MOTHERS AND FATHERS SOCIALIZING BEHAVIORS IN 3 CONTEXTS - LINKS WITH CHILDRENS PEER COMPETENCE

Links were examined between parenting behavior and preschool-aged chil dren's peer competence. Mothers and fathers were observed with their c hildren in contexts designed to elicit parent-child play, involvement in child-peer play, and social coaching. Child competence was assessed via peer and teacher ratings. Mothers' and fathers' behaviors were la rgely independent, both within and across contexts. Parent-child play was associated with boys', but not girls', peer competence. Mothers' c oaching was associated with girls', but not boys', competence. Mothers ' involvement in child-peer play predicted lower levels of child compe tence, whereas fathers' involvement predicted higher levels of compete nce. A regression analysis showed that mothers' social coaching and fa ther-child play additively and incrementally predicted children's soci al skillfulness. Findings are discussed in terms of a model of the con text-specific, differential socialization of boys and girls.