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I“III'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, I .III III IIIIIIIIIII III III I z I,.;.I+II..II II III II III ‘III II IIIIEIIII'I. I II {III IIIII MI III. III III III III IIIIIIIIIII'I I I,I IIII’“IIIIIII II I' II-III I II “I'II'I ”III I III IIIIIIII IIIIIIIII III I. II _ I . III II' III III” IIIIIIII 'I III . ’ III 'I III. I'I'III II'II‘I IIIII'IIII IIIIIIIII ..... " «mu 1:5}; -.- ,_‘_r -1 illlllllUlUllzllHlIUHII”NW”!WWIIIHWIINIHI 293 10395 4305 This is to certify that the thesis entitled Antieipetien of School Entry A: a Function 0! Maternal Identity And The Child's Role In The Panily presented by Kristine Ellen Preeark has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ma! LEE—d. egree in M1110 [WC/H MQ/ WEN/2mm, \Weajmpfss Date fiblgg‘<\‘l<( 0—7 639 ANTICIPATION OF SCHOOL ENTRY AS A FUNCTION OF MATERNAL IDENTITY AND THE CHILD'S ROLE IN THE FAMILY by Kristine Ellen Freeark A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of Psychology 1978 ABSTRACT ANTICIPATION OF SCHOOL ENTRY AS A FUNCTION OF MATERNAL IDENTITY AND THE CHILD'S ROLE IN THE FAMILY BY Kristine Ellen Freeark This study examined the transition that school entry entails for the mother of the entering kindergartner and the mother-child relationship. The relationships between mother's self-concept, non-maternal interests, child-rearing attitudes, perception of child's autonomy, and school adjustment were examined. It was concluded that: (1) mother's positive self-concept was associated with encouragement of child's independence; (2) self-esteem was not related to non-maternal interests; (3) mothers with positive self-concepts are more likely to be satisfied with their balance of commitments to themselves and to their families; (4) mothers who are approaching the end of the period of preschool child-rearing and who are invested in roles apart from their maternal identity value their child's independence and self-sufficiency. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Lucy Ferguson, chairperson of my thesis committee, for her enthusiasm, guidance, and support from the earliest stages of this research to its completion. The statistical advice that Bill Crano pro- vided was especially helpful and I have enjoyed working with him. I also appreciate the continual encouragement I get from Helen Benedict, as well as her editorial sug- gestions on this thesis. My thanks also to Kathy Marquardt, Jeff Thrash, Jan Schubert, and Pat Sorenson for their diligent work at collecting and coding the data, and their willingness to put out an extra effort when it was most needed. Without the help of the mothers who were willing to share their experience of their child's kindergarten entry, this research would not have been possible. And I also extend thanks to the Okemos elementary schools, principals, and kindergarten teachers for their assistance. And last, my thanks to Bob Zucker who supported me, listened patiently to my frustrations, and helped me curb my obsessing. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION . . Summary . . . . Statement of Problem . . . . . . . . . . 4 and S . . . . . . . . Hypotheses 6a and 6b . . . . . . . . . . II. METHOD . . . . . . Subjects . . . . Procedure . . . Instruments . . III. RESULTS . . . . . Hypothesis 1 . . Hypotheses 2, 3, Hypothesis 7 . . IV. DISCUSSION . . . . Results Relating Results Relating Involvement . Results Relating Child Starting Results Relating to Mother's Self Concept to Non-maternal Role to Mother's Feelings about School . . . . . . . . to Teacher Ratings of Kindergarten Adjustment . . . . . . . Suggestions for Further Research . . . . REFERENCES . . . . . . . APPENDICES Appendix A. Letter to Mothers. B. Mother's Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Coding Schedule for Mother's D. Data Sheet . . . . Interview . . E. Child Behavior Descriptions. . . . . . . F. Stanford Parent Questionnaire. . . . . . . G. Rating Scales. . . iii Page 12 13 16 16 18 20 3O 30 33 37 38 41 41 44 48 50 53 57 60 61 63 72 77 84 93 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The transition to school marks the greatest change in the life of the five year old. At this time the child is exposed to new authorities and controls outside the home; Parental influences are supplemented by those of his teacher, other school officials, and peers. The number of friends is increased as well as the amount of peer contact. The child must learn to be one among many, in contrast, probably, to his more favored position at home. New per- formance demands are made of him, and his achievements will be compared to those of his classmates. The ease with which the child makes these adjustments is determined by a number of personality and background factors. If his family has encouraged and facilitated contact with peers, self- sufficiency, and the acceptance of suggestions and criticism it is likely that his adjustment will proceed smoothly. An additional factor to be considered is the emo- tional support and encouragement he gets from the signifi- cant persons in his life, particularly his mother. A feeling of self-confidence and security enables the child to venture forth willingly into new situations. The secure 1 child has both a close, positive attachment to his mother and her encouragement to explore, develop new competencies, and become increasingly independent (Ainsworth, 1967). Research on adjustment and success during the ele- mentary school years has identified certain parental atti- tudes, particularly those of mothers, which are significant predictors of maturity, social adjustment, mastery and achievement. Three categories of maternal attitudes asso- ciated with the deve10pment of these positive characteri- stics are: (1) high self-esteem, (2) warmth and acceptance of the child, and (3) valuation of the child's independence and self-sufficiency along with low restrictiveness (Rau, Mlodnosky & Anastasiow, 1964; Winder & Rau, 1962; Winter- bottom, 1958). These factors correlate with good adjustment in children at the kindergarten and higher elementary school levels. In view of the influence that a mother's perspective on herself, her child, and child-rearing have on healthy development, it seems important to consider the effects that the child's school entry has on her. Like her child, she is also likely to undergo a process of adjustment at this time. If the family is conceptualized as a social system composed of interdependent roles, it becomes clear that the child's role shift from "baby" to student changes family interrelationships, the mother-child relationship in particular. Gross, Mason and McEachern (1958) stated that a role consists of a set of expectations of how the person in that role will behave toward other roles within the same social system. If the expectations and behaviors across interdependent roles are consistent, then the system is "in balance." At the time of school entry the child's demands on his mother change-—she will play a different part in his upbringing henceforth as she adapts to his new acti- vities and needs. Likewise, her view of the child, the performance she expects of him, and her self-definition as "mother" alter. The mother- and child-roles enter a new phase. While their mutual expectations and behaviors re- main in flux and undefined the family system is described as "out of balance." In order to return it to a balanced state, an adjustment process must take place to restore consistency and compatibility across roles. The concept of "role cluster" is pertinent to the consideration of the woman in this situation. Each social person has a cluster of roles, including one central role at its nucleus and secondary roles at varying distances from this center according to the degree of significance attributed to each (Lopata, 1969). The way in which these roles interlock contributes to the individual's self- identity. The characteristics of each role in the cluster, and the orientation of the cluster as a whole are modified as the individual enters a new life stage. One means of adjustment to the decreased importance of and rewards from the mother-role is to shift the position of other roles in the cluster; A new role, or several roles, shift toward the center of the cluster and supplement the satisfaction derived from the activities of motherhood. The extent of "imbalance" that the mother incurs at the time of school entry will be expected to vary as a function of the prospective kindergartner's position in the sibling order. If the child entering kindergarten is the youngest of the offspring, the family moves into a new phase of its life cycle, the "full-house plateau" (Lopata, 1969). This stage of the family life cycle is characterized by all children being of school age but still living at home, and no expectations for the birth of additional chil- dren. As the family enters this "plateau" the role of the full-time homemaker is in the most "imbalance." It is generally assumed that her daily responsibilities, which have previously centered around the supervision and enter- tainment of children, are eased as the children spend part of the day in school. As the pressing requirements of pre- schoolers end, she may no longer be bound to the house. This free time may have been accruing gradually as each successive child entered school, and at this point the process is finalized. With today's continually improving household maintenance products and the routine services typically performed outside the home, the daytime hours at home may be less busy, less challenging, and less personally satisfying. Alternate roles in which a woman is already involved, or in which she can become involved, (e.g., wife, worker, student, volunteer) as well as unstructured self- satisfying activities, can accommodate a role shift. For the woman who has pursued activities outside the home during her children's preschool years this role shift may not involve a great change in either activities or self-identity. The decrease in demands of child care may be eagerly anti- cipated by some women. The period of preschool children may be one of frustration for the mother with other inter- ests and commitments. She may look forward to the freedom that her children's school schedule affords her. On the other hand, the woman who has found daytime participation with her children most demanding, fulfilling, and creative may now find these hours of the day to be a void. She may not have recognized, or may even have denied, the change that her youngest child's school entry would entail for her activities. The full-time homemaker in this position may experience a period of turbulence as she contemplates her future and that of her family. The major- ity of mothers in this country are thirty-two years old, or younger, when they see their youngest child off to school and can look forward to some thirty-five years of life (Hoffman & Nye, 1974). For many of them motherhood has been their major role and investment of energy for at least the past five years. As a function of its nature, the mother role will decrease in relative importance from this point onward. Weiss and Samelson (1958) found that often along with the decrease in demands placed on the mothers of school-aged children went a decrease in the fulfillment from family involvements; Of the nonworking mothers of school-aged children in their sample only 41% mentioned family interrelationships as a source of satisfaction, as compared to 58% of the nonworking mothers of preschoolers. Many women enter into a period of questioning of their self-identity and life goals. Hoffman and Nye (1974) note that this "common choice point is one that cuts across educational groups" (p. 94). They are likely to ask them- selves who they are apart from their husband's wife and their children's mother, and they might then consider who it is they really want to be (Bernard, 1975). To answer these questions a woman must make a decision about the future importance of her current roles or acquired new ones. For the full-time homemaker the decision to enter into new activities may not be an easy one. Women who have had education and training for work other than that of a mother and housewife may find that they have lost their work experience, skills and self-confidence during their chil- dren's preschool years. The prospect of re-entering the formal education system may also be awesome due to their age, tarnished study skills, and the competing and unpre- dictable commitments of family and home. However, the increasing participation of mothers in the labor force and in continuing education programs suggests that these are viable alternatives for many. The thought of defining herself as an individual apart from her family can represent a foreboding challenge to a woman in this position. It may also represent a threat to the masculine role identity of her husband. If the prospect of other options is unattractive, for whatever reasons, the woman may decide to have another baby. Another child may serve to postpone the decline of the maternal identity and responsibilities, as well as to provide the wife with a sense of renewed youth and purposefulness (Hoffman & Hoffman, 1973). The process and problems of making these choices will have an effect on the woman's morale and self-satis- faction. Research on the effects of maternal employment has indicated that the mother's feelings about her work, whether it is homemaking or outside employment, is a signi- ficant mediating variable (Douvan, 1963; Hoffman & Nye, 1974; Woods, 1972). A mother's fulfillment or frustration in her other (non-mother) roles has been shown to have an effect on her attitudes toward her child and toward herself as a mother. Mothers who remained at home out of a sense of "duty,” although they would have preferred to work, reported less emotional satisfaction from their children and less confidence in their mothering. They were also rated less adequate on a summary scale of child-rearing as compared to satisfied nonworking and working mothers (Yarrow, Scott, DeLeeuw & Heinig, 1962). Additional support for the hypothesis that a mother's investment in non-mother roles affects the healthy development of her child comes from research on childhood psychopathology. Levy (1966) noted that in cases of severe maternal overprotection the