Familial cultural activities and child development – Findings from a longitudinal panel study

ABSTRACT

We investigated the associations between parent-child leisure activities and perceived relationships longitudinally during the transition from childhood to adolescence. The German Family Panel (pairfam) covering four biannual waves (N = 1,816 children; age range: 8–15 years; 48.4% female) between 2009 and 2015/16 served as our data base. Frequencies of engaging in book reading (Reading), singing or playing music (Music), and playing computer games (Computer), were entered as independent measures, and children’s views on Intimacy, Prosocial Behaviour and Conduct Problems in their relationships with parents were entered as dependent measures in a series of regression analyses. The results revealed complex associations between parent-child leisure activities and parent-child relationships across waves. Specifically, Reading and Music were found positively associated with Prosocial Behaviour, and Computer was found negatively associated with this variable, and positively associated with Conduct Problems. Gender differences and influences of socioeconomic variables were noted. These findings suggest important and continued roles of parent-child leisure activities to regulate intrafamilial relationships during later childhood and the early stages of puberty. Further research is required to investigate the moderators of these associations and underlying mechanisms.

KEYWORDS:

• Parent-child leisure activities
• child development
• panel study
• pairfam

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

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Notes

1. The acronym pairfam stands for Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics.

2. To facilitate interpretation, the coding of these indicators was reversed as compared to the original data set.