Abstract
Background We examined the longitudinal relationship between children's social competence at eighteen months of age and the caregiver's attitude of the importance of "praise", with particular emphasis on the change in their attitude when their children were four and nine months old. Methods A total of 176 children with their parents from two Japanese cities were recruited for this study. The children's social competence and the parent's competence for rearing children were assessed when the toddlers were eighteen months old, using the IRS (Interaction Rating Scale) that was developed by the authors. Results The parent's continuous attitude towards the importance of "praise" when children at both four and nine months old improved the children's level of social competence at eighteen months old, after controlling for such factors as children's gender, family type, sibling, mother's and father's age, mother's and father's career, mother's and father's educational level, and family income. Conclusion It is interesting that even infants of four to nine months old were affected by the parent's continuous attitude towards the importance of "praise" and this attitude affects the development of the child's social competence later.
