The major objective of this proposed research is to identify distinguishing patterns of mother-child interaction in divorced and married families with preschool children. Specfically, this research will seek to identify reciprocal patterns of interaction that occur between a mother and her preschool child, having taken into account the family's internal and external resources, e.g., its marital status, experience with additional stress, social status position, maternal employment, level of maternal-child psychosocial functioning, the child's age and gender and the number of significant others in the family. The role of the father as a mediating influence in mother-child interaction will also be explored. The proposed multi-measure approach is designed to obtain a many faceted view of mothers and their preschool children, through parental self-report, fathers' observations, reports of day care/preschool providers and direct behavioral observation. The subjects of the study will include 80 divorced and 80 married mothers and their preschool children (80 boys and 80 girls) who attend day care centers/preschools located in Salt Lake County, Utah. The participating dyads will be videotaped just prior to and during the dinner hour, a period of high interaction and potential family tension. These videotapes will be analyzed from two perspectives: a base rate analysis of the type, incidence and intensity of interacting behaviors that occur between mother and preschool child (given the factors described above) and second, a lag sequential analysis to examine the issues of reciprocity and dominance in the mother-child dyad. Hypotheses related to the base rate analyses as well as the reciprocity of control and support, control-oriented and coercive dominance have been formulated and will serve as guidelines for the data analysis. Hypotheses-generating analyses will also be undertaken to explore the relationship of marital satisfaction, family adaptation, cohesion, and coping to the observed patterns of mother-child interaction. It is proposed that such basic research would enhance our knowledge both about the impact of divorce on the socialization of children and the reciprocal nature of mother-child interaction. Such research would build on previously conducted observational research but would include an identified vulnerable population """"""""at risk"""""""" for potential disorganization: The divorced family with preschool children.
