Constructing a dual-factor, dual-pathway framework for analyzing parent–child interactions: an exploration of parental insightfulness and beliefs

Current research on parent “child interaction focuses primarily on parents” observable characteristics with limited exploration of the underlying psychological processes driving interactive behaviors. This study explores an implicit process model of parent-child interactions through two factors parental insightfulness, which is defined as parents' ability to receive and interpret children's signals, and parental beliefs. Using video-stimulated recall interviews and turn-by-turn microanalysis with 35 parent-child dyads (children aged 12 to 36 months), two psychological pathways were identified based on dual-process models of information processing: The Parental Insightfulness-dominant Pathway (child's signal → parental reception and interpretation → responsive behavior) and the Parental Beliefs dominant Pathway (parental beliefs → interactive behavior). The research findings indicate that in the total of 223 interactions parents were more inclined to use the Parental Insightfulness-dominant Pathway rather than the Parental Beliefs-dominant Pathway. Furthermore, in the Parental Insightfulness-dominant Pathway, if parents can accurately interpret the signals, they are more likely to respond appropriately. However, in Parental Beliefs-dominant Pathway, parents often initiate or guide interactions based on their own parental beliefs, leading to inappropriate behavioral patterns. Our qualitative analyses demonstrated that parental insightfulness mediated between parents' interpreting children's signals and their responses and hence improved the quality of interactions. Therefore, it is essential to cultivate parental insightfulness based on scientific parental beliefs, employing a dual- factor approach to optimize the practice of responsive caregiving in early childhood development.