The Longitudinal Effects of Mother-Preschooler Interaction on a Child’s Prosocial Behavior and Behavior Problem: The Mediating Effect of Child’s Self-Esteem

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to examine the longitudinal effects of mother-preschooler interaction on a child’s prosocial behavior and behavior problem. Furthermore, it examines the mediating role of child’s self-esteem between mother-preschooler interaction and child’s prosocial behavior and behavior problem.Methods: The participants were 882 children(452 boys and 430 girls) and their mothers from the 7th(T1) to 9th(T3) wave(2014~2016) of the Panel Study on Korean Children. Data were analyzed with a Structural Equation Model and a bootstrapping method was used to test the statistical significance of the mediation.Results: First, the mother-preschooler interaction did not have a direct longitudinal effect on a child’s prosocial behavior, but had an indirect effect through self-esteem after controlling gender. The bootstrapping result suggested that the indirect effect is statistically significant. Second, mother-preschooler interaction did not have longitudinal effects on behavior problem, both directly and indirectly, through child’s self-esteem. Consequently, the more the interaction between mothers and preschoolers, the higher the child’s self-esteem, which led to a higher prosocial behavior.Conclusion: The results of this study show the mediating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between mother-preschooler interaction and child’s prosocial behavior. These findings suggest that parents should provide children with experiences in various interactions. They also imply the importance of experience in interactions in meaningful social relations for positive behavior of children. These experiences could play a role improving confidence in one’s worth and, eventually, allow children to have positive behaviors in social relations. The limitations and other implications of this study are also discussed.