THE YOUNG CHILD\u27S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AS A FUNCTION OF THE NATURAL MOTHER\u27S MARITAL SATISFACTION: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the marital satisfaction of the natural mother is a significant antecedent of maternal influences on the cognitive development of young children. Data was gathered on 54 middle-class randomly selected five-year-old nursery school and kindergarten girls and boys and their natural mothers who were members of structurally intact families which included the natural fathers. Six hypotheses were formulated. One maritial satisfaction instrument, two screening instruments, and three measures of cognitive development were used. The Short Marital Adjustment Test by Locke and Wallace was used as the measure for marital satisfaction; the Denver Developmental Screening Test and the Slosson Drawing Test were used as screening tools; Piagetian Task Tests, the Slosson Intelligence Test and the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test were used as indicators of cognitive development. It was found that for this population the children\u27s performance scores on the selected Piagetian Task Test and the Slosson Intelligence Test increased significantly as the natural mothers\u27 marital satisfaction index scores increased. The increase of the children\u27s performance scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test was not significantly related to the increase on the marital satisfaction indices. The data seems to indicate that for middle-class families the child\u27s cognitive development is a function of the marital satisfaction of the natural mother