Parent praise to 1- to 3-year-olds predicts children's motivational frameworks 5 years later.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective longitudinal observational cohort study (by design analogy, non-clinical developmental psychology).
PubMed 23397904 · doi:10.1111/cdev.12064
What was done
Researchers tracked 53 parent-child pairs longitudinally to examine whether spontaneous parental praise given at home during early toddlerhood (ages 14 to 38 months) predicted children's motivational frameworks 5 years later (at ages 7 to 8 years). The study evaluated spontaneous parental praise of effort versus praise of inherent characteristics.
What was found
Parental praise directed at children's effort at 14 to 38 months predicted incremental motivational frameworks (believing ability is malleable, attributing success to hard work, enjoying challenges, and generating strategies for improvement) at 7 to 8 years. Early parental praise of inherent traits was not associated with later fixed-ability frameworks. The abstract reported no specific numerical statistics, correlation coefficients, or effect sizes.
Why it matters
This study provides naturalistic, longitudinal evidence that the motivational benefits of process praise observed in experimental laboratory settings may also operate in everyday home environments.
Limits
The sample size is very small (N = 53). As an observational cohort study, residual confounding cannot be excluded and causal mechanisms cannot be definitively established. The abstract does not report numerical effect sizes, precision estimates, or demographic details.
Cited by
- supports Praising children for fixed traits like being smart makes them interpret failure as being stupid, whereas praising effort reinforces repeatable positive behaviors.