PREDICTING MALADAPTIVE PARENTING - ROLE OF MATERNAL OBJECT RELATIONS

Thirty-four mother-child dyads participated in a two-session experimen t investigating the relation between mother object relations and malad aptive parenting processes in a larger multivariate model. In the firs t session, trained observers videotaped mothers and their children in natural interaction within their own home. In the second session, moth ers completed several questionaires tapping child behavior, mother dys phoria, socioemotional climate, and mother object relations. These pre dictors were regressed against two criterion variables: maternal compl iance with child disobedience and mother indiscriminate childcare beha vior. Results show that object relations variables accounted for varia nce that was not explained by the covariates for mother indiscriminanc e but not for maternal compliance. These results are discussed within the framework of understanding maladaptive parenting.