The reciprocal associations of nuclear family, extended family and the children's social competence in early childhood

Using a framework provided by the Ecological Systems Theory, this master thesis focuses on the associations of marital support, maternal emotional responsiveness, emotional support from the extended family to the mother, and the development of social competence in early childhood using 5-year nationally representative longitudinal data from the study of Early Childhood Developmental Ecologies in Turkey (ECDET). The results indicated that maternal emotional responsiveness predicted the subsequent social competence of children except for ages three to four. Child-to-mother effects were significant after the age of six. Similarly, maternal emotional responsiveness predicted support from the husband except when the children's age was three to four, whereas the support from the husband predicted maternal emotional responsiveness only at age five to six. Support from the husbands toward mothers predicted the children's social competence at ages six and seven. In addition, the child-to-father effect was significant only when the children at aged three to four. Although maternal emotional responsiveness and the children's social competence predicted the emotional support from the extended family to the mother, the effect of emotional support from the extended family to the mother was not a significant predictor both for maternal emotional responsiveness and the children's social competence. These results are discussed considering the cultural background of the study in reference to the Ecological Systems Theory.