| Current research investigating the way in which children acquire their social information processing (SIP) patterns has been attributed to the role of parents. A specific process by which parents contribute to their children's acquisition of social cognitions, however, has not been explored. Designed to address this gap in the literature, the present study posited that positive and negative parenting quality differentially impact children's SIP, and that such a path occurs through the process of parent-child discourse. More specifically, the study (1) investigated whether parenting quality was positively associated with parents' own SIP patterns, (2) examined whether parenting quality was positively associated with children's SIP, (3) explored the possibility of SIP acquisition by parent-child discourse, and (4) assessed the relation between children's SIP and social competence. A sample of 24 preschool-aged children (11 boys, 13 girls) and their parents participated in the current study. Parenting quality was examined on the basis of dyadic interactions, and parents' and children's SIP were measured by their responses to hypothetical situations. Contrary to hypothesized, results indicated that parenting quality had no significant impact on either parents' or children's overall SIP. Null findings were also obtained for the hypothesis that children acquire their SIP via dyadic discourse. A modest but insignificant correlation between children's SIP and their social competence was found. Limitations of the present study are discussed, as are directions for future research.;Keywords. social information processing, parenting quality, early childhood, discourse... |