mother's activities and energies were completely centered around the child. For these women complete submersion in the mother-role was accompanied by a loosening of all other social and emotional ties, including those to their husbands. Nine of the 14 overprotective mothers he observed had either drastically diminished or completely discontinued their social activities and reported that this was due primarily to the mother-child relationship. Intense involvement with the child, to the exclusion of all other roles, resulted in a destructive and stunting intru- sion into the life and development of the child. School phobia has also been conceptualized as an outgrowth of a severely disturbed parent-child relationship, typically mother-child (Kelly, 1973). Eisenberg (1958) concluded that the school phobic child's fear is not act- ually of school, but of leaving the mother. Excessive overdependence is fostered by the mother, almost at the conscious level, to meet her own needs, rather than those of the child. Her anxiety over the separation created by school is subtly communicated to the child and displaced onto the school. Although Eisenberg did not inquire about the social relationships and activities of these mothers, he did note that their marital relationships were unfulfilling and nonsupportive. In such cases intervention aimed at getting the child into a school without the simultaneous treatment of the mother invariably fails (Hersov, 1960). If the mother's need to see the child as a vehicle of her own self-worth obstructs her recognition of him as a separate individual the pressure and implicit demands become detrimental to his psychological deve10pment (Moustakas, 1953; Satir, 1967). On the other hand, parents secure in their own distinct identities and able to satisfy their own needs raise children who are autonomous and relate well socially (Murphey, Silber, Coelho, Hamburg & Greenberg, 1963). Out of this body of evidence a profile emerges of the mother whose child's adjustment to kindergarten should proceed the most smoothly; This woman has high self-esteem and her feelings of competence allow her to accept her child as he is without demanding that he supply her with a sense of self—worth. The satisfaction which she gets from her family relationships is supplemented by fulfilling interests and activities outside the home. She sees these other sources of personal reward as areas into which she will channel more of her time and energies as her children 10 grow up and their demands on her decrease. This mother anticipates her child's entry into school with positive expectations for the changes in both his life and her own. She encourages his autonomy and self-sufficiency and is not highly restrictive of his activities. A second type of mother would be expected to have more difficulty adjusting to her child's initial movement away from home. This woman defines herself almost strictly in terms of her family relationships and her feelings of competence are rooted primarily in her role as a wife and mother. She does not have a variety of involvements outside of her homemaking activities and she does not anticipate developing any after her children enter school. Her atti- tudes toward child-rearing do not emphaSize independence and self-sufficiency, instead she views the child as very dependent on her and restricts his activities. The chal- lenge that school presents to this dependent mother-child relationship will be difficult for her, and presumably for her child. As mentioned previously, the child's position in the sibling order is expected to affect the meaning that school entry has for the mother. The entry of the youngest child into kindergarten marks the greatest change in the mother's distribution of responsibilities. Her increased freedom during the hours that the children are at school and the possibly diminished rewards of the mother-role challenge 11 her to consider her future goals and identity. However, because she has been through the process of school entry with her older children, her qualms concerning the child's well-being would be expected to be fewer than for the mother who is going through the process for the first time. The mother whose oldest child is entering kinder- garten is facing this separation experience for the first time. It is expected that her anxieties about this step will be centered more on the child's successful adjustment than on the meaning of her roles as a woman and mother. Because her younger children are still at the preschool age, the identity questions which often accompany the "full- house plateau" will not be pressing for at least another year. The case of the only child might be expected to follow either of the patterns described above, and more likely, a combination of the two. Not only is this the mother's first experience with school entry, but (unless another child is expected) it also marks the end of her most intensive child-rearing involvement. In addition, the closeness of the mother-only child relationship might make the separation even more difficult for them both. A middle child may have "the best of both worlds." His mother might be expected to be more relaxed about the prospect of school entry since she has been through it before with an older sibling. She may have less of her 12 need for achievement invested in the middle child. She also has preschoolers still in the home and thus is not forced to face the decision of what direction her energies will take after her children have begun to move toward increasing independence from the home. The distribution of ordinal positions in Hersov's (1960) study of school phobia cases lends some support to the hypothesized favorable situation of the middle child; Of the 50 children he studied, 13 were oldest children in the family, 18 were youngest, 14 were only children and 5 were middle siblings. Summary The importance of the mother-child relationship for the healthy psychological development of the child has been widely supported by a variety of research findings. Some of the maternal factors which have been identified as signi- ficant determinants are: (1) maternal warmth and acceptance of the child; (2) encouragement of independence and self- sufficient behavior; (3) low restrictiveness and an emphasis on autonomy and; (4) maternal self-esteem. A mother with high self-esteem and self-acceptance will be expected to be more accepting of her child (Medinnus, 1967). Similarly, a mother who is confident in her own identity and self-worth will have less need to live through her child. She will be better able to encourage the child's development as an autonomous and self-reliant individual. 13 The entry of a child into kindergarten is a transi- tion which can greatly affect the activities and satisfac- tions of a mother. If her perception of herself is centered primarily in her role as a mother, this transition can be difficult for her. If the mother's positive self-identity is derived from a variety of roles and activities, she is likely to adjust more smoothly to the child's gradually diminishing reliance. The kindergartner's position in the sibling order is expected to be a factor in his mother's perception of the meaning of school entry. Change in the responsibilities and demands of the mother-role will probably be greatest at the point when the youngest child begins his school career. Statement of Problem The evidence presented previously suggests that there is an association between a mother's identity, as defined both by her self-esteem and her role cluster, her perception of her child, and her child-rearing attitudes and practices. These factors have all been identified as significant in the healthy psychological development of children. The present study investigates the interrelations of these variables and the child's role in the family (as defined primarily by ordinal position), and their influence on a mother's anticipation of school entry and the changes it will entail for both herself and her child. The following hypotheses are prOposed: H1. H2. H3. H4. H5. H6a. H6b. 14 There is a significant positive correlation between maternal self-esteem and encouragement of indepen- dence and autonomy in the child. There is a significant positive correlation between a mother's satisfaction and self-identity derived from non-maternal roles and encouragement of inde- pendence and autonomy in her child. There is a significant positive correlation between a mother's involvement in non-maternal roles and activities and her perception of her child's self-sufficiency. There is a significant positive correlation between the satisfaction and self-identity a mother derives from non-maternal roles and her anticipation of school entry. There is a significant negative correlation between the satisfaction and self-identity a mother derives from the non-maternal roles and her restrictiveness in child-rearing and encouragement of dependence in her child. There is a significant positive correlation between a mother's perception of the meaning of school entry for her identity and activities and her expectations for her child's adjustment. For mothers of oldest and only children entering kindergarten it is expected that apprehension H7. 15 about child's adjustment and negative anticipation of changes for self will be less closely asso- ciated than in other ordinal position groups. There is an interaction between maternal role cluster and ordinal position of the child, such that: Within the group of mothers who derive their satisfaction and identity primarily from the mother-role, mothers of youngest and only pros- pective kindergartners will have a more negative anticipation of school entry. CHAPTER II METHOD Subjects The sample consisted of 90 children who were entering kindergarten in the Fall, and their mothers. The subjects were obtained from the population of about 200 families with children entering kindergarten in the public school system of Okemos, Michigan. The mothers were con- tacted, with the school's assistance, at the annual ”Kindergarten Roundup" in May. A brief letter describing the research project was handed out and the names of 93 volunteers were taken for later contact. (A copy of the letter is in Appendix A.) Their participation was com- pletely voluntary. Four of the volunteering mothers later decided not to participate, leaving a total sample of 89 mothers. The volunteering mother-child pairs were assigned to one of four groups on the basis of the child's ordinal position in the family: (1) child entering school was the oldest of the siblings (N=3l); (2) child was a middle sibling (N=7); (3) child was the youngest (N=43); and (4) an only child (N=7). The sample contained one set of male 16 17 twins who were not included in any of the above ordinal position groups. The data obtained on the twins and from their mother was used in all analyses except those relating directly to child's ordinal position. The sample included 39 girls and 51 boys. Table 1 shows the breakdown by sex of the four ordinal positions. Table 1.--Sex Composition of the Ordinal Position Groups Girls Boys Total Oldest 13 18 31 Middle 3 4 7 Youngest 20 23 43 Only 3 4 g 7 At the beginning of school, the children ranged in age from four years, seven months to six years, one month, with an average age of five years, four months. Of the 77 children on whom we obtained information about pre- kindergarten school experience, 33 had attended nursery or pre-school for longer than one year, 34 had attended for one year or less, and 10 had not attended school before. (Missing data due to recording failure on mother's inter- view, see Procedure.) The mothers' ages ranged from 24 to 51 with an average age of 34. Typically, these women had some college training, most had completed at least an undergraduate 18 degree. An estimate of social position (Hollingshead, 1957) was computed for each family on which information on the husband's occupation and education was complete. Hollingshead's scale ranges from ratings of one (high) to seven. The average rating for this sample was 1.72 with a range of ratings from one to four (N=86). This high social class level appears to be typical of this upper-middle class Michigan community. Procedure The volunteering mothers were contacted by phone early in the summer. The details of participation were explained to them (questionnaire materials to be completed by the mother and a brief interview in her home) and an appointment was made for the interview. Two female inter- viewers, the investigator and an undergraduate research assistant, did all interviewing. Seventy-four of the women were interviewed between the beginning of June and the end of July. The remaining 15 were interviewed in late September or early October.- The data obtained during the summer have been analyzed separately from those of those of the total sample. The results of the "summer" data are not essentially different from those of the sample as a whole. The home visit began with a brief interview with the mother (format described below). These interviews were tape recorded and generally ran an average of 15 to 20 19 minutes in length. After the interview, the questionnaire materials were given to the woman and explained briefly. She was requested to complete them within the next few days and arrangements were made for the materials to be picked up by the interviewer or returned by mail. The interview tape and packet of materials were coded with a number assigned to the particular woman. The sheet con- taining identifying information on the family was separated from the data to preserve the anonymity of the subjects. Due to failures in the recording equipment and the inaudibility of some tapes, we were missing interview data for part of the sample. We had complete interviews for 74 mothers, partial interviews for 7, and no interview data for 8 mothers. As a result, the N's on data analyses derived from the mother's interview vary. Each mother was asked for her permission to have her child rated by his/her kindergarten teacher on several aspects of his/her adjustment to school. It was explained to the mother that these ratings were for the purposes of this research only; The ratings did not involve the child's participation or knowledge and the school did not receive any of the ratings. Mothers were asked to sign the form either giving or withholding their permission for the ratings. Eighty-seven of the mothers agreed to the ratings. 