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. 2023 Mar 23;10(4):609.
doi: 10.3390/children10040609.

Non-Intrusive Maternal Style as a Mediator between Playfulness and Children's Development for Low-Income Chilean Adolescent Mothers

Laura Léniz-Maturana  1 , Rosa Vilaseca  1 , David Leiva  2
Affiliations

Non-Intrusive Maternal Style as a Mediator between Playfulness and Children's Development for Low-Income Chilean Adolescent Mothers

Laura Léniz-Maturana et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between low-income Chilean adolescent maternal playfulness and mothers' non-intrusiveness in their children's development and to analyze whether a mother's non-intrusiveness mediates the relationship between maternal playfulness and children's development. The Parental Playfulness Scale and the Subscale of Intrusiveness from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project were used to assess maternal playfulness and mothers' non-intrusiveness respectively. Ages and Stages Questionnaire 3rd Edition (ASQ-3) was applied to measure the children's communication, gross and fine motor skills, problem-solving and personal-social development. The sample consisted of 79 mother-child dyads with children aged 10-24 months (M = 15.5, SD = 4.2) and their mothers aged 15-21 years old (M = 19.1, SD = 1.7). A bivariate analysis showed that maternal playfulness was significantly associated with communication, fine motor, problem-solving and personal-social development. Moreover, higher levels of communication, fine motor skills and problem-solving development were observed in the children of less intrusive mothers. Maternal playfulness had a significant effect on children's development of language, problem-solving and personal-social skills when their mothers showed less intrusiveness during interaction. These findings contribute to the understanding of the interaction between adolescent mothers and their children. Active play and less intrusiveness can enhance child development.

Keywords: adolescent mothers; children’s development; intrusiveness; playfulness.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Participant flowchart.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of maternal playfulness on children’s communication development mediated by mothers’ intrusiveness. Asterisks (***) indicate the significance effect of maternal playfulness on mother’s intrusiveness (p < 0.001) (a1).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of maternal playfulness on children’s gross motor development mediated by mothers’ intrusiveness. Asterisks (***) indicate the significance effect of maternal playfulness on mother’s intrusiveness (p < 0.001) (a1).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effect of maternal playfulness on children’s fine motor development mediated by mother’s intrusiveness. Asterisks (***) indicate the significance effect of maternal playfulness on mother’s intrusiveness (p < 0.001) (a1).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effect of maternal playfulness on children’s solving-problem development mediated by mother’s intrusiveness. Asterisks (***) indicate the significance effect of maternal playfulness on mother’s intrusiveness (p < 0.001) (a1), and asterisk (*) indicates the significance effect of mother’s intrusiveness on children’s problem solving (p < 0.05) (b1).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effect of maternal playfulness on children’s personal–social development mediated by mother’s intrusiveness. Asterisks (***) indicate the significance effect of maternal playfulness on mother’s intrusiveness (p < 0.001) (a1). And asterisks (**) indicate the direct significance effect of maternal playfulness on children’s personal-social development (p < 0.01) (c′).
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