Household Chaos and Early Childhood Behavior Problems: The Moderating Role of Mother-Child Reciprocity in Lower-Income Families

Objective The study examined whether mother-child reciprocity across increasingly challenging contexts moderated the association between household chaos and early childhood behavior problems. Background Living in a chaotic household is associated with behavioral dysregulation in childhood. An important goal in discordant household contexts is to establish positive aspects of relationships that are associated with more favorable developmental outcomes. Method The study analyzed data from 127 mother-child dyads participating in the 3-year visit in a study of primarily low-income, African American/Black families in urban areas. Dyads were videotaped during three successive, increasingly challenging, interaction tasks. Multiple regression analyses examined household chaos, dyadic reciprocity, and the interplay of those as predictors of behavior problems. Results Greater household chaos was associated with more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Moderation analyses indicated that dyadic reciprocity during two challenging interaction tasks (but not during free play) attenuated the association between household chaos and internalizing problems. Conclusions Household chaos was not associated with internalizing problems among dyads who had a connected, supportive relationship in more challenging interactive contexts. Implications Improving shared positive affect and dyadic harmony in the parent-child relationship may help protect young children against the negative influence of chaotic contexts.