No abstract

RésuméCette recherche porte sur la problématique du développement psychosocial des enfants doués. Bien qu'il existe des travaux qui indiquent que les enfants doués souffrent plus souvent de problèmes d'adaptation que les autres, comme l'isolement social, la dépression, l'anxiété et une faible estime de soi, la littérature de recherche considère peu l'environnement familial des enfants doués comme étant un facteur qui puisse contribuer au niveau d'adaptation de l'enfant.La présente recherche a eu donc pour objectif de déterminer si les styles parentaux, tels que définis par Baumrind, sont associés à l'adaptation des enfants doués. Les styles parentaux des Mots clés: adaptation, effets, concept de soi, enfant, douance, enfants doués, style parental iii AbstractThe present study examines the psychosocial development of gifted children. Although much evidence exists that gifted children experience problems of adjustment, such as social isolation, depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, few studies have investigated the family environment of gifted children and its possible links to child psychosocial adjustment. The goal of this study, therefore, was to address these questions by examining the parenting styles, as defined by Baumrind, of parents of gifted children and their potential associations with the adjustment levels of their children. Parenting styles were measured using a self-report questionnaire. The level of adjustment for gifted children, aged 7 to 11 years old, was measured using behavioural and self-concept measures. Giftedness was determined using a standardized intelligence test. Forty-eight gifted children and 52 nongifted children participated in the study.Parents of gifted children reported using a predominantly authoritative parenting style. Mothers, however, reported significantly higher authoritative scores than fathers. Parents reported several gifted children to experience problems with peers, but their teachers did not report this nor did the children themselves. No associations were found between a particular parenting style and the reported presence of peer social problems in gifted children. Mothers' authoritarian parenting style was significantly associated with lower conduct problem levels, and higher intellectual selfconcept levels in gifted children. As for mothers' authoritative parenting style, a significant relationship was found with higher conduct problem levels in gifted children. Mothers' permissive parenting style was found to be associated with lower self-concept levels in gifted children. As for the fathers, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were found to be linked to lower adjustment and self-concept levels in gifted children. Adjustment levels and parenting styles were also compared between gifted and nongifted children. For both groups of children, iv adjustment levels were in the normal range and the parents reported similar use of the three parenting styles. As for the relationships between parenting styles and adjustment in nongifted children, fathers' a...

No abstract

Previous studies of school-aged children with physical handicaps indicate passivity, inhibition, and deficits in cognitive-linguistic functioning, sometimes interpreted as consequent to parent-child problems. The present study examined the functioning of toddlers with physical anomalies (but without CNS damage) in comparison to premature toddlers (who share deviant early experience but not deviant physical appearance) and to normal toddlers. 14 mother-child pairs in each group were videotaped at 9, 12, 18, and 24 months in a variety of semistructured situations. Both premature and handicapped toddlers performed more poorly in measures of social initiative, focused play, language production, and 2-year IQ. In addition, handicapped toddlers manifested increased distractibility, decreased compliance, and reluctance to separate from their mothers. Mothers of both prematures and handicapped toddlers were more initiating and less responsive than controls, while mothers of handicapped children were also more likely to both encourage and ignore their toddlers. Patterns previously reported for older children are therefore found here with toddlers. Maternal patterns are interpreted as supporting Bell's model of compensatory "lower-limit" effects.

The relationship between parenting and child behavior was assessed with 15 mothers and 15 fathers of 2- to 3-year-old children. Higher maternal overreactivity was found to be related to more maternal and paternal attributions of child externalizing problems. Self-perception of more paternal nurturance, fewer demands for age-inappropriate responsibility and autonomy, and less laxness were related to fewer paternal attributions of child behavior problems. New constructs for the descriptive categories positive parenting and negative parenting are proposed. These constructs allow one to strongly predict attributions of child behavior. Additionally, each specific behavior forming these new categories is related to specific attributions of child behavior. These specific behaviors and constructs could refine the focus of parent-training programs.