Influence of Maternal Praise on Developmental Trajectories of Early Childhood Social Competence

Abstract

We aimed to clarify the effects of the praise of mothers on their 18-month-old offspring by tracing the trajectory of the latter’s’ social competence from this time to 30 and 42 months. The participants were 226 mother-child dyads whose interaction was observed when the children were 18, 30, and 42 months old. The features of mother-child interaction, and specifically the social proficiency of the children, were examined using the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an aspect of social competence. Our findings indi- cate that caregivers’ praise of 18-month-old children is very important in promoting a high-level trajecto- ry of child social competence from that time to 30 and 42 months. It is hoped that caregivers and health care professionals will use these findings appropriately when providing care giving support to parents.