Interpretations of Parenting by Mainland Chinese and U.S. American Children

Children's interpretation moderates relations of maternal autonomy support with sociability and assertiveness in China

“…In general, our findings support the notion that parental behaviors' impact depends on children's appraisal and interpretations (Camras et al, 2017). Child-beneficial interpretation plays a critical role in the relations between parenting and child outcomes in both Western and non-Western cultural contexts (Camras et al, 2012).…”

“…A parenting-related belief that is viewed as particularly important in Chinese children and thus received attention from researchers is child-beneficial interpretation of parenting, which refers to appraising parental behaviors as motivated by concern for the child rather than for the parents or family (Camras et al, 2012;Cheah et al, 2019). Previous studies indicate that child-beneficial interpretation of parenting may have an impact on the effects of parental behaviors (Camras et al, 2012(Camras et al, , 2017Cheah et al, 2019;Soenens et al, 2015). For example, Cheah and colleagues (2019) found that Chinese children who interpreted their parents' use of guilt induction and shaming as "for children's own good" were less likely to experience depressive symptoms.…”

“…As such, it might be better to assess child-beneficial interpretations at each time point. In this study, considering that children's interpretations of parenting behaviors are often related to the effects of parenting on child outcomes in a proximal manner (Camras et al, 2017;Cheah et al, 2019), we assessed child-beneficial interpretation of maternal autonomy support at Time 2. Future studies should examine whether the results are similar when parenting behaviors and child interpretations are assessed at the same time point.…”

“…As a result, maternal autonomy support may not have as strong positive impacts on children's social functioning in China as in the West, which is attributable to children's appraisal and interpretations of such parenting. Indeed, child-beneficial interpretation of parenting behaviors, which refers to interpreting parental behaviors as motivated by concern for the child's own good, have been found to be an important factor that modulates the effects of parenting on children's adjustment (Camras et al, 2012(Camras et al, , 2017. Thus, the present study sought to examine the moderating role of Chinese children's interpretations of their mothers' display of autonomy support in terms of whether it is beneficial for the child on the longitudinal relations between maternal autonomy support and children's social functioning.…”

Taking adolescents’ agency in socialization seriously: The role of appraisals and cognitive‐behavioral responses in autonomy‐relevant parenting

“…Camras et al. (2012), 2017) showed that early adolescents differed substantially in the degree to which they held a benign interpretation of several potentially controlling practices, such as shaming and critical comparison. A benign appraisal, which involves the idea that these practices are ultimately beneficial for the child, played a moderating role in some of the associations between the controlling practices and developmental outcomes.…”