Citation

Wilson SR, Roberts F, Rack JJ, Delaney JE. Hum. Commun. Res. 2008; 34(3): 392-422.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, International Communication Association, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1468-2958.2008.00326.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article explores associations between mothers’ trait verbal aggressiveness (VA) and maternal and child behavior during playtime interactions. Forty mothers completed a 10-minute play period with one of their children (range = 3–8 years) and then responded to D. A. Infante and C. J. Wigley’s (1986) trait VA scale. Mothers’ trait VA was associated positively (r = .48) with their rate of directing and inversely (r =−.44) with their child’s rated cooperation. Qualitative analyses of a subset (n = 8) of interactions suggest that mothers high in trait VA used directives to control the choice, rate, and duration of activities, and used physical negative touch along with directives, more than low-VA mothers. Behaviors associated with trait VA occur even during brief mother–child interactions in which triggers for aggressive behavior largely are absent.