mcnair scholars - Academic Achievement Programs - University of ...

28 University of Maryland • Inaugural Edition
University of Maryland • Inaugural Edition 29
predate religion and civilization. Could it be that what we currently believe to
be legally appropriate has been influenced by early religious belief and ritual,
which might have been influenced by even earlier pagan belief and ritual? The
conclusion is that while investigation of religion and civilizations could partially
lead to the understanding of how and why punishment is employed as the response
to transgression, it is not enough, and research into preliterate and perhaps even
prehistoric groups is recommended in order to determine where such influence
began.
Associations between Negative Parenting and
Children Developing Behavioral Problems
Nichelle Newton
Mentor: Dr. Brenda Jones-Harden, Associate Professor
Institute for Child Study
University of Maryland, College Park
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify whether there is a correlation between
mother’s negative regard and children’s behavior problems. Negative regard can be
defined as mother overtly rejecting their child, blaming him or her for mistakes and
not supporting their child emotionally (Sosinsky, Carter & Marakovitz 2001). A
sub-sample of 20 mothers and toddlers young as (ages 0-36 months) were randomly
selected out of 120 participants who were enrolled in local Early Head Start
programs. To be eligible to participate in this study, mothers had to meet at least
one of the four criteria: scoring high on depression, having three children under
the age of five, being reported to child protective services, and being a teenage
mother. To assess whether the mother displayed negative regard, mother-child free
play interaction were coded by using the Parent Child Interaction Rating Scale
(PCIRS) developed by Laura Sosinsky, Alice Carter, and Susan Marakovitz. The
scale ranged from one through seven with one being the lowest level of negative
regard and seven being the highest level of negative regard. The results indicated that
no significant correlation existed between mother’s negative regard and children’s
behavior problems. Mothers displayed very little negative regard therefore; a
larger sample size may have been needed to observe more variation. For future
recommendations to identify whether there is an association between mother’s
negative regard and children’s behavior problems, a larger sample size maybe needed
to show more variation and more diverse participants maybe needed to see whether
other factors contribute to children having behavior problems other than their
mother’s being from a low socioeconomic group and the mothers meeting at least
one of the four criteria.