A three-generation study: intergenerational continuities and discontinuities and their impact on the toddler's anger.

Abstract

One hundred fifteen 2-year-old toddlers, one of the parents of each toddler, and the corresponding grandmother of each toddler were studied to determine the influence of the grandmother and the parent on the toddler's behavior. Findings indicated that the grandmother's parenting skills have an effect on the grandchild's anger via two pathways. More specifically, the grandmother's child-rearing techniques are mediated by the parent's personality traits, which, in turn, are associated with the parent's child-rearing practices and, ultimately, the grandchild's anger. The second pathway through which the grandmother's child-rearing is related to the grandchild's behavior involves the parent's imitation of the grandmother's parenting skills, which, in turn, are correlated with the toddler's behavior.