothers (Freitag & Belsky, 1996; Black et al., 2007). Through a higher level of comfort with the mother, I think that children will communicate more often with mothers; therefore providing more opportunities for children to gain communication skills and skill competency from the mother. Additionally, I think I will find that skills related to social and emotional competency will be related to the mothers influence on the child. Research indicates that females more often than males report higher levels of communication both within the home and within peer relationships (Koesten, 2004; Kenny & Gallagher, 2004), supporting the notion that females are more active in the communication process. I also predict that fathers will be influential for daughters future romantic relationship communication competency, and mothers influential for sons future romantic relationship communication competency. I expect this result because the opposite sex parent is the first encounter a child will have with the opposite sex. If a healthy relationship is established with that parent, it is more likely that the child will be more competent at communicating with the opposite sex later in life, leading to higher communication competency in romantic relationships. Issues I foresee within this research proposal revolve around the notion that this is a longitudinal study, conducted over a very broad span of time. With this in mind, this study will have to have a limited number of people involved; it would be too difficult to track a large number of families for up to eighteen years. A number of uncontrollable variables exist (i.e. job changes, deaths, moving, failure to stay in contact) that would prevent a large group of subjects to be sustained throughout the long time period. Because of this, the external validity of the study will also be limited. However, the information gained through the intensive study of the selected families will be an invaluable contribution to the study of parent-child communication skills development and competency. Because of the longitudinal nature of this study, researchers will be able to document the progress of communication skills development, rather than rely on subjects childhood memories of parent-child communication. Evidence from interviews and questionnaires could have the potential to indicate the possibilities of parent specific communication skill transference to children. This would be a very valuable tool in todays society for developing prevention programs to ensure that children are learning how to communicate effectively, even in the absence of one

Parent-Child Communication 7 parent. Without essential communication skills developed during childhood, adults will continue the trend of ineffective communication within their own families, which is one significant aspect that this study could begin to address.

Parent-Child Communication 8 References

Black, Katherine A., Schutte, Emily D. (2006). Recollections of Being Loved. Journal of Family Issues, 2, 1459-1480. Black, Katherine A., Whittingham, Cori L., Reardon, Laura E., Tumolo & Jaqlyn M. (2007). Associations between young adults recollections of their childhood experiences with parents and observations of their interaction behavior with best friends. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 28-37. Denollet, Johan, Smolderen, Kim G.E., van den Broek, Krista C. Pedersen & Susanne S. (2006). The 10-item remembered relationship with parents scale: Two factor model and association with adult depressive symptoms. Journal of Affective Disorders, 100, 179-189. Freitag, Milam K., Belsky, Jay. (1996). Continuity in parent-child relationships from infancy to middle childhood and relation with friendship competence. Child Development, 67, 1437-1454. Kenny, M.E., Gallagher, L.A. (2002). Instrumental and social/relational correlates of perceived maternal and paternal attachment in adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 25, 204-219. Koesten, Joy. (2004). Family communication patterns, sex of subject, and communication competence. Communication Monographs, 71, 226-244.

Parent-Child Communication 9 Laible, Deborah. (2007). Attachment with parents and peers in late adolescents: Links with emotional competence and social behavior. Personality and Individual differences, 43, 1185-1197. Osborne, Cynthia, McLanahan, Sara. (2007). Partnership Instability and Child Well-Being. Journal of Marriage and Family. 69, 1065-1083. Veenstra, Rene, Lindenberg, Siegwart, Oldehinkel, Albertine J. De Winter, Andrea, &Ormel, Johan. (2006). Temperament, environment, and antisocial behavior in a population sample of preadolescent boys and girls. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30, 422-432. Y, Liu. (2006). Paternal/maternal attachment, peer support, social expectations of peer interaction, and depressive symptoms. Adolescence, 41, 705-721.