The Prediction of Mothers' Behavior with their Hyperactive Children during Play and Task Situations

Forty mothers were observed interacting with their hyperactive children during a play and structured task situation. Relationships between observed child behavior, maternal self-ratings of self-esteem and stress and mothers' behavior in these situations were examined. The amounts of interaction, control and nonresponding exhibited by mothers during play and task situations were significantly correlated with both their children's behavior and their reported self-esteem and stress associated with the parental role. Multiple regression analyses revealed that the behavior of the child predicted maternal behavior for both the play and structured task situations. However, mothers' reports of stress and self-esteem were significant predictors of their behavior only for the structured task situation. These preliminary findings suggest that maternal cognitions and affects may be more highly correlated with their interactional behavior for some situations versus others. Such information could be useful for the development of situation-specific treatment goals when working with mothers of disturbed children.