Economic pressure, positivity, and positive child development

Abstract

<p>The purpose of this dissertation is to identify the role of positivity as a resiliency factor for individual adaptive functioning and a protective factor for young children’s positive development. The dissertation includes two studies: the first study examined the association between individuals’ economic pressure and positivity throughout adulthood and the second study examined the impact of parental positivity and positive parenting on child positive emotionality despite experiencing family economic pressure. The first study found that individuals’ economic pressure was negatively associated with their positivity from emerging adulthood to adulthood. The final optimized model suggests that individuals who generally showed higher positivity were less likely to feel economic pressure across time. The second study found that, in spite of economic pressure, parental positivity and positive parenting were associated with their young children’s positive emotionality at ages 3 to 5. The results of the two studies suggest that positivity, defined as an individual’s positive perspectives of self, others, and future can be a resiliency factor in times of adversity as well as a protective factor for young children’s positive development in spite of economic pressure.</p>