20 Instruments Mother's Interview.--The short, semi-structured interview focused on the mother's current activities, roles, and her feelings about the child's entry into kindergarten. Aspects of the meaning of school entry for the child, the mother, and the mother-child relationship were covered. The mother was asked about her short- and long-term pre- dictions of how the child's attendance at school would affect her activities, scheduling of time, and goals. Information about the child's pre-kindergarten school experience was obtained. A copy of the interview schedule is included in Appendix B. The interview responses were coded using 24 cate- gories. The content of each category is underlined in the copy of the coding system contained in Appendix C. Of these 24 categories, 8 were used in the data analyses: Satisfaction with current life situation in terms of family versus self-fulfilling commitments; Mother's expectations about child's school adjustment; Mother's feelings about child starting school; Pre-kindergarten school experience; Woman's prediction of how much change school entry will make in her schedule; Plans to have more children; Non- maternal Role involvement; and Anticipation of school entry. Each tape was coded by two undergraduate psychology majors trained with the coding system developed for the interview. Interrater reliabilities, computed with a 21 Pearson product-moment correlation, for the eight interview categories used in the data analysis ranged from .71 to .99 with a mean reliability of .85. The reliabilities are listed in Table 2. Table 2.--Interrater Reliabilities of Mothers' Interview Items, Pearson Product-moment Correlations. Satisfaction with current life situation in terms of family versus self-fulfilling commitments .827 Mother's Expectations about Child's School Adjustment .706 Mother's Feelings about Child Starting School .774 Pre-Kindergarten School Experience .987 Woman's Prediction of how much change school entry will make in her schedule .912 Plans to have more children .946 Non-maternal Role Involvement .807 Anticipation of School Entry .815 After the two coders had coded an interview, they discussed the ratings on which they disagreed and reached a compromise rating. The scores used in the data analysis are those ratings on which the coders agreed--either on the original coding or as a result of a compromise. Data Sheet.--Background material obtained on the family included: (1) names and ages of all children, (2) parental educational levels and occupations, (3) the amount of exposure that the prospective kindergartner had to 22 activities involving peers other than siblings. A one way analysis of variance of the means of hours per week of peer contact for the four ordinal position groups shows no signi- ficant differences (F = 1.482, df = 3.82, p > .20). Thus, amount of peer contact may be ruled out as a confounding factor. Means and standard deviations of peer contact are listed in Table 3. The strikingly high mean of 41 hours per week for only children is probably best attributed to the unreliability of this estimate based on an N of 7. A c0py of the Data Sheet is included in Appendix D. Table 3.--Means and Standard Deviations of Hours of Peer Contact for the Four Ordinal Position Groups. Mean Standard Deviation Oldest 28.68 10.34 (N = 31) Middle 32.29 14.59 (N = 7) Youngest 29.63 15.95 (N = 41) Only 41.00 20.20 (N = 7) Age Expected Independence.--The Age Expected Independence Scale consists of 22 items describing a variety of self-help behaviors, competencies, and responsi- bilities applicable to childhood. Winterbottom's (1958) original scale was revised by Bing (1963); The scale in its 23 present form is the Bing version with some minor revisions to make it age-appropriate to kindergarten children (Rau, Mlodnosky & Anastasiow, 1964). A c0py of the scale is included in Appendix D with Data Sheet. The mother was instructed to indicate for each item the age at which she would "expect the average child to have learned this behavior." The mean of the mother's age responses was her score on the scale. This score represents her expectations for the "average" child. A lower score indicates that the mother expects independence to be achieved at a relatively young age. This scale is a some- what more indirect measure of parental attitudes on indepen- dence which is used to supplement other parent attitude instruments. Rau, Mlodnosky and Anastasiow's (1964) use of the Age Independence Scale with parents of young boys produced split-half reliabilities of .77 for mothers and .80 for fathers (corrected for attenuation by the Spearman-Brown formula). Tennessee Self Concept Scale.--The Tennessee Self Concept Scale (Fitts, 1965) consists of 100 self—descriptive items in Likert scale form. The subject completes the items as they most accurately describe her. Ninety of the items provide a picture of the subject's identity, self-satis- faction and behavior in the areas of: (1) physical self, (2) moral-ethical self, (3) personal self, (4) family self, and (5) social self. A Total Positive Score is derived 24 from the responses to these 90 items. The other 10 items constitute the Self Criticism Scale. These statements were selected from the L-scale of the Minnesota Multi- phasic Personality Inventory. The TSCS has good standardi- zation norms and both research on it, and its extensive clinical use confirm its acceptability and utility. The Total Positive Score was used as an indicator of the mothers' self-esteem. Child Behavior Descriptions.--The 20-item Child Behavior Descriptions questionnaire is designed to tap the extent of the child's self-sufficient behavior as perceived at home. It was originally developed for use in a Labora- tory of Human Development Study of Identification at Stan- ford University (Sears, Rau and Alpert, 1965). Each of the 20 items deals with a behavior which would be common to most five year olds--for example, eating, dressing, putting away toys. For each item the mother was asked to check one of four or five alternatives which best described her child's typical behavior in this area. The alternatives range from a low degree of self-sufficiency (for example, "When he comes to the table he just sits and must be waited on") to a high degree of initiative and responsibi- lity ("Cares for self at table as well as anticipating needs of others"). In the case where the mother had not had an opportunity to observe the child's performance in 25 the specific behavioral area, she noted this by checking an alternative designated "No opportunity to observe." The mean score on the Child Behavior Descriptions was used as a measure of the mother's perception of her child's self-sufficiency at home. A copy of the question- naire is included in Appendix E. Mlodnosky's (1962) use of 19 of the Child Behavior Description items with a sample of mothers of kindergarten boys yielded a split-half reli- ability of .81. Stanford Parent Questionnaire.--A condensed version of the Stanford Parent Questionnaire (Winder & Rau, 1962), a measure of parental child-rearing attitudes, was included in the materials distributed to the mothers. The 69-item version of the SPQ used in this study consists of 6 of the original 28 scales: Restrictiveness, Nonrestrictiveness, Rejection, Rewarding Independence, Child's Mastery, and Achievement Standards. The items are statements made by parents about themselves, their children and their families. The mother was directed to indicate her agreement or disagreement with each statement by checking one of four responses: strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree. Each re- sponse is scored from four to one, four indicating either strongly agree or strongly disagree according to the direction of the statement. The total score on the scale equals the sum of the scores on the items. 26 The use of various SPQ scales in studies with the parents of young boys has yielded evidence as to the satisfactory reliability of the instrument (Anastasiow, 1963; Mlodnosky, 1962). Although reliabilities for all the six scales used in this study are not available, Mlodnosky reported split-half reliabilities for three of the scales as completed by mothers: Restrictiveness, .6975; Rewarding Independence, .6669; and Achievement Standards, .6498. A c0py of the instrument, with scales and scoring system labelled, is contained in Appendix F. Teacher Ratings.-—In December and early January the four kindergarten teachers in Okemos completed ratings on the children in their classes. Seven rating scales were used: Involvement in the School Experience; Self—Sufficiency; Intellectual Development; Emotional Independence from the Family and Home; Social Virtues; Self—Confidence; and Adjustment to Kindergarten. Each teacher was asked to place each child in her class into one of four groups on the basis of whether he/she was low, moderately low, moderately high, or high on the attribute measured by the particular scale. Each rating category received the following score: Low = 4, Moderately Low = 3, Moderately High = 2, High = l. Grouping was done by a forced distribution method with approximately 20 percent of the class in the High group, 20 percent in the Low group, and 30 percent each in the two Moderate groups. 27 The forced distribution procedure is intended to provide a basis of comparison between the ratings of different teachers. The teachers were provided with a list of those children whose mothers had given their permission for the ratings. They were asked to black out from the rating forms the names of any children not on the permission list. Teachers were paid ten dollars for their cooperation and time. Mlodnosky (1962) used this rating procedure in her study of kindergarten boys. The present project used some of her specific rating scales and some composed for the particular needs of this research. A copy of the rating format and definitions of the rating scales are included in Appendix G. The hypotheses mentioned previously are restated in operational terms as follows: H1. There is a significant positive correlation between Total Positive Score on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) and scores on the Stanford Parent Questionnaire (SPQ) scales (Nonrestrictiveness, Rewarding Independence, Child's Mastery and Achievement Standards), and a significant negative correlation with scores on the Age Expected Independence measure. H2. H3. H4. H5. H6a. H6b. H7. 28 There is a significant positive correlation between ratings of Non-maternal Role Involvement and SPQ scales (Nonrestrictiveness, Rewarding Independence, Child's Mastery, and Achievement Standards). There is a significant positive correlation between ratings of Non-maternal Role Involvement and scores on Child Behavior Descriptions. There is a significant positive correlation between ratings of Non—maternal Role Involvement amdratings of Positive Anticipation of School Entry. There is a significant negative correlation between ratings of Non—maternal Role Involvement and scores on Age Expected Independence and the SPQ Restric- tiveness scale. There is'a significant positive correlation between ratings of Mother's Feelings about Child Starting School and ratings of Positive Expectation for Child's Adjustment. For mothers of oldest and only children entering kindergarten, the positive correlation specified in H6a will be lower than for other ordinal position groups. For mothers of youngest and only prospective kindergartners there is a higher positive corre- lation between ratings of Non-maternal Role Involvement and Positive Anticipation of School Entry than for other ordinal position groups. 29 The hypotheses were tested with Pearson product- moment correlations. The level of probability required for rejection of the null hypothesis was five percent. Although data are available from all mothers, only 71 mothers provided complete protocols, thus in the analyses to follow N's vary and are based on maximum available data. CHAPTER III RESULTS Hypothesis 1 The correlations obtained for Hypothesis 1 are listed in Table 4. Correlations significant at the .05 level are marked with an asterisk (*). Hypothesis 1 concerned the relationship between a mother's self-esteem and her child-rearing attitudes. Specifically, it was predicted that a mother with a positive self—concept would encourage her child's independence and mastery. Table 4 shows that three of the five predicted relationships are significant at the .05 level. The rela- tionships between Mother's Total Positive score on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and Nonrestrictiveness and Child's Mastery are positive, as predicted. There is a significant negative relationship between Total Positive and Achievement Standards, in opposition to the prediction. Neither the Rewarding Independence Scale nor the Age Expected Independence measure was significantly correlated with Mother's Total Positive Score. 30 31 Table 4.--Corre1ations Between Mother's Total Positive Score on Tennessee Self Concept Scale and Various Child-Rearing Measures. -.._-——————- - .-_ .___. __ _.—_ t.— .. ..- __ _. _ . Stanford Parent Questionnaire Scales (N = 87) Nonrestrictiveness .234* Rewarding Independence .046 Child's Mastery .246* Achievement Standards -.224* Rejection -.677*** Age Expected Independence (N = 81) .113 * = p < .05 *** = p < .001 In order to understand the differential results for the three Stanford Parent Questionnaire measures of atti- tudes toward child's independence (Achievement Standards, Child's Mastery and Rewarding Independence), it is helpful to consider the intercorrelations of the SPQ scales. These correlations are presented in Table 5. The intercorrelations suggest that there are other dimensions represented in these three scales, in addition to the dimension of encouragement of independent behavior. Correlations with the Rejection and Restrictiveness scales, in particular, suggest that these are two important dimensions on which the independence-oriented scales vary. 32 Hoo. v Meet Ho. v mt. mo. v We ova. «tramm. Hma.| «atmomo «men. noncommum ucoEm>cho¢ «tamm. OHH. mmH. «mam.