Abstracts Category : Other

Emotional and Behavioral Effects within the Triadic Family System: Actor-Partner Interdependence between Parents and Preschoolers

by Alexandra L Montena

The purpose of the current study is to examine emotional and behavioralinterdependence within the triadic family system. Interdependence was assessed overtime between 17 participant groups of mothers, fathers and preschoolers. Responses ofeach parent and preschooler were observed during story recitations that were chosen toelicit positive or negative responses; observations included measures of attention,external affect, and affective congruency. Parental self-report ratings of expressivity,negative emotions, and child temperament were compared to observations during storyrecitations, as well. Some father-child interactions appeared to be affected by storycondition. However, parent gender had little effect on parent-child interactions overall inregards to child consistency. The findings suggest that children drive the interactionsmore so than parents. Further research with a larger sample size is needed to fully examine the emotional and behavioral interdependence between parents andpreschoolers. 2017 Degree granted: Thesis(M.A.) FloridaAtlanticUniversity, 2017. Collection: FAUAdvisors/Committee Members: Jones, Nancy Aaron Dr. (Thesis advisor), Charles E. Schmidt College of Science (Degree grantor).