Browsing by Author "Yildiz, Ezgi"

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Citation - WoS: 0
Citation - Scopus: 1
Mothers' descriptions of referents are related to children' communicative competence
(Elsevier Science Inc, 2022) Arslan Uzundağ, Berna; Uzundag, Berna A.
Describing an entity in a way that leads to its correct identification among similar others is required for successful referential communication. Although many studies investigated children's language development in relation to the caregiver input, whether children's referential communication skills are related to their caregivers' referential input remains understudied. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between mothers' referential descriptions and preschool-aged children's success in describing pictures among competitors. In two separate tasks, where the goal was to describe target pictures among similar others, we assessed mothers' descriptions targeted for their children and children's descriptions targeted for the experimenter. Our results revealed that children provided more accurate initial descriptions and needed fewer attempts to describe pictures if their mothers described pictures in fewer attempts and provided clear initial descriptions when talking with their children. These findings suggest that children's referential descriptions and communicative competence benefit from hearing clear referential descriptions provided by their caregivers.
Navigating the Digital Age: Children's Self-Regulatory Skills and Technoference in Parent-Child Interactions
(Wiley, 2025) Yildiz, Ezgi; Kessafoglu, Dilara; Altundal, Merve Nur; Akel, Gizem; Uzundag, Berna A.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to examine the pathways connecting child effortful control with technoference while considering the roles of parenting stress and mothers' problematic smartphone use, characterized by an inability to regulate compulsive smartphone use. BackgroundInterruptions caused by technology use, commonly referred to as technoference, have significant implications for child development and parent-child interactions. Despite previous studies indicating a link between technoference and child effortful control, the directionality of this relationship remains ambiguous. MethodA total of 199 mothers with children aged 3 to 7 years living in T & uuml;rkiye participated in an online survey, providing data on the frequency of technoference in parent-child interactions, parenting stress, parental problematic smartphone use, and their children's effortful control. ResultsA significant mediation model, F(6, 187) = 10.73, R-2 = .26, p < .001, indicated that parents of children with lower effortful control reported heightened levels of parenting stress, subsequently resulting in increased problematic smartphone use and a greater incidence of technoference in parent-child interactions (standardized indirect effect coefficient = -.04, SE = .02, 95% bias-corrected and accelerated confidence interval [-.13, -.08]). ConclusionOverall, increased parenting stress related to children's poorer effortful control may drive parents to seek solace in smartphone use, resulting in more interruptions in parent-child interactions. ImplicationsBy identifying a pathway from children's effortful control skills to technoference in parent-child interactions, the study emphasizes the significance of recognizing the role of mobile devices in contemporary family life.
Citation - WoS: 0
Citation - Scopus: 0
The role of perceived social support in mitigating the impact of parenting stress on children's effortful control
(Sage Publications Ltd, 2024) Arslan Uzundağ, Berna; Uzundag, Berna A.
Effortful control, the ability to suppress a dominant response over a subdominant one, is a fundamental aspect of self-regulation. It has been observed that higher levels of parenting stress are associated with lower levels of effortful control in children. Perceived social support, an important factor in reducing parenting stress, may act as a buffer against the negative effects of parenting stress on children's effortful control skills. To investigate this assumption, we collected data from 199 mothers in Turkiye, who had children between the ages of 3 and 6 years. Mothers reported on their parenting stress levels, perceived social support, and their children's effortful control. Our results revealed that perceived social support moderated the relationship between parenting stress and children's effortful control after controlling for socioeconomic status. Moreover, the buffering effect of perceived social support became stronger as the level of social support increased, subsequently weakening the relationship between parenting stress and children's effortful control. These findings suggest that parental perceived social support plays a pivotal role in mitigating the adverse effects of parenting stress on healthy child development. These cross-sectional findings warrant a longitudinal investigation into the interrelations among parenting stress, perceived social support, and children's effortful control.