| humummz m .UHHSU mag. «mmm. mao.u mocmeemdmecH onwoum3mm «««MHV.I HmH.l mmwcw>HH IOfluumwucoz «rammm. mmmcm>fluowuummm cofluommmm wouoocmum xumummz oocmocmmmocH mmwcm>fiu mmocm>wu ucmew>mfino¢ m.oHH£O mcfloumBom Iofluummucoz iofluumwm cofluownom mmamom muflmccoflumwso ucmumm chewcmum mo coaumeuuooumucHil.m canoe 33 Achievement Standards has statistically significant posi- tive correlations with both Rejection and Restrictiveness (.51 and .24, respectively). A high score on Achievement Standards seems to imply expectations for child's self- sufficiency and mastery in a less accepting and more controlling context. Rewarding Independence correlates moderately posi- tively with Restrictiveness indicating some overlap with Achievement Standards on that dimension. Its correlation with Rejection is slightly negative. Child's Mastery has a statistically significant negative correlation with Rejection suggesting that it incorporates aspects of warmth and acceptance with the encouragement of autonomous behavior to a greater extent than either Achievement Stan- dards or Rewarding Independence. Total Positive Self Concept had a high negative correlation with the Rejection Scale. Hypotheses 2, 3, 4 and 5 The correlations obtained for Hypotheses 2, 3, 4 and 5 are listed in Table 6. Hypothesis 2 involved the relationship between a mother's investment in activities and interests apart from her maternal role and her child- rearing attitudes. Specifically, it was predicted that a mother who was involved to a great degree in other than maternal activities and maternal identity would be more encouraging of her child's independence and mastery. 34 Table 6.--Correlations Between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Maternal Attitudes. Stanford Parent Questionnaire Scales (N = 73) Nonrestrictiveness .172 Rewarding Independence .285* Child's Mastery .011 Achievement Standards -.l39 Restrictiveness -.101 Child Behavior Descriptions .028 (N = 74) Positive Anticipation of School Entry .004 (N = 74) Age Expected Independence .040 (N = 68) *p < .05 As Table 6 shows, of the four predicted relation- ships only one, that between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Rewarding Independence, is significant. When the rela- tionship between Rewarding Independence and Non-maternal Role Involvement is looked at for each of the ordinal posi- tion groups separately (See Table 7) it is seen that the overall positive relationship is made up of high positive correlations for the Youngest and Only groups and zero- order correlations for the Oldest and Middle groups. Of 35 Table 7.--Correlations Between Ratings of Non-maternal Role Involvement and Rewarding Independence for Total Sample and Ordinal Position Groups. --._.—. . -_-__.—-=...—_‘_.-——_-__--___. ‘— Total Oldest Middle Youngest Only (N = 73) (N = 25) N = 7) (N = 36) (N = 4) .285* -.019 .007 .498** .650 Oldest & Middle Youngest & Only (N = 32) (N = 40) -.016 .516*** *p < .05 **p < .01 ***p < .001 the four ordinal positions only Youngest has a correlation that reaches significance. Using Fisher's Z-transformation to test for differences between independent correlations it is found that there is a significant difference (2 = 2.247, p < .05) between the correlations of the Youngest & Only group and the Oldest & Middle group. Thus, Hypothesis 2 as operationalized by the Rewarding Independence Scale is clearly confirmed only forthe mothers of youngest entering kindergartners. The correlations involving Non- restrictiveness and Child's Mastery are in the predicted direction, but do not reach significance. The correlation between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Achievement Standards is in the opposite direction to that predicted. 36 Hypothesis 3 involved the relationship between a mother's Non-maternal Role involvement and her perception of her child's self-sufficiency as measured by the Child Behavior Descriptions. The positive relationship predicted between these two variables was not confirmed. There is virtually no correlation between Non-maternal Role Involve- ment and Child Behavior Descriptions. Hypothesis 4 involved the relationship between Non- maternal Role Involvement and a mother's stated feelings about her child starting kindergarten. A positive rela- tionship was predicted between two variables derived from the Mother's Interview, Non-maternal Role Involvement and Positive Anticipation of School Entry. As can be seen in Table 6, Hypothesis 4 is not confirmed by the data. The two variables appear to be independent. Hypothesis 5 involved the relationship between a mother's investment in interests and activities besides her children and her encouragement or discouragement of independence. Specifically, it was predicted that a mother scoring high on Non-maternal Role Involvement would have expectations for her child of early independence and would be low on Restrictiveness. Table 6 shows that the predicted relationship between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Age Expected Independence was not confirmed. The two variables appear to be independent. The correlation involving Non-maternal 37 Role Involvement and Restrictiveness is in the predicted direction, but is not significant. Hypotheses 6a and 6b The correlations obtained for Hypotheses 6a and 6b are contained in Table 8. Hypothesis 6a involved the rela- tionship between a mother's feelings about her child's entry to kindergarten and her expectations for his/her adjustment. Specifically, it was hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between Mother's Feelings about Child Starting School and Positive Expectation for Child's Adjustment. As Row 1, Column 1 of Table 8 shows, the correlation for the Total Sample is in the predicted direction, but does not reach significance. Hypothesis 6a is not confirmed by the data. Hypothesis 6b predicted that the relationship between a mother's stated feelings about her child's school entry and her expectations about his/her adjustment would vary as a function of the child's ordinal position. Specifi- cally, it was hypothesized that for mothers of oldest and only pre-kindergartners the positive correlation specified in Hypothesis 6a would be lower than for mothers of middle and youngest pre-kindergartners. Table 8 (Row 1, Columns 2 and 3) shows that there is a difference between the correlations of the "Oldest and Only" mothers and "Middle and Youngest" mothers on 38 Table 8.--Correlations Between Mother's Feelings about Child Starting School and Positive Expectation for Child's Adjustment. .——__—— .....*.._~-—’._,...—--—...... 7.1. ...- w..-“ a... «.- —__,..1. *il_. A-.- _..-.—_. --_A_...._--.-_.__.-.-..._-.- __ ._ Total Sam 1e Oldest & Middle & (N = 76) Only (N = 31) Youngest (N = 44) .166 .216 .153 Oldest Only Middle Youngest .251 .307 .125 .218 l The Total Sample includes data from the mother of the set of twins. These data are not included in any of the ordinal position groupings, thus the discrepancy in the N's across Row 1. these two dimensions. This difference is not significant and is in the opposite direction from that predicted. Hypothesis 6b is not confirmed by the data. Hypothesis 7 The correlations obtained for Hypothesis 7 are contained in Table 9. Hypothesis 7 involves the interaction between a mother's investment in the maternal role and the ordinal position of her child who is entering kindergarten, and the relationship of the two to her anticipation of the child's school entry. Specifically, it was hypothesized that the correlation between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Positive Anticipation of School Entry would be higher for mothers of youngest and only pre-kindergartners than it would for mothers of oldest and middlepme~kindergartners. 39 Table 9.--Corre1ations Between Non-maternal Role Involve- ment and Mother's Positive Anticipation of School Entry by Ordinal Position Group. Total Sam le Oldest Middle Youngest Only (N = 74) (N = 26) (N = 7) (N = 36) (N = 4) .004 -.402* .339 .241 -.522 Oldest & Middle Youngest & Only (N = 33) (N = 40) -.226 .227 First-Borns Later-Borns (N = 30) (N = 43) -.375* .260 l The Total Sample "N" includes one mother of twins not included in ordinal position groupings. *p < .05 Table 9 shows that of the four ordinal position groups, only for the group of mothers of oldest pre-kinder- gartners was there a significant correlation between Non- maternal Role Involvement and Positive Anticipation of School Entry. It appears that the hypothesized similarity between mothers of youngest and only children on these dimensions is not, in fact, accurate. Using Fisher's Z-transformation to test for differences between indepen- dent correlations it is found that the "Middle and Oldest" group does not differ significantly from the "Youngest and Only" group. 40 Contrasting the results for first-horns and later- borns, however, there is a significant difference between the two groups (Z = 2.65, p < .005). For mothers of oldest and only pre-kindergartners there is a significant negative correlation between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Positive Anticipation of School Entry. For mothers of middle and youngest pre-kindergartners there is a strong trend, although not reaching significance, toward a posi- tive association between Non—maternal Role Involvement and Positive Anticipation. CHAPTER IV DISCUSSION Results Relating to Mother's Self Concept The data confirm that there is a relationship between a mother's self concept and certain child-rearing attitudes. We found that there was a highly significant negative relationship between Total Positive score on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and the Rejection Scale of the Stanford Parent Questionnaire. This finding confirms previous evidence that high self—acceptance in a mother is associated with a high degree of acceptance of her child (Medinnus, 1967). The Nonrestrictiveness and Child's Mastery Scales of the SPQ were both significantly positively correlated with Mother's Total Positive. This suggests that a mother confident in her own self-worth and competence encourages her child's self-sufficiency and mastery in a less prohi- bitive and more accepting atmosphere. Neither Achievement Standards nor Rewarding Inde- pendence was significantly positively related to Total Positive. The three independence-oriented SPQ scales seem 41 42 to differ in the degree to which they contain elements of Restrictiveness and Rejection. The findings of Rau, Mlodnosky, and Anastasiow (1964) support this conceptuali- zation. From their data collected from mothers of kinder— garten boys they extracted three factors which they labelled Restrictiveness, Rejection, and Positive Demands for Self- Sufficiency. They noted that Achievement Standards did not fit the Positive Demands for Self-Sufficiency factor, but seemed to represent maternal attitudes characterized by more constraint and less reward. Inspection of the items that compose the Achieve- ment Standards scale confirms the contention that it has a less positive tone than Rewarding Independence or Child's Mastery. Many of the items seem to refer to standards and achievements which are not directly relevant to the pre- kindergarten child, but rather, have more applicability to older children. The instructions direct the mother to respond to items which don't seem currently applicable as she would "if the statement did apply or the situation did come up." But it seems plausible that the issue of age- inappropriateness affects the validity of this measure. The prediction that mothers with high self-esteem would have earlier expectations for independent behavior from their children, as measured by the Age Expected Independence Scale, was not confirmed. Age Expected Independence does not correlate significantly with any of 43 the three SPQ independence-oriented scales and it appears to be less effective as a general measure of encouragement of autonomous and independent behavior than had been expected. The utility of this "projective" measure of maternal expectations was not demonstrated in this research. The predicted positive relationship between Non-maternal Role Involvement and Age Expected Independence was not con- firmed either; The correlation between these two variables was virtually zero. Another finding of interest was a significant posi- tive relationship between Total Positive and the mother's statement during the interview regarding her satisfaction with her current life situation, specifically in terms of the balance between family versus individual commitments (r = .237, p < .05). Women who feel positively about themselves are more likely to be satisfied with the solu- tion they have arrived at for balancing commitments to their families and to themselves. These high Total Posi- tive women are not necessarily the same ones who were rated high on Non-maternal Role Involvement; self-esteem is not related to whether a mother scores high or low on Non- maternal Role Involvement. Yarrow et a1. (1962) have sug- gested that the focal issue in considering the effects on child-rearing of working versus non-working mothers is not the work status, per se, but rather the woman's emotional satisfaction with her status. This mediating variable of 44 satisfaction appears to be tied to a mother's feelings about her worth and competence, although the direction of the causality cannot be determined on the basis of this research. Results Relating to Non-maternal Role Involvement For mothers of youngest children entering kinder- garten there was a significant positive relationship between Non-maternal Role Involvement and the Rewarding Independence Scale. A similar association was found for mothers of only pre-kindergartners although this correlation did not reach the level of significance. For mothers of oldest and middle entering kindergartners Non-maternal Role Involve- ment and Rewarding Independence were eSsentially indepen- dent. It appears that mothers who are approaching the end of the period of time in which they are rearing preschool- age children and who see themselves as highly invested in identities apart from their maternal identity do value their child's independence and self-sufficiency to a great extent. They may be minimizing the caretaking demands that the child makes on them by focusing on the child's own capabilities. Of the 40 mothers of youngest and only entering kindergartners, three reported that they planned to have more children, and an additional three responded "maybe" to the question. For the remaining 36 the entry 45 of this child into school was expected to mark the end of their intensive involvement with preschool children. Mothers with "youngest" children entering kinder- garten who are maternally-oriented reportedly value inde- pendence less highly than extra-maternally-oriented mothers. It may be that a family-centered mother is more willing to meet the child's daily caretaking needs (perhaps derives satisfaction from doing so), presumably as a function of her greater availability, her self-definition, and her perspective on the meaning and responsibilities of motherhood. There are also significant positive correlations for the "Youngest" group between Non-maternal Role Involve- ment and (1) the child's prekindergarten school experience (r = .633, p < .001) and (2) mother's report of average number of hours of peer contact weekly (r = .358, p < .05). The "Youngest" group was the only one of the four ordinal position groups for which significant relationships between these variables appeared. These results are added support for the supposition that as mothers face the prospect of their youngest child moving into the formal educational system, those who have more energy and self-identity invested in non-maternal involvements are encouraging the autonomy of that child and his/her contact with persons outside the family to a greater degree than mothers who are less invested outside of the mother role. 46 The hypothesis that there would be a positive asso- ciation between Non-maternal Role Involvement and a mother's perception of the child's self-sufficiency, as measured by Child Behavior Descriptions, was significant only for the mothers of Only entering kindergartners (r = .973, p < .05). Given the small number of subjects in this group (N=4) we might cautiously speculate that the same pattern as described above for high non—maternal mothers of youngest children might also be present for mothers of only children. We had predicted that the Child's Mastery and Re- warding Independence scales would correlate with both Total Positive Self-Concept and Non-maternal Role Involve- ment. But we found differential associations, Child's Mastery with Total Positive and Rewarding Independence with Non-maternal Role Involvement. A possible explanation for the difference in these associations may lie in the differ- ential association between Child's Mastery and Rewarding Independence and the Rejection-Acceptance dimension. Child's Mastery was negatively correlated with the SPQ Rejection scale, suggesting that the tone of the scale items is largely one of warmth and acceptance. Rewarding Independence and Rejection appeared to be independent, suggesting that in terms of Rejection-Acceptance this scale is more neutral. Thus, we are prOposing that these scales reflect not only a mother's valuation of indepen- dence in her child, but also something about the context 47 in which she encourages independence, i.e., the degree of warmth and acceptance. As was mentioned previously, the mothers with positive self concepts were not necessarily the same mothers who were highly invested in extra-maternal activi- ties and identities. Mothers high in self-acceptance may derive their primary satisfactions through the mother/ homemaker role, through outside involvements, or a balancing of the two. It seems that there are many moti- vations for a mother to invest herself in roles other than those of mother, wife and homemaker. In some cases this investment may have a growth—producing and potentiating quality and the mother may feel that her individual needs, desires, and interests need not detract from her family relationships. This mother might also respect the indi- vidual needs and desires of her child and encourage him/her in developing a sense of autonomy, competence and individu- ality. Thus, she may offer both the warmth and security of an accepting "base" and the flexibility for self-discovery and mastery. The Child's Mastery scale seems to be more likely to pick up this combination of acceptance and encouragement of independence. In other cases these extra-family investments may be attempts to bolster a poor self-concept or escape from anxieties and tensions generated in the mother-role or family situation, or maternal employment might be 48 necessitated by financial need. In instances such as these demands for self-sufficiency may originate out of the mother's need to minimize claims on her time and energy, and may not occur in a context of acceptance. Motivations such as these may be better reflected in a higher score on Rewarding Independence. Results Relating to Mother's Feelings about Child StartingySchool For the sample as a whole, there was only a trend for a mother's feelings about her child starting school to be related to her expectations for his/her adjustment. The interview format may have limited the validity of these results. Because the interview was brief, it seemed at times to draw superficial and socially desirable answers from some of the women. Therefore, ratings which were based on a single response, as both of these variables were, have more doubtful validity than do those which were rated on the basis of a number of the woman's comments. Both Feelings about Child Starting School and Expectations for Child's Adjustment are likely to have been affected in some cases by a social desirability factor. There was no relationship between the extent of a mother's non-maternal roles and interests and her positive anticipation of school entry for the total sample. We had hypothesized that mothers of youngest and only children entering kindergarten might be facing a period of "role 49 imbalance" as the period of the most intense child-rearing ended with the last child's entry into kindergarten. We predicted that those mothers who had fewer extra-maternal investments might experience more conflict at the prospect of school entry. This conflict in her own life might be expressed indirectly through the mother's feelings about the child starting school, i.e., her enthusiasm or reluctance. The results indicated that there were differences between first-born and later-born groups, rather than between Only/Youngest and Oldest/Middle. In the first-born group, high Non-maternal Role Involvement was associated with a negative anticipation of school entry; for the later-born group there was a trend in the opposite direction. One explanation for this finding is that the mothers of oldest kindergartners (26 of the 30 mothers in the first-born group) will still have preschoolers at home after the oldest starts school. Thus, they will still be tied to intensive child care activities and responsibi- lities to a great extent. The mother who is interested in involvements apart from her family may not anticipate having more freedom as a result of the upcoming school entry. She may be reminded of the restrictions on her time and energy which will persist. Several mothers mentioned in the interview that in some ways their daily routines would be more difficult after school entry because the kindergartner-to-be was very helpful to the mother in handling and entertaining younger siblings. Another explanation might be that mothers who are active outside the home may feel some sadness or guilt about their first child's school entry as they realize that this is the first step into an increasingly time-consuming and structured educational system. This realization may be more striking with the first school entry than it is with subsequent children entering school. For the later-born group, there was a positive trend which suggested that mothers who had previously in- vested in roles and activities other than motherhood felt more favorably about the anticipated kindergarten entry than more maternally-oriented mothers. It may be that the less strictly family—oriented mother foresees an alle- viation of her daily child-care responsibilities and an opportunity to direct more time and energy toward her non-maternal interests. Results Relating to Teacher Ratings of Kindergarten Adjustment The seven rating scales were highly positively intercorrelated. The correlations are presented in Table 10. Since this was the case, the seven ratings of each child were summed to produce one score, Overall Adjustment. This Overall Adjustment measure was 51 .Hoo. v. on ucmowmwcmwm mCOwumHoHuoo m>oom on» Hada :ouummuoocflx mom. on ucmsunsflea one. mmn. cocoofiwcouuuaom mvm. vmo. mom. mmsuufl> Hafioom cocoocomoocH was. new. vmo. How. Hmcofluoem ucoEQOHo>oa mmm. omn. new. mom. mmo. HmsuooaaoucH mmn. men. who. mam. mmo. vow. socmaoammsmueamm vom. 0mm. mow. omm. 5mm. mmn. Hoop. ucoem>ao>cH .umsnom .uoocflx 0» .owmcou mosuufl> .mwocH .>oo .owmmsm .>Ho>cH Hannw>o .unsflna -naam anaoom .uoem .HamucH (warm acoEumsflod Hamuw>o ouflmomeoo ocm mmamom mowumm seconds co>om mo mcoHumHmuuoououcHui.oa manna 52 positively related to Child Behavior Descriptions for the girls in the sample (See Table 11); for the boys, this correlation was positive, but not significant. Thus, it appears that a mother's perception of her daughter's self- sufficiency is linked to the teacher's perception of the child's school adjustment. There was another significant relationship for the girls which suggests the nature of the link between mother's perceptions and school adjustment: Mothers with positive self concepts were more likely to describe their daughters as self—sufficient on Child Behavior Descriptions than were mothers with poor self concepts. For boys there was no relationship between these two variables (See Table 11). The chain of association which we are proposing is pre- sented in Figure 1, along with the correlations of each link in the chain. .477 .413 Total Positive Child Behavior Overall Descriptions Adjustment .172 Figure 1.--Relationship between Mother's Total Positive, Child Behavior Descriptions, and Ratings of Girls' Overall Adjustment The higher correlations between each of the links, than between the two endpoints indicates that the mother's perception of her daughter's self-sufficiency represents a mediating factor. This chain suggests that a mother who 53 Table ll.--Correlations between Mother's Total Positive Self-Concept, Child Behavior Descriptions and Overall Adjustment. CHILD BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS TOTAL POSITIVE Girls (N = 37) .477** Boys (N = 51) -.059 OVERALL ADJUSTMENT Girls (N = 39) .413** Boys (N = 51) .189 OVERALL ADJUSTMENT TOTAL POSITIVE Girls (N = 39) _ .172 Boys (N = 51) -.276* * = p < .05 ** = p < .01 feels positively about herself and views herself as com- petent perceives her daughter as self-sufficient, and that in some way these inputs from the mother become incor- porated into the girl's behavior, so that the teacher tends to perceive her in the same way. Suggestions for Further Research We suggest that a more in-depth interview format than was used in the present research would be both more 54 informative and more valid. It seems important to allow time for the interviewer-mother rapport to be built so that a more truthful reflection of the mother's feelings on possibly sensitive tOpics is obtained. In a longer and more open-ended interview one would be able to probe issues of separation and expectations for the child more effectively. The interview might be structured to focus more directly on the woman's perception of her "role cluster," both in terms of primary and secondary roles and the ways in which the position of roles is expected to shift in the future. It seemed that for much of our sample the issues of separation and changes in the mother's role and acti- vities were not as significant as we had expected. There were two details which seemed to influence this: (1) 87 percent of the children on whom we have information about pre-kindergarten school experience had attended some sort of preschool or nursery school program; and (2) the kinder- garten program in this school district consists of a half day of school five days a week. As a result of the combi- nation of these two factors, the entry to kindergarten was not perceived as a major transition for most of the mothers. Sixty-two percent of the mothers interviewed estimated that there would be minimal or no change in their activities after the beginning of kindergarten. Several mothers commented that they anticipated that the entry into first grade, with a full day of school, would be a 55 greater transition. Thus, two other points at which to study this phenomenon are indicated, entry into nursery or preschool and entry into first grade. The sex differences which we found underline the need to consider the different processes of identification between mothers and daughters and mothers and sons. Sex of the child may be an important mediator of feelings about separation, valuation of independence and self-sufficiency, and expectations for school adjustment. Another suggestion addresses the need to obtain data on the process of school entry and separation issues other than by way of mother's self-report. One intriguing possibility might be to observe mothers reactions unobtru- sively on the first day of kindergarten as they leave their children at the bus or at the school. Another would be to administer projective cues, similar to the Thematic Apper- ception Test or Michigan Pictures Test stimuli, which pull feelings about separation, child's growth and increasing independence. In these ways one could obtain information at different levels of the mother's awareness which could then be compared. The results of this research indicate that the child's role in the family, specifically in terms of ordinal position, does have an effect on mother's per- ceptions of and reactions to the child and his/her growth. It seems important to assess the child's role, defined 56 more globally than ordinal position, in the context of the whole family system. Broadening the scope of an investi- gation such as this one to include fathers, siblings, and interaction between family members is clearly another direction in which to proceed. REFERENCES REFERENCES Ainsworth, M. D. Infangy in Uganda: infant care and the growth of love. