The aim of the present investigation was to examine parent-child synchrony and its link to children's communicative competence and self-control. Data were collected from 80 families with toddler age children (41 girls, 39 boys) during a laboratory assessment. Five components of parent-child dyadic synchrony were assessed during a semistructured parent-child play activity at 18 months. Assessments of children's communicative competence and self-control were obtained at 36 months. Results indicated that parent-child synchrony, shared positive affect, and mutual compliance were highly intercorrelated components of dyadic synchrony. Moreover, children from highly synchronous parent-child dyads displayed more communicative competence and more self-controlled behavior. Mother-child mutual compliance and father-child shared positive affect were particularly significant contributors to children's self control. The associations between synchrony and child developmental adjustment remained significant after controlling for individual child and parent behavior. Developmental implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

This study examines the role that context plays in links between relative balance, or mutuality in parent-child interaction and children's social competence. Sixty-three toddlers and their parents were observed in a laboratory play session and caregiving activity (i.e. eating snack). Mutuality was operationalised as the relative balance in (a) partners' compliance to initiations, and (b) partners' expression of positive emotion. Caregivers rated children's social competence with peers, and children's prosocial and aggressive behaviour with peers was observed in their childcare arrangement. Contextual differences were observed in the manifestation of parent-child mutuality, with both motherchild and father-child dyads displaying higher mutual compliance scores in the play context than in the caregiving context. Father-child dyads also displayed higher levels of shared positive emotion during play than during the caregiving context. There were no differences in a way that parent-child mutuality during play and caregiving was associated with children's social competence with peers. Overall, the results suggest that parentchild mutuality is a quality of parent-child interaction that has consistent links to children's peer competence regardless of the context in which it occurs.

Contextual variations in mother-child and fatherchild verbal communication were examined among 80 U.S. families from Kansas who were predominately Caucasian (85%) and middle-class. There were 41 girls and 39 boys between 15-and 18-months-old observed with their mothers and fathers in separate play and caregiving laboratory situations. Parent and child behaviors were coded for verbal initiation and response strategies. MAN-OVA's revealed more differences between mother's and father's verbal communication strategies in the play context than the caregiving context. Boy's and girl's verbal communication was relatively similar across contexts. The interactions between gender and context are discussed in relation to gender role development in the family.