ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to explore the moderating role of mother–child relationships (closeness and conflict) in the relations between children's anxiety and play behaviour in the sample of Turkish preschool children. Participants were N = 211 children (117 boys, M age = 64.08 months, SD = 12.26) attending preschool from suburban areas in Ankara. Mothers rated children’s anxiety and mother–child relationships, whereas teachers provided ratings of children’s social play. Among the results, children’s anxiety and mother’s conflict was positively correlated with reticence behaviour and negatively correlated with social play. Moreover, mother–child closeness significantly moderated these associations. The current findings suggest that mother – child relationships moderated the association between unsociability and social play in children (buffering effect). The interaction between anxiety and mother–child closeness could be beneficial for predicting unsociable children’s social play behaviour. Mothers can improve their relationship depending on unsociable children to provide nurturing social play behaviour. Limitations and future directions of the current study are discussed.

摘要

本研究的目的是探讨母子关系（亲密和冲突）在土耳其学龄前儿童样本中儿童焦虑和游戏行为之间关系的调节作用。参与者为N  = 211 名儿童（117 名男孩，M年龄 = 64.08 个月，SD = 12.26）在安卡拉郊区上学前班。母亲对孩子的焦虑和母子关系进行评分，而教师对孩子的社交游戏进行评分。结果中，儿童的焦虑和母亲的冲突与沉默行为呈正相关，与社交游戏呈负相关。此外，母子亲密程度显着缓和了这些关联。目前的研究结果表明，母子关系缓和了儿童不善于社交和社交游戏之间的关联（缓冲效应）。焦虑和母子亲密度之间的相互作用可能有助于预测不善于交际的儿童的社交游戏行为。母亲可以依靠不善于交际的孩子提供培养社交游戏行为来改善她们的关系。