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1967. Anastasiow, N. J. "The relationship of sex role patterns of first grade boys to successs in school." Unpub- lished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1963. Bernard, J. Women, wives and mothers: values and options. Chicago, 111.: Aldine Publishing, 1975. Bing, E. Effect of childrearing practices on development of differential cognitive abilities. Child Development, 1963, 34, 631-649. Douvan, E. Employment and the adolescent. In F. I. Nye & L. W. Hoffman (Eds.), The employed mother in America. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1963. Eisenberg, L. School phobia: a study in the communication of anxiety. American Journal of Psychiatry, 1958, 114, 712-718. Fitts, W. H. Tennessee self concept scale (manual). Nashville, Tennessee: Counselor Recordings and Tests, 1965. Gross, N., Mason, W. S., & McEachern, W. Exploration in role analysis: studies of the superintendencyprole. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1958. Hersov, L. A. Refusal to go to school. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatpy, 1960, 1, 137-145. Hoffman, L. W. & Hoffman, M. L. The value of children to parents. In J. T. Fawcett (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on population. New York: Basic Books, 1973. Hoffman, L. W. & Nye, F. I. Working mothers. San Fran- cisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1974. 57 58 Hollingshead, A. B. Two factor index of social position. Mimeo, Dept. of Sociology, Yale University, 1957. Kelly, E. W. Jr. School phobia: A review of theory and treatment. Psychology in the Schools, 1973, 19, 33-42. Levy, D. M. Maternal overprotection. New York: W. W. Norton, 1966. Lopata, H. Z. The life cycle of the social role of house- wife. In J. K. Hadden & M. L. Borgatta (Eds.), Marriage and the Family. Itasca, Ill.: F. E. Peacock, 1969. Moustakas, C. E. Children in play therapy. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953. Murphey, E. B., Silber, E., Coelho, G. V., Hamburg, D. A., & Greenberg, I. Development of autonomy and parent- child interaction in late adolescence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1963, 33, 643-652. Rau, L., Mlodnosky, L. B. & Anastasiow, N. Child-rearing antecedents of achievement behaviors in second- grade boys. Final Report on U.S.O.E. COOperative Research Project No. 1838, Stanford University, 1964. Sears, P., Rau, L., & Alpert, R. Identification and Child Rearing. Stanford, Ca1if.: Stanford University Press, 1965. Satir, V. Conjoint family therapy. (Rev. ed.). Palo Alto, Calif.: Science & Behavior Books, 1967. Weiss, R. S. & Samelson, N. M. Social roles of American women: their contribution to a sense of usefulness and importance. Marriage and Family Livingy 1958, 20, 358-366. Winder, C. L. & Rau, L. Parental attitudes associated with social deviance in pre-adolescent boys. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology: 1962, 64, 418-424. Winterbottom, M. The relation of need for achievement in learning experiences in independence and mastery. In J. Atkinson, (Ed.), Motives in fantasy, action and society. Princeton, N.J.: Van Nostrand, 1958. 59 Woods, M. B. The unsupervised child of the working mother. Developmental Psychologxr 1972, 6 (1), 14-25. Yarrow, M. R., Scott, P., DeLeeuw, L. & Heinig, C. Child- rearing in families of working and non-working mothers. Sociometry, 1962, 25, 122-140. APPENDICES APPENDIX A LETTER TO MOTHERS APPENDIX A LETTER TO MOTHERS Dear Mothers: This September you'll be sending your child off to kindergarten for the first time. For your child it's part of that process called "growing up". Research in child psychology has pinpointed factors that help a child become a happy and well-adjusted person. Among other things, a mother's feelings are important--how she feels about herself, how she sees her child, and how she feels generally about raising children. As members of the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University, we're interested in finding out more concerning this "first-time” experience--from a mother's point of view. We've designed a study, and we need your help. We'd like to talk to you about the feelings you have toward your child, yourself, and the prospect of kinder- garten. A short (approximately 20 minutes) interview will be arranged at your convenience, and in your home. We'd also like you to fill out some questionnaire material (in most cases it will take 30 minutes) on the same topics. The questionnaire can be completed in your free time and we will stop by your home to collect it. All responses will be kept strictly confidential. If you're interested, we'd be happy to provide you with a brief report of the findings when the study is completed. If you're willing to help, please fill in the infor- mation requested on the attached sheet. We'll call you to arrange an interview. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact Kristine Freeark at 339-8922. Thank you. Lucy R. Ferguson, Ph.D. Kristine Freeark 60 APPENDIX B MOTHER'S INTERVIEW APPENDIX B MOTHER'S INTERVIEW Do you presently have a job? (If yes) How many hours a week do you work? How do you feel about your work? Have you worked ever since was born? (If no) Have you worked at any time since was born? Did you work before you started having your family? (If yes) Why did you stop working? Some mothers feel that their main job is to stay home and take care of the children. At the same time they some- times feel that they owe it to themselves to do some outside work or have outside interests. What is your point of view about this? How well do you feel you've been able to solve this problem in your own case? Have you ever felt you'd rather be doing something else than what you're doing now? How does having children change a woman's life? How do you think will like kindergarten? How do you think that will get along in kindergarten? (If no elaboration) Do you think he'll/she'll get along just okay or very well? (In what ways, or areas parti- cularly or Can you say a little more about that?) How do you feel about starting school? Has he/she ever been in school before? (If yes) Did you feel differently about him/her starting school then than you do now? Will things be easier or more enjoyable for you in any way once has started school? Do you think that you'll have more free time? (If yes) Do you have any plans for spending that free time? 61 62 Do you ever feel that he/she is growing up too fast in any way? How do you feel about growing up and needing you less? Do you plan to have any more children? Did you have a plan about how the births of your children would be spaced? Looking ahead, what do you imagine as the most satisfying things that could happen to your life in the next five years? Would you be willing to have your child rated as a member of his/her kindergarten class as to his/her adjustment to, and performance in, kindergarten? There is a note in the questionnaire where you can indicate that. APPENDIX C CODING SCHEDULE FOR MOTHER'S INTERVIEW APPENDIX C CODING SCHEDULE FOR MOTHER'S INTERVIEW Present Employment: 1. 2. Note: No employment Part-time, minimal time involvement--either working 1) sporadically and infrequently (temporary secre- tary, substitute teaching, etc.) or 2) an average of from 5 to 10 hours per week Part-time-- 1) 10 to 30 hours per week or 2) temporary work on a fairly consistent basis (for ex. a week at a time every 2 months) Full-time--3O or more hours a week If the woman mentions that her job involves pre- paration time (for ex., teaching) include the amount of time spent preparing in the estimate of number of hours per week that she works. Note: if employment is of the type that is an exten- sion of home and family-oriented activities--i.e., daycare in the home, etc.--note the nature of the employment on the rating sheet. (Do the same on following scale.) Was not working prior to the time of her first Worked up until first pregnancy; stOpped working at that time (for more than just maternity leave) Past Employment History 1. pregnancy. 2. 3. Has worked off-and-on since the birth of the child presently starting kindergarten, but less than 2 years total 63 64 Has worked most of the time since the birth of child who is now entering kindergarten, although she may have taken some breaks in that time. Has worked consistently since the birth of the child presently starting kindergarten Feelings about the meaning of work 5. Note: Strongly positive: Enjoys working, feels personally fulfilled by it and feels that this involvement is necessary for her overall sense of satisfaction with her life Positive: She likes working and that aspect of her activities which is related to working; she does not express strong feelings about her involvement in work being an essential aspect of her self-definition Neutral: Does not express predominantly positive or negative feelings about employment; her feelings about working lack enthusiasm Negative: Does not enjoy working or gain personal satisfaction from it; may wish that she had more time for her family or herself in preference to working . Strongly Negative: Would choose not to work, but feels she must (for financial reasons, etc.) Both working and non-working mothers may indicate some feelings about the meaning of employment; for non-working women-~if the expression of feelings about this is clear enough to rate, do so. If you feel there is not sufficient information on which to make a rating--rate 0. For Working WOmen only: Feelings about_present job: (these feelings may differ from those about the meaning of work in general) Strongly positive--enjoys her present job very much and has no complaints about it Positive--a1though she may have some minor complaints or dislikes concerning her present job, they are out- weighed by the positive aspects of it. Neutra1--she speaks of her job very matter-of-factly with neither enthusiasm or discontent predominant. 2. 1. 65 Negative--her description of her job involves more negative feelings than positive. Strongly negative Family-orientation vs. self-orientation 1. S. Strongly family-oriented: Mother- and wife-commitments precede individual interests and activities. She does not define this orientation in terms of this period in her family's life, but appears to view it as a relatively long-term and consistent role Family-oriented first, for this period in the family's life: responsibilities as a mother must come first while children are young; feeling that this will change later in the direction of more self-fulfilling pursuits Even balance between the two: feels that for her both are important and that her goal is to combine the two and compromise, rather than sacrificing either Mostly self-oriented: in order to be a good mother and family member, as well as a satisfied person, she has to have her individual needs met Strongly self-oriented: her most primary responsibi- lity is to herself Satisfaction with current life situation in terms of family 5. versus self-fulfilling commitments and activities High-~very satisfied with her present commitments and the balance of her energy between various roles Mostly satisfied--expresses satisfaction but with a lesser degree of confidence and enthusiasm than for a rating of 5. Moderately satisfied Dissatisfied Strongly Dissatisfied If the woman expresses some dissatisfaction, in what way would she like to change current activities to increase satisfaction: 1. The opportunity to work 66 More time for self-fulfilling activities of her choice (other than work) More time for family activities and responsibilities Other--make a note of what she mentions Involvement in activities outside of the familyesphere (besides employment) 5. High--This woman described herself as being very involved in activities which are separate from her family and which she participates in for her own satisfaction and fulfillment. These activities are very important to her and they seem to contri- bute a great deal to her definition of herself This category is for cases in which neither 5 or 3 seem clearly appropriate Moderate--This woman is involved in activities which she defines as separate from her family-role, but she does not express a high degree of psychological investment in them. Her participation in these out- side activities does not seem to constitute a signi— ficant part of her self-definition. Cases that seem to fall between 3 and l Low--This woman seems to be primarily home- and family-oriented. What activities she is involved in are all closely related to, or in support of, her definition of herself as homemaker/mother Feelings about the impact of children on a woman's life S. Enrichment and fulfillment--emphasis on the positive Cases between 5 and 3. Responsibility and giving up some freedom, but in return the enjoyment and enrichment Cases between 3 and 1. A mother gives up a great deal, emphasis on self- sacrifice and dependency aspects 67 Mother's Expectations about Child's School Adjustment 4. High expectations-~for smooth and quick adjustment; She is convincing in her response and states no hesitations. Positive expectations, in general, although she is somewhat less enthusiastic and convincing than for the "high expectations" category Some minor hesitations about initial adjustment; child's liking of school and/or ease with which he/she will fit in Clear evidence of doubts, concerns, or reservations about the adjustment If mother has reservations about adjustment to kindergarten or kindergarten in general: Nature of reservations 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Social-related--chi1d may have trouble fitting in with peers Disciplinary--teacher may have trouble controlling child Performance/academic--chi1d's work may not be "up to par I! Physical/environmental--for ex. walking to school, catching the bus, crossing streets Educational--reservations about the school system, principal, teachers, or specific school Difficulty separating from home Other--make a note of what these are Mother's feelings about child starting school 5. 4. Highly enthusiastic--both for the child and for the meaning school entry has for the mother, herself; feels child is ready and that he/she will benefit; also that school entry is likely to allow her more freedom. Generally positive 68 Ambivalent--happy for the child, feels he/she is ready; for herself-~somewhat mixed feelings about seeing him/her go she may sound as if she is intellectually, but not emotionally, convinced For cases which fall in between 3 and 1 Negative, regretful--emphasizes the quickness with which he/she has grown up and has sad feelings about losing a part of their relationship Pre-kindergarten school experience l. 2. 