Relations of parenting style to Chinese children's effortful control, ego resilience, and maladjustment

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the relations of authoritative parenting and corporal punishment to Chinese first and second graders' effortful control (EC), impulsivity, ego resilience, and maladjustment, as well as mediating relations. A parent and teacher reported on children's EC, impulsivity, and ego resilience; parents reported on children's internalizing symptoms and their own parenting, and teachers and peers reported on children's externalizing symptoms. Authoritative parenting and low corporal punishment predicted high EC, and EC mediated the relation between parenting and externalizing problems. In addition, impulsivity mediated the relation of corporal punishment to externalizing problems. The relation of parenting to children's ego resilience was mediated by EC and/or impulsivity, and ego resilience mediated the relations of EC and impulsivity to internalizing problems.In the past few years, researchers have increasingly examined the relations of parental socialization style to children's dispositional control-related characteristics (e.g., selfregulation, impulsivity) and children's maladjustment (e.g., Eisenberg, Zhou, et al., 2005;Gilliom, Shaw, Beck, Schonberg, & Lukon, 2002;Kochanska & Knaack, 2003). Although it is clear that there are associations of both socialization and children's control/regulation with maladjustment (e.g., Rothbart & Bates, 2006), findings differ somewhat depending on the operationalization of control/regulation. In addition, it has been suggested that individual differences in children's regulatory capacities and ego resilience partly mediate the relation of socialization to children's maladjustment (Eisenberg, Cumberland, & Spinrad, 1998;Eisenberg et al., 2004;Gottman, Katz, & Hooven, 1997). Moreover, although relations of socialization with children's regulation and maladjustment may vary across cultures (Bugental & Grusec, 2006), with a few exceptions (e.g., Zhou, Eisenberg, Wang, & Reiser, 2004), most relevant research has been conducted in North America. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relations of authoritative and punitive parenting to children's maladjustment in a sample from the People's Republic of China, and if individual differences in self-regulation (assessed with effortful control [EC]), impulsivity, and resilience mediated these relations. Relevant literature on the constructs of EC, reactive control, and ego resilience, and their relations to maladjustment, is discussed below, followed by consideration of the relations of parenting and culture to these constructs. Copyright © 2009 Cambridge University PressAddress correspondence and reprint requests to: Nancy Eisenberg, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104; Nancy.Eisenberg@asu.edu. NIH Public Access EC and Reactive Control, Ego Resilience, and Children's MaladjustmentThere is mounting evidence that individual differences in children's emotion-related selfregulation are related to their maladjustment, including externalizing an...

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“…Similar result also found in a study done by Eisenberg, Chang, Ma & Huang [46]. Among Chinese participants, positive parenting style was associated with better effortful control while authoritarian parenting style associated negatively with effortful control.…”

Inhibitory Control and Harsh Discipline as Predictors of Externalizing Problems in Young Children: A Comparative Study of U.S., Chinese, and Japanese Preschoolers

“…Prior studies of school-age children (e.g., Eisenberg et al 2009;Valiente et al 2006;Zhou et al 2004) have supported mediation models, wherein associations between parenting behavior and children's externalizing problems have been mediated by individual differences in child effortful control. However, consistent with findings from a large study of 3-year-old children (Olson et al 2005), in all three countries child inhibitory control and maternal harsh discipline made significant independent contributions to early externalizing problems, supporting an additive model of association.…”

“…For example, studies have shown that Chinese parents' power assertive discipline (e.g., frequent use of prohibitions, direct commands without explanations) with their toddler-age children predicted high levels of child aggression 2 years later, whereas inductive discipline was associated with low levels of aggression (Chen 2002 andWang et al 2006). Similarly, in Chinese families of school-age children, power assertive parenting has been linked with low levels of child inhibitory control, and with high levels of child anger/frustration ) and aggressive behavior (Eisenberg et al 2009;Nelson et al 2006). …”

“…In studies of older children, mediation models have been replicated across cultures. For example, in school-age samples of Chinese children, negative parenting has shown indirect effects on child outcomes through children's regulation skills (Chang et al 2003;Zhou et al 2004;Eisenberg et al 2009). Parents' frequent use of harsh punishment may disrupt the acquisition of adaptive regulatory skills through many possible mechanisms, including stimulation of high levels of arousal which interfere with social learning, as well as direct modeling of poor regulatory skills (e.g., Hoffman 2000;Power 2004).…”

Competencias parentales que favorecen el desarrollo de funciones ejecutivas en escolares

“…Así, un estilo de crianza caracterizado por afecto y por apego seguro, propicia el desarrollo de habilidades sociales y con ello las relaciones positivas con los pares, y a su vez disminuye la probabilidad de que se presenten problemas conductuales (Eisenberg, 2009;Ensor & Hughes, 2008). Del mismo modo, la ausencia o excesiva supervisión y protección de los escolares por parte de sus padres y madres, ha sido vinculada a la irrupción de comportamientos inapropiados en distintas etapas del desarrollo (Foster, Garber, & Durlak, 2008).…”