How mothers talk to their children about failure, mistakes and setbacks is related to their children's fear of failure.

Peterson, ER; Sharma, T; Bird, A; Henderson, AME; Ramgopal, V; Reese, E; Morton, SMB

How mothers talk to their children about failure, mistakes and setbacks is related to their children's fear of failure.

Peterson, ER Sharma, T Bird, A Henderson, AME Ramgopal, V Reese, E Morton, SMB

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Publisher:: WILEY
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Br J Educ Psychol, 2024
Issue Date:: 2024-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Peterson, ER
dc.contributor.author	Sharma, T
dc.contributor.author	Bird, A
dc.contributor.author	Henderson, AME
dc.contributor.author	Ramgopal, V
dc.contributor.author	Reese, E
dc.contributor.author	Morton, SMB
dc.date.accessioned	2024-09-24T23:58:05Z
dc.date.available	2024-04-05
dc.date.available	2024-09-24T23:58:05Z
dc.date.issued	2024-05-01
dc.identifier.citation	Br J Educ Psychol, 2024
dc.identifier.issn	0007-0998
dc.identifier.issn	2044-8279
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/180959
dc.description.abstract	BACKGROUND: Many people fear failure and making mistakes. This fear can be transmitted from parents to children, suggesting that parental communication regarding failures and setbacks may play a critical role in shaping a child's perception of mistakes. AIMS: In this study, we investigated how everyday parent-child conversations about setbacks influence children's fear of making mistakes. SAMPLE: Drawing on the large pre-birth Growing Up in New Zealand cohort, we focused on a sub-sample of 231 mother-child dyads who engaged in a recorded conversations about a "recent disappointment or setback" when the children were 8 years old. METHOD: Conversations between mothers and children about the recent disappointments were coded to identify whether parents recognised or acknowledge their child's emotional response, if action plans were discussed, and the types of resources that the child could draw on. The children also completed a questionnaire about their global self-worth and their fear of making mistakes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The discussion of clear action plans, in the absence of a discussion about collaborative resources, was found to be associated with an increased fear of making mistakes among children. Conversely, when mothers clearly acknowledged their child's emotions and discussed ways to work collaboratively with their child on future problems, there was a notable decrease in the child's fear of mistakes. However, it is noteworthy that many mothers in our study either minimally acknowledged or dismissed their child's emotions(40%), rarely discussed action plans (55%), or collaborative resources (79%)when discussing the recent setback.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	WILEY
dc.relation.ispartof	Br J Educ Psychol
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1111/bjep.12685
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1303 Specialist Studies in Education, 1701 Psychology
dc.subject.classification	Education
dc.subject.classification	3904 Specialist studies in education
dc.subject.classification	5201 Applied and developmental psychology
dc.title	How mothers talk to their children about failure, mistakes and setbacks is related to their children's fear of failure.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.location.activity	England
utslib.for	1303 Specialist Studies in Education
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/Women & Children’s Health Research Collaborative (WCHC)
pubs.organisational-group	University of Technology Sydney/UTS Groups/INSIGHT: Institute for Innovative Solutions for Well-being and Health
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.rights.license	This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.date.updated	2024-09-24T23:58:04Z
pubs.publication-status	Published online

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Many people fear failure and making mistakes. This fear can be transmitted from parents to children, suggesting that parental communication regarding failures and setbacks may play a critical role in shaping a child's perception of mistakes. AIMS: In this study, we investigated how everyday parent-child conversations about setbacks influence children's fear of making mistakes. SAMPLE: Drawing on the large pre-birth Growing Up in New Zealand cohort, we focused on a sub-sample of 231 mother-child dyads who engaged in a recorded conversations about a "recent disappointment or setback" when the children were 8 years old. METHOD: Conversations between mothers and children about the recent disappointments were coded to identify whether parents recognised or acknowledge their child's emotional response, if action plans were discussed, and the types of resources that the child could draw on. The children also completed a questionnaire about their global self-worth and their fear of making mistakes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The discussion of clear action plans, in the absence of a discussion about collaborative resources, was found to be associated with an increased fear of making mistakes among children. Conversely, when mothers clearly acknowledged their child's emotions and discussed ways to work collaboratively with their child on future problems, there was a notable decrease in the child's fear of mistakes. However, it is noteworthy that many mothers in our study either minimally acknowledged or dismissed their child's emotions(40%), rarely discussed action plans (55%), or collaborative resources (79%)when discussing the recent setback.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/180959