Let Kids be Kids: Giving Kids Caregiving Roles Makes Them Less Sensitive as Parents

Mothers who took on burdensome caregiving roles as children — and weren’t allowed to just “be kids” — tend to be less sensitive to their own children’s needs, finds new research led by a Michigan State University scholar.

The findings suggest these parents do not understand appropriate child development and end up parenting in a similar harmful manner in which they were raised. The study is online now in advance of print publication in the Journal of Family Psychology.

“If your childhood was defined by parents expecting you to perform too much caregiving without giving you the chance to develop your own self-identity, that might lead to confusion about appropriate expectations for children and less accurate knowledge of their developmental limitations and needs as infants,” said Amy K. Nuttall, assistant professor in MSU’s Department of Human Development and Family Studies and lead author on the study.

“If mothers don’t understand their children’s needs,” Nuttall concluded, “they’re not able to respond to them appropriately.”

Burdensome, adult-like caregiving, or “parentification,” can involve routine parenting and disciplining of one’s siblings, excessive chores and responsibilities around the house, and serving as the main emotional support system for parents.

For the study, 374 pregnant women from low-income households in four U.S. cities were surveyed about their upbringing. After birth, the mothers’ parenting techniques were observed several times during an 18-month period.

Mothers who engaged in excessive, adult-like caregiving as children were less likely to respond warmly and positively to their infant’s needs and interests and to put their child’s need for exploration and independence over their own agenda.

A previous study led by Nuttall, which also appeared in the Journal of Family Psychology, found the children of mothers who engaged in excessive caregiving during childhood went on to display behavioral problems. Together, the studies have important implications for developing parent-education programs for mothers who were overburdened by caregiving roles in childhood.

Image shows kids holding hands.
Letting kids be kids. Mothers who engaged in excessive, adult-like caregiving as children were less likely to respond warmly and positively to their infant’s needs and interests and to put their child’s need for exploration and independence over their own agenda. Image is for illustrative purposes only.

Nuttall said instruction about infant development might be best served in prenatal classes. Women are more likely to attend prenatal classes than parenting classes offered after birth.

“Prenatal parenting classes may be particularly useful for teaching accurate knowledge of child development and appropriate expectations about children’s abilities even before mothers give birth and begin parenting,” Nuttall said.

About this psychology research

Her co-authors are University of Notre Dame researchers Kristin Valentino, Lijuan Wang, Jennifer Burke Lefever and John Borkowski.

Source: Andy Henion – Michigan State University
Image Source: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Abstract for “Maternal History of Parentification and Warm Responsiveness: The Mediating Role of Knowledge of Infant Development.” by Nuttall, Amy K.; Valentino, Kristin; Wang, Lijuan; Lefever, Jennifer Burke; and Borkowski, John G. in Journal of Family Psychology. Published online August 3 2015 doi:10.1037/fam0000112


Abstract

Maternal History of Parentification and Warm Responsiveness: The Mediating Role of Knowledge of Infant Development.

Maternal history of parentification in the family of origin poses subsequent risk to parenting quality during the transition to parenthood. The present study builds on prior work by evaluating whether the association between maternal parentification history and warm responsiveness is mediated by maternal knowledge of infant development in first time mothers. Using data from a prospective longitudinal study on the transition to motherhood, maternal knowledge of infant development and observational codings of warm responsiveness were examined across the first 18 months of parenthood for 374 mothers who also provided retrospective reports of their childhood parentification experiences. Results indicated that maternal retrospective reports of higher engagement in parentified roles in family of origin were associated with poorer knowledge of infant development across the first 18 months of parenthood and, in turn, less warm responsiveness with 18-month-old children. However, maternal parentification history did not significantly influence changes in maternal warm responsiveness across the transition to parenthood. These findings suggest that preventive interventions targeting maternal knowledge of infant development as early as the prenatal period may be useful for preventing poor warm responsiveness.

“Maternal History of Parentification and Warm Responsiveness: The Mediating Role of Knowledge of Infant Development.” by Nuttall, Amy K.; Valentino, Kristin; Wang, Lijuan; Lefever, Jennifer Burke; and Borkowski, John G. in Journal of Family Psychology. Published online August 3 2015 doi:10.1037/fam0000112

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