Parents' Representations of Their Children: An Exploratory Study Using the Osgood Semantic Differential Scales

Abstract

The results of an exploratory national study carried out in Italy using Osgood's Semantic Differential Scales (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957) with parents of 100 normal 6- to 11-yr.-old children in mainstream classrooms are reported. The aim was to devise a simple tool to be used to explore parents' perceptions of their children in this age group. Parents were asked to rate “my child” using some of Osgood's Semantic Differential Scales especially adapted for this study. Participants were 97 fathers and 100 mothers. Fathers were 32 to 57 years of age (M = 43.2, SD = 5.4), mothers were 29 to 49 years of age (M = 39.7, SD = 4.4). In factor analysis four factors were identified: Activity, Evaluation, Emotions evoked by the child, Personality/Physical contact. Average factor scores were significantly different. There were no significant differences between fathers and mothers on the four factor scores. Children were more positively evaluated the younger they were.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ammanniti

Baumgarten

Candelori

Perucchini

(1992) Representations and narrative during pregnancy. Infant Mental Health Journal, 13, 167–182.

Anastasi

Urbina

(1954/1997) Psychological testing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Capozza

(1977). Il differenziale semantico. Problemi teorici e metrici. Padova, Italy: Patron Editore.

Cattell

R. B.

(1966) The scree test for number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1, 245–276.

Dahn

J. R.

(2000) Predicting narcissistic and depressive vulnerability: The impact of conflicting parental representations on self and object relations. Dissertation Abstracts International, 60(9-B), 4882.

Davidovitch

Glick

Holtzman

Tirosh

Safir

M. P.

(2000) Developmental regression in autism: Maternal perception. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 113–119.

Hollingshead

A. B.

(1975) Four-factor Index of Social Status. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Sociology, Yale Univer. at New Haven, Connecticut.

Hutchinson

Pearson

Fitzgerald

Bateman

Gant

Grundy

Stevenson

Warner

Dean

Matthews

Arshad

Rowlandson

(2001) Can parents accurately perceive hyperactivity in their child? Child: Care, Health and Development, 27, 241–250.

Klecka

W. R.

(1975) Discriminant analysis. In Nie

N. H.

Hull

C. H.

Jenkins

J. G.

Steinbrenner

Mills

J. A.

(Eds.), Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.

10.

Lamb

M. E.

Ketterlinus

R. D.

Fracasso

M. P.

(1992) Parent-child relationships. In Bornstein

M. H.

Lamb

M. E.

(Eds.), Developmental psychology: An advanced textbook. (3rd ed.) Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

11.

Lewis

S. E.

(2001) The diagnostic conference: The nature of parental perceptions of communication during initial diagnosis of children with developmental disabilities. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 62(2-B), 1116.

12.

Luoma

Koivisto

A. M.

Tamminen

(2004) Fathers' and mothers' perceptions of their child and maternal depressive symptoms. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 58, 205–211.

13.

Mendez-Baldwin

Busch-Rossnagel

N. A.

(2003) Changes in parental sense of competence and attitudes in parents involved in a Head Start as a result of participation in a parent education workshop. NHSA Dialog, 6, 331–344.

14.

Miyahara

(2000) Perceptions of three terms to describe physical awkwardness in children. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 21, 367–376.

15.

Modell

J. D.

(2000) Effects of maternal depression on maternal ratings of child behavior problems. Dissertation Abstracts International, Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 60(9-B), 4898.

16.

Osgood

C. E.

Suci

G. J.

Tannenbaum

P. H.

(1957) The measurement of meaning. Urbana, IL: Univer. of Illinois Press.

17.

Pisula

(2003) Parents of children with autism—review of current research. Archives of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, 5, 51–63.

18.

Savina

E. A.

Charova

O. B.

(2002) Peculiarities of mothers' attitudes towards retarded and handicapped children. Voprosy Psychologii, 6, 15–23.

19.

Sayal

Taylor

Beecham

(2003) Parental perception of problems and mental health service use for hyperactivity. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 42, 1410–1414.

20.

Sayal

Taylor

Beecham

Byrne

(2002) Pathways to care in children at-risk of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. British Journal of Psychiatry, 181, 43–48.

21.

Svoboda

(2001) Parental empathy, paternal identification and boys' empathic concern. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B: The Sciences and Engineering, 62(3-B), 1622.

22.

Tiggemann

Lowes

(2002) Predictors of maternal control over children's eating behaviour. Appetite, 39, 1–7.

23.

Ucen

(1999) Podnetove konfiguracie semantickeho diferencialu a postoje k postihnutym det'om. [Stimulative configurations of the semantic differential and attitudes toward disabled children]. Psychologia a Patapsychologia Dietata, 34, 328–334. [in Slovak]

24.

Young-Hyman

Schlundt

D. G.

Herman-Wenderoth

Bozylinski

(2003) Obesity, appearance, and psychosocial adaptation in young African American children. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 28, 463–472.

25.

Zavattini

G. C.

Tambelli

Volpi

Chiarolanza

Mancone

(2002) Rappresentazioni della famiglia e stili di attaccamento in adolescenti di famiglie unite e separate [Family representation and attachment styles in united and separated families in adolescence]. Psicologia Clinica dello Sviluppo, 6, 491–513. [in Italian]

26.

Zennaro

Lis

(1997) Parental representation of children during the first year of life: A longitudinal comparison of mothers' and fathers' responses on semantic differential scales. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 84, 915–920.