Parental psychological control dimensions: Connections with Russian preschoolers’ physical and relational aggression

Abstract

a b s t r a c tParental psychological control generally consists of overinvolved/protective and critical/rejecting elements, both being linked to children's psychosocial maladjustment. The critical/rejecting element is multidimensional in nature, and few studies have explored this conceptual fullness. It is possible that some dimensions, if they can be statistically differentiated, are uniquely tied to various child behaviors. This may help resolve some of the inconsistency apparent across studies, such as studies of relational aggression. Accordingly, we examined the association between parental psychological control and childhood physical and relational aggression using a dimensional approach. Participants were 204 Russian preschoolers and their parents. The results revealed that dimensions of psychosocial control (i.e., shaming/disappointment, constraining verbal expressions, invalidating feelings, love withdrawal, and guilt induction) could be statistically differentiated, even though most dimensions tended to be significantly correlated. Furthermore, all dimensions, except for invalidating feelings, were significantly associated with childhood aggression, but predominantly in same-gender parent-child dyads.

Families with Distinct Levels of Marital Conflict and Child Adjustment: Which Role for Maternal and Paternal Stress?

“…Therefore, the negative perceptions of their children as difficult and the chronic use of power-assertive/hostile disciplines could well explain their children's vulnerability to externalizing behaviors. Indeed, in the literature, the difficult child dimension of parenting stress was found to be mainly associated with externalizing behavior (Camisasca et al 2010;Costa et al 2006) and harsh parenting was strictly correlated with aggressive and antisocial behaviors (Miller-Perrin et al 2009;Nelson et al 2013).…”

The Role of Parenting in Relational Aggression and Prosocial Behavior among Emerging Adults

“…Many studies have found a positive relationship (Kuppens et al, 2009;Loukas, Paulos, & Robinson, 2005;Nelson & Crick, 2002;Nelson et al, 2006;Nelson, Yang, Coyne, Olsen, & Hart, 2013), whereas others have found no relationship (Hart et al, 1998;Reed et al, 2008). Thus, additional work might be useful to clarify the possible role of psychological control in relational aggression.…”

Peer Victimization and Peer Rejection During Early Childhood

“…The present study is one of an increasing number that has addressed the present topic of peer victimization subtypes in early childhood (e.g., Crick et al, 1999; Garner & Lemerise, 2007; Nelson et al, 2013; Ostrov, 2008). The growing literature on early childhood peer victimization has demonstrated the utility of examining relational victimization and associated correlates among young children.…”

“…The growing literature on early childhood peer victimization has demonstrated the utility of examining relational victimization and associated correlates among young children. For example, past studies have shown clear associations between relational victimization and peer rejection status in a large sample of Italian preschoolers (Nelson et al, 2013). Arguably, early childhood is an important developmental period for understanding the on-set and subsequent course of peer victimization (e.g., Bonica et al, 2003; Crick et al, 1999; Dhami et al, 2005) as children are undergoing important changes in their social perspectives and relationships given the introduction of more peer relationships (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 2006).…”