RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Research supports the beneficial role of prosocial behaviors on children's adjustment and successful youth development. Empirical studies point to reciprocal relations between negative parenting and children's maladjustment, but reciprocal relations between positive parenting and children's prosocial behavior are understudied. In this study reciprocal relations between two different dimensions of positive parenting (quality of the mother-child relationship and the use of balanced positive discipline) and children's prosocial behavior were examined in Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. METHODS: Mother-child dyads (N = 1105) provided data over 2 years in two waves (Mage of child in wave 1 = 9.31 years, SD = 0.73; 50% female). RESULTS: A model of reciprocal relations between parenting dimensions, but not among parenting and children's prosocial behavior, emerged. In particular, children with higher levels of prosocial behavior at age 9 elicited higher levels of mother-child relationship quality in the following year. CONCLUSIONS: Findings yielded similar relations across countries, evidencing that being prosocial in late childhood contributes to some degree to the enhancement of a nurturing and involved mother-child relationship in countries that vary widely on sociodemographic profiles and psychological characteristics. Policy and intervention implications of this study are discussed.
Assuntos
Comportamento Infantil/etnologia , Relações Mãe-Filho/etnologia , Poder Familiar/etnologia , Comportamento Social , Criança , Colômbia/etnologia , Feminino , Humanos , Itália/etnologia , Jordânia/etnologia , Quênia/etnologia , Masculino , Filipinas/etnologia , Suécia/etnologia , Tailândia/etnologia , Estados Unidos/etnologiaRESUMO
This study advances understanding of predictors of child abuse and neglect at multiple levels of influence. Mothers, fathers, and children (N = 1,418 families, M age of children = 8.29 years) were interviewed annually in three waves in 13 cultural groups in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States). Multilevel models were estimated to examine predictors of (a) within-family differences across the three time points, (b) between-family within-culture differences, and (c) between-cultural group differences in mothers' and fathers' reports of corporal punishment and children's reports of their parents' neglect. These analyses addressed to what extent mothers' and fathers' use of corporal punishment and children's perceptions of their parents' neglect were predicted by parents' belief in the necessity of using corporal punishment, parents' perception of the normativeness of corporal punishment in their community, parents' progressive parenting attitudes, parents' endorsement of aggression, parents' education, children's externalizing problems, and children's internalizing problems at each of the three levels. Individual-level predictors (especially child externalizing behaviors) as well as cultural-level predictors (especially normativeness of corporal punishment in the community) predicted corporal punishment and neglect. Findings are framed in an international context that considers how abuse and neglect are defined by the global community and how countries have attempted to prevent abuse and neglect.
Assuntos
Maus-Tratos Infantis/etnologia , Comportamento Infantil/etnologia , Relações Pais-Filho/etnologia , Poder Familiar/etnologia , Pais/psicologia , Abuso Físico/etnologia , Adulto , Criança , China/etnologia , Colômbia/etnologia , Feminino , Humanos , Itália/etnologia , Jordânia/etnologia , Quênia/etnologia , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Filipinas/etnologia , Suécia/etnologia , Tailândia/etnologia , Estados Unidos/etnologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: It is generally believed that parental rejection of children leads to child maladaptation. However, the specific effects of perceived parental acceptance-rejection on diverse domains of child adjustment and development have been incompletely documented, and whether these effects hold across diverse populations and for mothers and fathers are still open questions. METHODS: This study assessed children's perceptions of mother and father acceptance-rejection in 1,247 families from China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States as antecedent predictors of later internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, school performance, prosocial behavior, and social competence. RESULTS: Higher perceived parental rejection predicted increases in internalizing and externalizing behavior problems and decreases in school performance and prosocial behavior across 3 years controlling for within-wave relations, stability across waves, and parental age, education, and social desirability bias. Patterns of relations were similar across mothers and fathers and, with a few exceptions, all nine countries. CONCLUSIONS: Children's perceptions of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection have small but nearly universal effects on multiple aspects of their adjustment and development regardless of the family's country of origin.
