Maternal Warmth Mediates the Relation Between Mother-Preadolescent Cohesion and Change in Maternal Knowledge During the Transition to Adolescence

SYNOPSIS

Objective. This study assessed the relation between prior mother-preadolescent cohesion and changes in maternal knowledge during the transition to adolescence . Design . Questionnaire data were gathered from 148 mother-preadolescent dyads. Data were collected once per year for three years, beginning when the preadolescents were in fourth grade and aged 9–11 years. Participants completed measures of mother-preadolescent relational cohesion, maternal warmth, and maternal knowledge of the preadolescents' acquaintances, whereabouts, and behavior. Results . Longitudinal mediator model analysis indicated that when preadolescent reports were used, higher levels of mother-preadolescent relational cohesion at Time 1 were associated with greater knowledge at Time 3. The relation between prior cohesion and changes in knowledge was mediated by maternal warmth at Time 2. Alternative models with different time-orderings of the variables did not fit as well as the original hypothesized model. When maternal reports were used, there were no significant relations between prior cohesion and change in maternal knowledge over time. Alternative models using maternal reports also were not supported. Conclusion . Mother-preadolescent cohesion and maternal warmth play central roles in the prediction of change in maternal knowledge over time.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1R03HD041955, 5R03HD41955-2), the University of Notre Dame Graduate School, and the University of Notre Dame College of Arts and Letters, all awarded to Dawn M. Gondoli. We thank Scott E. Maxwell and David A. Smith for statistical consultation, and we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of our study participants.

Notes

¹ The CFI is always generated and reported in the output as a number ranging from zero to 1.00. If the CFI is less than zero, it is set to zero. If the CFI is greater than 1.00, then it is set at 1.00. If χ2 is less than the degrees of freedom, then the RMSEA is set to zero.