Authoritative parenting among immigrant Chinese mothers of preschoolers.

Abstract

The goals of this study were: (a) to examine authoritative parenting style among Chinese immigrant mothers of young children, (b) to test the mediational mechanism between authoritative parenting style and children’s outcomes; and (c) to evaluate 3 predictors of authoritative parenting style (psychological well-being, perceived support in the parenting role, parenting stress). Participants included 85 Chinese immigrant mothers and their preschool children. Mothers reported on their parenting style, psychological well-being, perceived parenting support and stress, and children’s hyperactivity/attention. Teacher ratings of child adjustment were also obtained. Results revealed that Chinese immigrant mothers of preschoolers strongly endorsed the authoritative parenting style. Moreover, authoritative parenting predicted increased children’s behavioral/attention regulation abilities (lower hyperactivity/inattention), which then predicted decreased teacher rated child difficulties. Finally, mothers with greater psychological well-being or parenting support engaged in more authoritative parenting, but only under conditions of low parenting stress. Neither well-being nor parenting support predicted authoritative parenting when parenting hassles were high. Findings were discussed in light of cultural- and immigration-related issues facing immigrant Chinese mothers of young children.

Parenting styles and practices among Chinese immigrant mothers with young children

“…Within the dearth of research examining the parenting of Chinese immigrants, the results have been mixed. For instance, while Gorman (1998) found that Chinese immigrant parents applied authoritarian parenting, Cheah, Leung, Tahseen, and Schultz (2009) reported that Chinese immigrant mothers strongly espoused authoritative parenting. Considering together, the scarcity of research devoted to examining the parenting of Chinese immigrants in the USA and the incongruent findings concerning the parenting styles among this population leave this area in need of more investigation.…”

Chinese children’s justifications for sharing resources: why do we have to share?

“…Kohlberg, 1984;Piaget, 1932Piaget, /1965. Children under six years of age are considered to be incapable of making moral judgement in the Chinese society, and therefore not punished for misbehaviour (Cheah, Leung, Tahseen, & Schultz, 2009). This may explain why most children did not refer to fear of punishment or the authority in their moral judgements.…”

Lietuvos Tėvų, Auginančių 6–12 Metų Vaikus, Gyvenimo Stiliaus Individualiosios Psichologijos Požiūriu Sąsajos Su Vaiko Auklėjimo Stiliumi

“…Researchers claim that the authoritative parenting style described by Baumrind or the democratic parenting style as proposed in the Individual Psychology literature appears to be more acceptable based on research ndings that show higher levels of empathy, pro-social behavior, life satisfaction, co-operative attitudes and lower depression in children (Evans, 2005;Hubbs-Tait, Kenedy, Page, Topham & Harrist, 2008;McGillicuddy-De Lisi & De Lisi, 2007;Milevsky, Schlechter, Netter & Keehn, 2007;Latouf, 2008;Cheah, Leung, Tahseen & Schultz, 2009;Pong, Johnston & Chen, 2010). Many of these ndings support the clinical and psycho-educational materials based on the Individual Psychology principle represented in the parenting programs such as Systematic Training of E ective Parenting (Dinkmeyer Sr. et al, 1997) and Active Parenting (Popkin, 1993).…”