Social-emotional Competence of Children in Single-parent Families : Effects of Primary Caregiving by Single Parents Alone Compared with Primary Caregiving by a Non-parent

한부모 가족 아동의 사회·정서적 유능성 발달 : 동거 부모와 주 양육자와의 영향

This research studied the social-emotional competence of children whose primary caregiver was a single-mother or single-father alone compared with children living with a single-parent but the primary caregiver was a non-parent (e.g. a grandparent). Subjects were 208 children (105 boys, 103 girls) from 10 elementary schools in 3 metropolitan cities. Instruments were the Adaptive Behavior Checklist constructed by the researcher, Self-esteem Inventory (Kim, 1987) and Emotional Competence Scale (Kim, 1998). Results showed that children in single-mother families were more social-emotionally competent than children in single-father families. Children whose primary caregivers were non-parents had higher self-esteem than children whose primary caregivers were single parents alone. There were interaction effects of caregiver variables on children's peer relationships and awareness/expression of their own emotion.