Author(s)

Ryoji Shinohara, Yuka Sugisawa, Lian Tong, Emiko Tanaka, Taeko Watanabe, Yoko Onda, Yuri Kawashima, Maki Hirano, Etsuko Tomisaki, Yukiko Mochizuki, Kentaro Morita, Gan-Yadam Amarsanaa, Yuko Yato, Noriko Yamakawa, Tokie Anme

1Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo.
Clinical Research Institute, Mie-Chuo Medical Center National Hospital Organization, Tsu, Japan.
College of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan.
Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Tokyo, Japan.

We aimed to clarify the effects of the praise of mothers on their 18-month-old offspring by tracing the trajectory of the latter’s’ social competence from this time to 30 and 42 months. The participants were 226 mother-child dyads whose interaction was observed when the children were 18, 30, and 42 months old. The features of mother-child interaction, and specifically the social proficiency of the children, were examined using the Interaction Rating Scale (IRS) as an aspect of social competence. Our findings indicate that caregivers’ praise of 18-month-old children is very important in promoting a high-level trajectory of child social competence from that time to 30 and 42 months. It is hoped that caregivers and health care professionals will use these findings appropriately when providing care giving support to parents.

Child Development; Praise; Social Competence; Caregiver-Child Interaction; Longitudinal Study

Shinohara, R. , Sugisawa, Y. , Tong, L. , Tanaka, E. , Watanabe, T. , Onda, Y. , Kawashima, Y. , Hirano, M. , Tomisaki, E. , Mochizuki, Y. , Morita, K. , Amarsanaa, G. , Yato, Y. , Yamakawa, N. & Anme, T. (2012). Influence of Maternal Praise on Developmental Trajectories of Early Childhood Social Competence. Creative Education, 3, 533-539. doi: 10.4236/ce.2012.34081.