第二十五屆 探究全面性發展遲緩兒童的親職壓力和精熟動機之雙向關係

探究全面性發展遲緩兒童的親職壓力和精熟動機之雙向關係

Bidirectional Relationship Between Parenting Stress and Mastery Motivation in Young Children With Global Developmental Delays  

汪佩蓉^1*、黃素英

Pei-Jung Wang^1*， Su-Ying Huang

¹亞洲大學物理治療系、² 輔仁大學臨床心理系

¹Department of Physical Therapy, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

² Department of Clinical psychology, Fu Jen Catholic University

*corresponding author

Background and Purpose: Child mastery motivation is a multifaceted psychological force to master tasks that are at least moderately challenging for the child, even if unsuccessful; thus, it is different from skillfulness or ability. Evidence shows that mastery motivation contributes to developmental outcomes in young children. Young children with delays showed lower perceived mastery motivation and its might be associated with parenting stress. Parenting stress is a negative psychological reaction to the demand of being a parent, and it is measured through three components of parenting stress containing parental distress, child difficulties, and dysfunctional parent-child interactions. However, to date, few longitudinal studies has investigated bidirectional relationship between parenting stress and mastery motivation in young children with developmental delays. Therefore, two purposes of this study were: 1) to explore specific components of parenting stress predicted child mastery motivation; 2) to explore the child mastery motivation predicted specific components of parenting stress in young children with global developmental delays.

Methods: This study design was single group and longitudinal follow-up. Seventy-Eight Chinese-speaking Taiwanese toddlers aged 24 to 60 months and their parents participated in the study. The Revised Dimensions of Mastery Questionnaire (DMQ 18) with Preschool version, and the Parenting Stress Index Short Form were used to measure three domains of child mastery motivation (cognitive, gross motor, social persistence) and parents' components of parenting stress, respectively. Correlations and Regressions were used to examine bidirectional relation (p<.05 two-tailed>  

Results: We found that young children with GDD, early Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction component of parenting stress was negatively predicted 6-month child gross motor, social mastery motivation and mastery pleasure (β= .23-.24, p<.05>). Early child social mastery motivation and mastery pleasure negatively predicted parent-child dysfunctional interaction (β = .24-.30, p<.05>). It indicated that the relationship between specific components of parenting stress and indicators of mastery motivation were bidirectional in young children with global delays.

Conclusion: Our study has found the bidirectional relationship between specific component of parenting stress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction and child mastery motivation. From the perspective of early childhood education/intervention, early childhood educators/clinicians should support parents in interacting with their children (e.g., through learning, teaching, and using sign language) for establishing more effective communication. Our findings suggest that parents' perceptions of their relationship with their children are bidirectionally linked to the children's mastery motivation. Therefore, to enhance mastery motivation in children with global delays, we can guide parents in understanding how their relationships and interactions impact their children in daily activities.

Keywords: Mastery motivation, Parenting stress, Developmental delay