3. None, has never been in school before Nursery school/preschool for one year or less Nursery/preschool longer than one year. Mother's Feelings about child starting nursery- or preschool, at the time 5. Highly enthusiastic--felt child was ready and that he/she would benefit; it also allowed her some freedom Generally positive Ambivalent--felt it would be good for the child, but somewhat mixed feelings about seeing him/her go Cases between 3 and 1. Negative, had reservations--not anxious for the child to start in school then/may feel that children are forced to grow up too quickly Woman's_prediction of how much change school entry will make in her schedule 4. 3. Significant change; freeing up a period of her day on a regular basis Moderate change Minimal change--for ex., it may be easier in that she doesn't have to arrange day care in order to have time for activities she's already involved in No change expected 69 Rater's prediction of change school entry will make--based on mother's report of her activities, child's pre-kinder- garten activities, other children in family, etc. If mother expects some change in her schedule, feelings about the anticipated change 2, 3, or 4 for 0 4. Very enthusiastic--1ooking forward to it, antici- pating free time and the activities it will permit 3. Generally positive 2. Ambivalent--she doesn't seem to have a clear idea of what she'll do with the extra time/doesn't sound enthusiastic about the prospect 1. Negative--a feeling of sadness at the prospect/a sense of that free time being seen as a void in her life Expressed feelings about increasing independence of chil- dren and the corresponding changes in her role as a mother 4. Very positive 3. Positive--happy to see her child grow up and depend on her less/enjoys the decrease in demands on her/may express some sadness, but the positive feelings are predominant 2. Mixed emotions--seems reluctant to see it happen/may rationalize it by saying that it's good and necessary for child to become more self-sufficient/seems intellectually, but not emotionally, convinced of the need for child's independence 1. Even more denial of child's growing independence--for ex., "I haven't noticed that he/she needs me less"/ May see child as needing special attention--"Billy needs more continued guidance, he's had a less stable childhood"/May rationalize her unwillingness to allow independent action. This rating may be influenced by other comments throughout the interview (other than in direct response to the specific "independence" questions)--but base your rating on what the woman says, rather than on your inference. Your feeling about her reactions to the increasing independence of her chileThis may be at variance with the rating on previous scale, or it may be in agree- ment, depending on your inference as to whether the woman expresses her true feelings, or is trying to give a socially acceptable response. 70 Plans to have more children *1. 2. 3. Yes Maybe No *If yes, make a note of when she plans to have them, if she states that. garten) is 4 or 5 years younger than next oldest sibling. Future goals 1. Self-oriented Family-oriented Child-oriented Related to marriage and relationship with husband Husband's future Other First, check any of the above which are included in her response. Then rank the ones checked in order of their intensity or importance to her. OVERALL RATINGS Non-maternal Role Involvement based on the ratings of: 1) present employment status 2) non-family activities besides employment 3) family-orientation vs. self-orientation 4) statement of future goals High--in terms of both commitments and psychological involvement this woman seems to allocate the major portion of her time, energy and self-identity to activities outside of the sphere of the family In cases where neither 5 or 3 seem to fit; rate as 4 Moderate--this woman seems to evenly balance extra- family involvements with family responsibilities and activities. In terms of her self-identity, her mother- and wife-roles are complemented by a concept of herself as a participant in activities separate from her family Also note if this child (one entering kinder- 71 Cases between 3 and l. Low--This woman sees herself first as a mother and wife. Her involvement--in terms of both time and psychological investment--in activities outside the family sphere is minimal. Anticipation of School Entry based on the ratings of: 1) Mother's feelings about child starting school 2) Expectations about child's school adjustment 3) Feelings about the change kindergarten will make in her life Very positive--This woman seems enthusiastic about the prospect of kindergarten, both in terms of its potential for her child, and in terms of its meaning for her own life. For cases which fall in between 3 and 1. Neutral (or non-committal)--This woman does not describe her feelings about school entry in enthu- siastic terms, although she doesn't express negative or ambivalent feelings about it. Her responses may seem somewhat stereotyped and cursory. Ambivalent--This woman expresses some conflicting feelings about the prospect of kindergarten. She may feel that it will be a good experience for her child and one that he/she is ready for; but she may not feel ready for it. She may feel her child has grown up too quickly and that she may not be pre- pared for the corresponding change in her role and schedule. Negative APPENDIX D DATA SHEET APPENDIX D DATA SHEET NUMBER PLEASE FILL IN THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION: 1. Your Name 2. Name of your child who is entering kindergarten in the Fall 3. Names of all children in the family, and their ages: 4. Highest year you completed in school 5. Your occupation 6. Highest year your husband completed in school 7. Your husband's occupation As soon as you turn in your questionnaire materials, this sheet will be detached and kept in a separate file. Your answers will be identified only by the code number which appears on the top of this page. Your answers will thus be kept completely confidential. 72 73 Data Sheet 1. Please fill in the following information on your prospective kindergartner's contact with children other than siblings, from the age of three to the present time: Check the hours per week and fill in the months or years which apply. SETTING NUMBER OF HOURS PER WEEK YEARS OR 0 1-5 5-10 10-20 20-30 30 or MONTHS more Home and Neighborhood Baby sitter's home Day care/ Preschool Other 2. Which of the following activities do you find the most rewarding and enjoyable?--Place a l to the left of it. Place a 2 to the left of the next most rewarding, etc. Continue ranking each of the remaining activities which are applicable to you. If any activity does not apply to you, leave it unnumbered. Child-care (dressing, feeding, etc.) Career or Occupation Housework (cleaning, shopping, cooking, etc.) Friendships, social activities Mother-child activities (walks, games, play- ground, reading, etc.) Community, volunteer, or church activities 74 Spending time with your husband Study, educational activities Time to yourself (reading, hobbies, crafts, etc.) Family recreation Data Sheet, Age Expected Independence 3. Now, number the same activities in the order in which they take up the most of your time each week. Place a l to the left of the most time-consuming, a 2 to the next most time-consuming, etc. Leave any activities which do not apply to you, unnumbered. Child-care (dressing, feeding, etc.) Career or Occupation Housework (cleaning, shopping, cooking, etc.) Friendships, social activities Mother-child activities (walks, games, play- ground, reading, etc.) Community, volunteer, or church activities Spending time with your husband Study, educational activities Time to yourself (reading, hobbies, crafts, etc.) Family recreation 4. Number the following as you think they describe who you are at this point in your life. Place a 1 to the left of the one which best describes who you are, a 2 to the left of the one that next describes you best, etc. If any of the choices does not apply to you, leave it unnumbered. 75 Wife Worker (career or occupation) Mother Student Housewife Community worker, volunteer Church member and participant Other 5. Some behaviors are listed below which are usually learned at different ages between infancy and adulthood. Put in the blank space the age at which you expect the average child to have learned this behavior. (Items to be reworded to apply to both sexes.) To be weaned from bottle and drink from cup only To feed himself To brush, comb, and fix hair by himself To decide completely on his own selection of clothing according to weather and occasion To keep his own room tidy To answer ads in the paper and order by mail To undress and go to bed alone To go on his own to nearby places outside of limits of hometown To earn his own spending money To ride a two-wheel bike To have complete choice of his own friends To use scissors on his own To take a part-time job without first telling parents To bathe himself without help To drive a car in an emergency To prepare a hot lunch for himself To dress himself 76 Age Expected Independence To spend his money without asking his parents (more than "candy money") To do responsible routine tasks with little or no directions To cross busy street alone To use a sharp knife To shop for own clothing (value under $10.00-) APPENDIX E CHILD BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS APPENDIX E CHILD BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTIONS (Items to be reworded to apply to both sexes) Instructions to Mother On these pages there are 20 kinds of child behavior listed. Under each, there are 4 or 5 descriptive sentences. Please read each of the sentences carefully and circle the left-hand number of whichever egg best describes your child's most characteristic way of acting at the present time. If you are very doubtful about the accuracy of your judgment, or if you have had no opportunity to observe this aspect of your child's behavior, put.a check mark in the space marked "No Opportunity to observe." However, please encircle the number which represents your best guess even if you have not had good opportunity to observe. l. PUTTING TOYS AWAY ( ) No opportunity to observe. l. Puts toys away only when directed to do so. 2. Usually puts toys away if reminded and occasionally puts them away without being told. 3. Usually remembers to put toys away without being told. 4. Always puts toys away without being told. 2. EATING ( ) No opportunity to observe because he does not eat at table with others. 1. When he comes to the table, he just sits and must be waited on. 77 78 Child Behavior Descriptions 2. Passes food only when asked; does not ask for, but accepts food when passed to him. 3. Asks for food to be passed to him. 4. Asks for food and usually passes food without being told. 5. Cares for self at table as well as anticipating needs of others. 3. COMBING HAIR ( ) No opportunity to observe because of crew cut, pony tail, braids, etc. 1. Does not comb or brush hair without being told. 2. Sometimes combs or brushes hair without being told. 3. Usually combs or brushes hair without being told. 4. Always combs or brushes hair without being told. 4. COMPLEX CHORES ( ) No opportunity to observe. 1. Does not ask to do complex household chores (e.g., setting table, washing dishes, putting away materials, cleaning room). 2. Sometimes asks to do complex chores. 3. Sometimes initiates complex chores without asking. 4. Usually initiates complex chores without asking. 5. WASHING HANDS AND FACE ( ) No opportunity to observe. 1. Does not wash hands and face without being told. 2. Sometimes washes hands and face without being told. 3. Usually washes hands and face without being told. 4. Always washes hands and face without being told. 79 Child Behavior Descriptions 6. PERFORMING TASKS ( ) 1. 4. No opportunity to observe. He usually has to be asked 2 or 3 times before he will do a simple task. He does task the first time he is asked, but seems to take a while to get started. Does task the first time he is asked and gets started promptly. He knows he is expected to do certain simple tasks and initiates them when appropriate. 7. SIMPLE CHORES ( ) No opportunity to observe. Does not ask to do simple household chores (e.g., dusting, sweeping, moving furniture or desks). Sometimes asks to do simplechores. Sometimes initiates simple chores without asking. Usually initiates simple chores without asking. 8. OCCUPYING SELF ( ) 1. No opportunity to observe. Must usually be given means of occupying himself or he will do nothing, just sit. Will frequently ask for means of occupying himself. Will sometimes initiate self-activity, and will ask for activities remainder of the time. Will usually initiate self-activity and will ask remainder of the time. 80 Child Behavior Descriptions 9. BRUSHING TEETH ( ) 1. No opportunity to observe. Brushes teeth only when directed to do so. Sometimes brushes teeth without having to be told. Usually brushes teeth without having to be told. Always brushes teeth without having to be told. OF CLOTHING No opportunity to observe. Occasionally hangs up clothes when told to do so. Usually hangs up clothes when told to do so. Sometimes hangs up clothes without being told and generally does when asked. Generally hangs up clothes without being told. 11. CLEANING UP SPILLED LIQUIDS ( ) 1. 4. No opportunity to observe. Does not clean up after having spilled liquids unless told to do so; e.g., soup, water, paint. Sometimes cleans up spilled liquids without having to be told. Frequently cleans up own mess without having to be told. Nearly always cleans up spilled liquids without having to be told. 12. HELPING ( ) l. 2. No opportunity to observe. Does not help around house unless asked to do so, and must be continually supervised. Does not help around house unless asked to do so and needs some supervision. 81 Child Behavior Descriptions 3. 4. Asks to help around house and requires super- vision. Asks to help around house and requires little or no supervision. l3. DRESSING ( ) No opportunity to observe. Does not initiate dressing. Sometimes initiates dressing. Frequently initiates dressing. Always initiates dressing. 