MATERNAL CONTROL AND 2-YEAR-OLDS COMPLIANCE AND DEFIANCE

Studies of parental caregiving and child compliance/defiance have yiel ded inconsistent and often weak findings. In this study, we investigat ed whether differences in the predictive power of maternal control in relation to child behaviour varied as a function of the type of measur e employed. We hypothesised that ratings of maternal behaviour would p redict child behaviour better than would maternal frequencies because ratings take the child's needs into account in assessing maternal beha viour. A sample of 95 mothers and their 2-year-old children were obser ved in laboratory and home settings. It was found that maternal rating s and frequency counts predicted child defiance equally well within th e laboratory setting. Across settings, only maternal ratings correlate d with child defiance, and this correlation was significantly greater than that between maternal frequencies and child defiance. The frequen cies and ratings provided evidence of convergent validity for one anot her as measures of quality of maternal control.