ERIC Number: EJ1389579
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Sep
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: EISSN-1939-0599
The Effects of Caregivers' Responsiveness and Situational Stress Levels on Children's Expectations of Caregivers' Support-Giving Behavior and Willingness
Jia, Chenglong; Zhou, Tong; Shen, Yuan; Mahajan, Nitya; Qin, Jinliang
Developmental Psychology, v59 n9 p1727-1737 Sep 2023
Children develop expectations of caregivers' support-giving during early-life interactions. The present study examined whether caregivers' responsiveness would influence young children's expectations of caregivers' support-giving behavior and willingness under different situational stress levels. We manipulated the caregivers' responsiveness and situational stress levels. Children were tested to determine their expectations of caregivers' support-giving behavior and willingness. Sixty-four (33 boys, M[subscript age] = 5.34) and 68 (34 boys, M[subscript age] = 5.25) Chinese Han children from a city in Southeast China participated in Studies 1 and 2, respectively. In Study 1, we created a separation condition (i.e., a moderate level of stress) and found that children's expectations of caregivers' support-giving behavior and willingness were significantly lower in the unresponsive condition than in the responsive condition. The expectations in the unresponsive condition decreased significantly compared with the initial expectations. In Study 2, we created a danger condition (i.e., a high level of stress) and found that caregivers' responsiveness had no significant effect on children's expectations of caregivers' support-giving behavior and willingness. These results imply that both caregivers' responsiveness and situational stress levels affect children's expectations of caregivers' support-giving. They further suggest that children aged 4-6 can simultaneously assess caregivers' responsiveness and situational stress levels while forming support-giving expectations.
Descriptors: Child Caregivers, Foreign Countries, Responses, Caregiver Attitudes, Caregiver Child Relationship, Stress Variables, Expectation, Behavior, Attitudes, Social Support Groups, Young Children
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/gf76e/