The purpose of this thesis was to examine parent-adolescent relationships during the transition to high school. Fourteen parent-adolescent dyads from two Canadian cities completed the study. At pre-transition (Time 1) and post-transition (Time 2) to high school, each dyad was video-recorded engaging in a conversation together about various topics related to the school transition. Content analysis was conducted to explore parents’ and adolescents’ pre-transition anticipations of how their relationship would be in high school. State space grid analysis was used to investigate whether there were changes in the structure or emotional content of parent-adolescent dyadic interactions between pre-transition and post-transition to high school. Results showed that parents and adolescents expressed relationship anticipations of stability, change, or uncertainty. Additionally, no statistically significant differences were found in the structure or emotional content of parent-adolescent interactions, suggesting that the high school transition does not appear to disrupt how parents and adolescents interact together. / Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)

La qualité des interactions mère–enfant est un excellent prédicteur du fonctionnement socio-émotionnel de l’enfant. Cependant, relativement peu est connu de l’évolution de cette qualité relationnelle dans le temps et encore moins de l’influence de cette évolution sur le développement de l’enfant. De plus, les études ont rarement considéré les interactions mère–enfant sous un angle véritablement dyadique, incluant les contributions de la mère et de l’enfant. À l’aide d’analyses multiniveaux, cette étude vise à décrire la trajectoire développementale de la qualité des interactions dyadiques mère–enfant lorsque l’enfant est âgé de 2 à 7 ans et à investiguer les associations entre cette trajectoire et le fonctionnement socio-émotionnel de l’enfant à 8 ans. La qualité des interactions de 233 dyades mère–enfant a été évaluée à l’aide de séquences de jeu de 10 minutes, filmées lorsque l’enfant était âgé de 2, 4 et 7 ans. À 8 ans, le fonctionnement socio-émotionnel de l’enfant a été rapporté par un sous-échantillon de 171 enseignants. Les analyses révèlent que la pente de la trajectoire des interactions mère–enfant est légèrement mais significativement négative entre 2 et 7 ans. Les enfants dont la qualité des interactions avec leur mère décline de façon moins prononcée entre 2 et 7 ans montrent moins de problèmes intériorisés à 8 ans, indépendamment de la qualité initiale des interactions à 2 ans. Les enfants qui ont une meilleure qualité d’interactions initiale avec leur mère à 2 ans montrent moins de problèmes extériorisés et plus de comportements prosociaux à 8 ans, indépendamment du déclin subséquent de la qualité relationnelle. Les résultats suggèrent que les niveaux initiaux et l’évolution subséquente sont deux aspects distincts de la qualité relationnelle mère–enfant pouvant avoir des incidences indépendantes sur le développement socio-émotionnel de l’enfant. / Research shows that the quality of mother–child interactions is a reliable predictor of child subsequent socio-affective functioning. Yet, relatively little is known about the evolution of this relational quality over time, and even less about how changes in relational quality may influence the course of child development. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the trajectory of quality of mother–child interactions between ages 2 and 7 and investigate the associations between this trajectory and child socio-affective functioning at age 8. The quality of interactions of 233 mother–child dyads was assessed during 10-minute sequences of structured play when children were aged 2, 4, and 7 years. Child socio-affective functioning was reported by a subsample of 171 teachers when children were aged 8. The results showed that the average slope describing the trajectory of quality of mother–child interactions was slightly yet significatively negative. Children who experienced a slower decrease in the quality of interactions with their mother from 2 to 7 years showed less internalizing behavior problems in second grade according to their teacher, over and above the initial quality of mother–child interactions. In addition, children who benefited from higher-quality interactions with their mother at 2 years showed more prosocial behaviors and less externalizing behavior problems in second grade according to their teacher, above and beyond the decrease in the quality of those interactions over time. The findings suggest that although normative developmental changes may lead to slight average decreases in the quality of interactions of mother–child dyads between toddlerhood and early school age, children who benefit from higher-quality interactions with their mother in toddlerhood as well as across toddlerhood and early school age are better adjusted socioemotionally in middle childhood.