| The present study examined the relations between the quality of mother-child interaction and preschoolers' aggressive behavior and social skills. Fifty-nine preschool-aged children (3-6 years; 29 aggressive and 30 non-aggressive) and their mothers engaged in a videotaped free play task and a structured task. The interactions were coded for interactional synchrony and shared affect. A series of t-tests and ANOVAS revealed that non-aggressive dyads exhibited more interactional synchrony, shared positive affect, and less shared negative affect, than aggressive dyads. Regression analyses showed that level of interactional synchrony, shared positive affect, and child aggression predicted children's social skills. The results also provided some support that the quality of the interactions differed by task type. The findings are discussed in terms of implications for intervening with aggressive young children. |
