Parental behavior of mothers and assessment of children’s agression with regard to sociodemographic features

Abstract

Although a lot of research is aimed at the effects of parental behavior on a child’s development, very few studies have examined single motherhood with regard to its sociodemographic features in terms of marital status. The aim of the study was to examine mothers’ self-assessment of parental behavior and their assessment of children’s aggressive behavior with regard to some sociodemographic features (mothers’ age, marital status, number of children, years of marriage). 531 mothers between the ages 21 and 50 participated in the study. Data were collected with the Perception of parental behavior scale (Macuka, 2004) and the Aggression scale for children and adolescents (Vulić-Prtorić, 2008). The results indicate that there is no difference in mothers’ self-assessment of parental behavior on acceptance, rejection and control dimensions with regard to their marital status (partner relationships; single motherhood). It has been shown that mothers in a partner relationship with more children report a higher level of rejection and control, and those who have been married longer report greater defiance and confrontation of the child. In the sample of single mothers, it was shown that those with a greater number of children report greater rejection, and single mothers who have more children also place their children higher on the Defiance and Confrontation and theVictim and Bully subscales, whereas the higher age of mothers is associated with less acceptance. The research findings demonstrate the importance of raising awareness of parents and educators about the role of family dynamics and structure in the development of children’s inappropriate behaviors, as well as strengthening the competencies of educational professionals in recognizing such behaviors.