14. BORROWING-VOLUNTEERING ( ) 1. 5. No opportunity to observe. Frequently takes objects when in use by others; does not permit use of his objects by others. Takes others' objects when not in use; does not permit use of his objects by others. Asks permission to use objects, does not permit use of his objects by others. Asks permission to use objects and, when asked, will permit others to use his objects. Freely volunteers use of his objects to others. 15. RESPECTING PROPERTY RIGHTS ( ) 1. 2. No opportunity to observe. Does not respect property rights, even though he is told what belongs to him or to others. Respects property rights by asking permission to use others' property, but does not return pro- perty to owner when he is through. 82 Child Behavior Descriptions 3. 4. Asks permission to use other's property and will occasionally return property to owner. Asks permission to use others' property and nearly always will return property to owner. 16. LEAVING UNATTENDED ( ) l. 4. No opportunity to observe. Cannot be left unattended even though sharp and breakable objects are removed. Can be left to play unattended if sharp and breakable objects are placed out of reach. Can be left to play unattended, but sharp objects must be placed out of reach. Can be left alone without special room arrange- ments. 17. HELPING OTHERS ( ) 1. 18. CARE No opportunity to observe. Never helps other children do things they cannot do by themselves, even when asked. Stops his own play only if asked to help another child do things the other cannot do. Helps another child do things the other child cannot do for himself only in play they are doing together. Sometimes stops his own play without being asked to help another child do things the other child cannot do for himself. OF SELF ( ) 1. 2. No opportunity to observe. Adult must be with or near child at all times. Child can be left alone in his own room with adult in the house. 83 Child Behavior Descriptions 3. Child can be left alone in the house, but adult must be close by (i.e., in the yard). 4. Child can be left alone in house while adult visits neighbor or goes to the store (short period 20-30 minutes). 19. TELEPHONE ( ) No opportunity to observe. 1. Cannot answer phone or make calls. 2. Answers telephone, but unable to take message and/or call appropriate person. Cannot make calls. 3. Answers telephone, calls appropriate person. Cannot make calls. 4. Answers telephone, calls appropriate person and takes messages. 20. INTERRUPTING OTHERS ( ) No Opportunity to observe. 1. Usually interrupts when others are talking. 2. Frequently interrupts when others are talking. 3. Seldom interrupts when others are talking. 4. Does not interrupt others except at appropriate breaks in conversation. APPENDIX F STANFORD PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE APPENDIX F STANFORD PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE The following statements have been made by parents about themselves, their children, and their families. Please read each statement and decide how it applied to you. Look at the next page of this questionnaire for a minute and you will see that there are four columns on the right hand side of the page. On the left side of the page there are statements. You should put one check mark next to each statement. You may put the check mark under SA or A or D or SD. SA means you agree strongly with the statement. A means you agree with the statement more than you disagree with it. D means you disagree with the state- ment more than you agree with it. SD means that you strongly disagree with the statement. If you agree strongly with the statement or feel sure that it applies to you, put a check mark in the column marked SA. SA means Strongly Agree. If you are sure that a statement does not apply to you or you strongly disagree with the statement, put a check mark in the column marked SD. SD means Strongly Disagree. Use the A (Agree) or D (Disagree) columns for statements you are less sure about or feel less strongly about. Please mark every statement, even though some may not seem to describe you or your family. Give the answer according to what you believe you would think or feel or do if the statement did apply, or the situation did come up. If you have more than one child, please mark the statements as they apply to your child who will be entering kindergarten in the fall. If your prospective kindergartner is a girl, disregard the fact that the statements are worded for boys. 84 85 Work as quickly as you can. You do not need to think about each statement too carefully--just give your impression about it. In other words, answer every one, but do not think too long about any one. Start with number 1 and do each in order. Give your impression of each statement quickly and go on to the next one. (Copy included here has items labelled by scale and scored.) 86 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SA SD I turn off the TV in the middle of 4 one of his programs or I tell him to leave the dinner table because he's been misbehaving. He thinks he knows everything, 4 but he doesn't. He'll stand there and argue that white is black, even when you try to ex- plain things to him. He's a kind who's hard to please; 4 he's just contrary. We pretty much allow him to make 4 a lot of noise in the house. If he leaves home, he is defi— 4 nitely required to let us know where he is and we set a time for him to be back. When he was younger, we always 1 use to pick him up the second he fell. I would say that and I aren't 4 as happy with each other as we might be. We don't allow him to stay out too 1 long on these chilly afternoons even though most of the other kids stay out later. The first two years of '3 life 4 are sort of a b1ur--I don't remem- ber very much about them. 10. He's always fascinated with new 4 experiences. 11. I wish I knew how close 4 feels to me. 12. Sometimes he seems to do things 4 just to annoy me and I find this hard to understand. Res. Rej. Rej. Nres. Res. Rej. Nres. Rej. Rej. Rej. 87 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SA SD 13. I'd say that in past years I have 4 shown my affection too much. Now I try not to overdo it. 14. Sometimes I think I understand 4 pretty well but then there are some things he does that I don't under- stand at all. 15. I'm sort of inept at playing with 4 babies. 16. Parents should make lots of things 4 available for kids to try out and let the kids try lots of things. 17. It's like when he learned to dress 4 himself, I never did sit down and give him nice little instructions as to how to do it. He just sort of assimilated the process. 18. It's pretty hard to have a set rule 4 about bedtime, because he has questions to ask, drinks of water to be had, the bathroom to go to and any number of things. 19. It's good for him to have lots of 4 ways of keeping busy on his own. 20. We've been trying to develop suit- 4 able chores for each child so that they all contribute a little bit. 21. I spend probably a half hour a day 4 or more on an average school day helping him work his homework. 22. A lot of times he'll say he can't 4 do something, it's too hard for him and start asking questions about it. Well, we try to help him come up with the answers and then show him that it isn't very difficult and that he can work these things. Rej. Rej. Nres. 88 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SA SD 23. I've never stopped him on any TV 4 program he wanted to see. 24. If he gives us his word that he 4 didn't do something, I take his word for it. 25. I think that a boy his age ought 4 to be able to perform some chores. 26. He's sort of accepted his role as 4 a person in the household; he doesn't seem to want as much attention as when he was smaller. 27. I try to kiss him and he'll back 4 away from me. 28. To my way of thinking, he seems to 4 want an extraordinary amount of attention. 29. He hasn't been very difficult to 1 bring up. 30. We don't plan their evenings, more 4 or less let them do what they want to. 31. wasn't very affectionate when 4 he was younger. 32. If I've punished him and he goes to 4 his bedroom and cries, I've insis- ted he stay there if he's going to cry. 33. He doesn't have to tell us where 4 he's going even if he's going out of the immediate neighborhood. 34. I'm an independent person--I know 4 how to make my way in the world. 35. Whenever he goes out to play, we 4 want him to watch himself and be very careful. Nres. Rej. Rej. Rej. Nres. Rej. Rej. Nres. 89 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SD 36. I'd like to see him go ahead and get an extensive formal education. 37. He wants to try lots of grown-up things and as long as I feel they won't hurt him in any way, I let him go ahead and do it. It's never been a problem. 38. I'd like him to have a little more drive, spirit, initiative. 39. We've tried to show him that we plan ahead on things like meals and if there are particular things he wants he must ask ahead of time. And so a couple of times when he has asked ahead, we've tried, if possible, to do it at that time. 40. He's not allowed to cross a busy street without some older person walking with him. 41. I've pointed out to him that we each have a job to do. His job is to keep up his room. 42. There are some times when it's just not convenient to let him do things and I don't let him, but I like to let him try. 43. I feel that probably I have been a little bit lacking in that knack of getting down to his level on a lot of things. 44. I think it's very important for a child to learn to do things for himself within the limits of his capabilities. We try to make it possible for him to do as many things as he can. 45. We never object to where he's going as long as he lets us know. Nres. Res. Rej. Nres. 90 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SA 46. I would like him to be sure of 4 himself in strange situations. 47. Quite often when we try to do 4 something for him, he doesn't seem to appreciate it and we kind of feel he should. Rej. 48. We're always after him to keep 4 the noise down. 49. I don't like it when he comes and 4 asks me things while I'm eating, and I get annoyed. 50. b We think it's important that chil- dren learn how to work, learn how to do things, tackle things more than just play. Res. Rej. 51. He feels by crying, I suppose, 4 he'll get what he wants. We tell him it won't do him much good to cry. Rej. 52. I think he should have some 4 little chores that he must do so that he learns that there are cer- tain things in life that you have to do. 53. We frequently have to call his 4 attention to the fact that he should not interrupt our conver- sations and that he should be quiet. Res. 54. I would like to see him more out- 4 spoken in school. 55. We keep close track of ,--we 4 always know where he is. 56. We have to help him finish up a 1 lot of his homework. 57. He's supposed to be in bed by a certain time. It's very flexible. extra item-- un- scored 91 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SA A SD 58. He had one boy friend that was 4 3 slightly coarse and we didn't particularly approve of him so we told ' to try and steer clear of him. 59. He doesn't do too much that we 4 3 can praise him for. 60. I think that children, within 4 3 their own group of friends, have to work out their own differences. 61. I hope will have qualities of 4 3 leadership and initiative. 62. We've always warned him about 4 3 talking to strangers. He knows he's not supposed to let a stranger come up and talk to him. 63. We're trying to bring him up so ‘ 4 3 that he's pretty much responsible to himself. 64. I can't figure him out sometimes-- 4 3 I don't know what makes him tick. 65. We give him an allowance and he 4 3 doesn't have to work for it at all but if he wants to earn extra money, there are some chores that he can go ahead and do and come and tell me about them. 66. He's supposed to report in just 4 3 before he goes somewhere. 67. I think it's a good idea for chil- 4 3 dren to have regular jobs around the home because it gives them a sense of belonging and a sense of importance. 68. I think you should teach them to 4 3 be as self-sufficient as possible. I think they need lots of love and care but they should be self-sufficient. Res. 92 Stanford Parent Questionnaire SA A D SD 69. You know, you take your annoyances not out on the children, unfortunately. scored APPENDIX G RATING SCALES APPENDIX G RATING SCALES Involvement in the School Experience--This child is very interested and involved in the kindergarten experience. He/She clearly enjoys the activities associated with school. His/Her enthusiasm is re- vealed in both his/her talk and overall behavior while in school. Self-sufficiency--This child is self-sufficient. He/She usually goes ahead on his/her own and takes part in the class activities without seeking an un- usual amount of help from the teacher or his/her classmates. Intellectual Development—-This child has good intel- lectual potential. He/She is bright, quick to grasp new ideas and skills, advanced in language, con- ceptual and perceptual-motor areas. He/She can be expected to master the school curriculum easily and is a fast learner. (Try to make this judgment of the child's potential as separate as possible from his/her attitudes toward school and emotional adjustment.) 93 94 Emotional Independence from the Family and Home--This child handles the daily transition from home to school very easily. He/She is enthusiastic about being at school and expresses no concerns about being away from his/her home, parents, or siblings. Social Virtues--This child is high in the social skills, traits that make getting along with others a smooth and comfortable process. He/She observes the rules of social conduct in the broadest sense. He/She is sensitive to others' feelings, helpful, courteous, cooperative, and is kind to others and tries to make them feel at ease. His/Her relationship with others is usually comfortable and harmonious. Self-confidence--This child is very self-possessed and socially poised for his/her age. He/She is sure of himself/herself and goes ahead on his/her own. He/She seems to have a positive self-concept. Adjustment to Kindergarten--In my judgment this child has made a smooth adjustment to kindergarten. I feel that he/she has adapted successfully to the demands of the kindergarten setting and routine. "I7'111111111111111“