Profiles of Low‐Income Maternal Well‐being and Family Climate: Relations to Toddler Boys' and Girls' Behaviors

• Author: Barbara Hillaker,Kathy E. Stansbury,Hiram Fitzgerald,Tamesha Harewood,Holly E. Brophy‐Herb,Tiffany L. Martoccio,Neda Senehi
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12001
• Published date: 01 April 2013
• Date: 01 April 2013

HOLLY E. BROPHY-HERB AND TIFFANY L. MARTOCCIO Michigan State University

BARBARA HILLAKER David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality∗

KATHY E. STANSBURY,TAMESHA HAREWOOD,AND NEDA SENEHI Michigan State University∗∗

HIRAM FITZGERALD Michigan State University∗∗∗

Profiles of Low-Income Maternal Well-being and

Family Climate: Relations to Toddler Boys’ and

Girls’ Behaviors

Profiles of maternal well-being and family emo-

tional climate were identified and examined

in relation to toddler boys’ and girls’ social-

emotional outcomes in a low-income sample

(n=136). Four distinct profiles, reflecting vari-

ations in maternal well-being and family emo-

tional climate, were confirmed using K-Means

clustering, following initial hierarchical clus-

tering methods: Competent, Distressed, Emo-

tionally Expressive, and Emotionally Controlled

Parenting. Results suggested that multiple pat-

terns of maternal well-being and emotional

climate were related to children’s positive

behavioral outcomes. Significant relations were

Department of Human Development and Family Studies,

Michigan State University, 552 West Circle Drive, East

Lansing, MI 48824 (hbrophy@msu.edu).

∗David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, 124

Pearl Street, Suite 601, Ypsilanti, MI 48197.

∗∗Department of Human Development and Family Studies,

Michigan State University, 552 West Circle Drive, East

Lansing, MI 48824.

∗∗∗University Outreach and Engagement, 93 Kellogg Center,

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824.

Key Words: cluster analysis, family climate, low-income,

mothers, social-emotional, toddlers.

found between maternal cluster differences and

toddlers’ internalizing, externalizing, and dys-

regulatory behaviors as rated by their mothers

and for toddlers’ behavioral competencies as

rated by their mothers and by early interven-

tion staff. In gender-specific analyses, profile

differences were related to boys’ and girls’

mother-reported dysregulation and competen-

cies, to girls’ mother-reported externalizing

behaviors, and to girls’ competencies rated by

early intervention staff.

Maternal well-being and the emotional climate

of the home have long been associated with

toddlers’ social-emotional development, partic-

ularly among children from low-income families

who are at greater risk for developing inter-

nalizing and externalizing behavior problems

and behavioral dysregulation (Briggs-Gowan,

Carter, Skuban, & McCue-Horwitz, 2001). Yet,

well-being and emotional climate characteris-

tics have less often been studied in concert

together as they relate to toddlers’ early behav-

iors. Recently, researchers have emphasized

the need to (a) move beyond variable-centered

approaches (that typically highlight targeted

characteristics while controlling for the effects of

others) in favor of studying the interrelationships

326 Family Relations 62 (April 2013): 326 – 340

DOI:10.1111/fare.12001