Assuntos
Transtornos do Comportamento Infantil/epidemiologia , Relações Pais-Filho , Pais/psicologia , Distância Psicológica , Rejeição em Psicologia , Ajustamento Social , Adaptação Psicológica , Adulto , Criança , Transtornos do Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , China/epidemiologia , Colômbia/epidemiologia , Comparação Transcultural , Ajustamento Emocional , Pai/psicologia , Pai/estatística & dados numéricos , Feminino , Humanos , Itália/epidemiologia , Jordânia/epidemiologia , Quênia/epidemiologia , Masculino , Mães/psicologia , Mães/estatística & dados numéricos , Poder Familiar/psicologia , Filipinas/epidemiologia , Suécia/epidemiologia , Tailândia/epidemiologia , Estados UnidosRESUMO
We assessed 2 forms of agreement between mothers' and fathers' socially desirable responding in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and the United States (N = 1110 families). Mothers and fathers in all 9 countries reported socially desirable responding in the upper half of the distribution, and countries varied minimally (but China was higher than the cross-country grand mean and Sweden lower). Mothers and fathers did not differ in reported levels of socially desirable responding, and mothers' and fathers' socially desirable responding were largely uncorrelated. With one exception, mothers' and fathers' socially desirable responding were similarly correlated with self-perceptions of parenting, and correlations varied somewhat across countries. These findings are set in a discussion of socially desirable responding, cultural psychology and family systems.
Assuntos
Características Culturais , Pai/psicologia , Mães/psicologia , Poder Familiar/psicologia , Valores Sociais , Adulto , China , Colômbia , Feminino , Humanos , Itália , Jordânia , Quênia , Masculino , Filipinas , Autoimagem , Autorrelato , Suécia , Tailândia , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Two key tasks facing parents across cultures are managing children's behaviors (and misbehaviors) and conveying love and affection. Previous research has found that corporal punishment generally is related to worse child adjustment, whereas parental warmth is related to better child adjustment. This study examined whether the association between corporal punishment and child adjustment problems (anxiety and aggression) is moderated by maternal warmth in a diverse set of countries that vary in a number of sociodemographic and psychological ways. Interviews were conducted with 7- to 10-year-old children (N = 1,196; 51% girls) and their mothers in 8 countries: China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. Follow-up interviews were conducted 1 and 2 years later. Corporal punishment was related to increases, and maternal warmth was related to decreases, in children's anxiety and aggression over time; however, these associations varied somewhat across groups. Maternal warmth moderated the effect of corporal punishment in some countries, with increases in anxiety over time for children whose mothers were high in both warmth and corporal punishment. The findings illustrate the overall association between corporal punishment and child anxiety and aggression as well as patterns specific to particular countries. Results suggest that clinicians across countries should advise parents against using corporal punishment, even in the context of parent-child relationships that are otherwise warm, and should assist parents in finding other ways to manage children's behaviors.
Assuntos
Adaptação Psicológica , Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , Relações Mãe-Filho/psicologia , Mães/psicologia , Punição/psicologia , Agressão/psicologia , Ansiedade/psicologia , Ásia , Criança , Colômbia , Comparação Transcultural , Feminino , Humanos , Itália , Quênia , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Estados UnidosRESUMO
Distinguishing between relational and physical aggression has become a key feature of many developmental studies in North America and Western Europe, but very little information is available on relational and physical aggression in more diverse cultural contexts. This study examined the factor structure of, associations between, and gender differences in relational and physical aggression in China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Children ages 710 years (N = 1,410) reported on their relationally and physically aggressive behavior. Relational and physical aggression shared a common factor structure across countries. In all nine countries, relational and physical aggression were significantly correlated (average r = .49). Countries differed in the mean levels of both relational and physical aggression that children reported using and with respect to whether children reported using more physical than relational aggression or more relational than physical aggression. Boys reported being more physically aggressive than girls across all nine countries; no consistent gender differences emerged in relational aggression. Despite mean-level differences in relational and physical aggression across countries, the findings provided support for cross-country similarities in associations between relational and physical aggression as well as links between gender and aggression.
Assuntos
Agressão/psicologia , Comportamento Infantil/psicologia , Características Culturais , Identidade de Gênero , Autoimagem , Criança , China , Colômbia , Feminino , Humanos , Relações Interpessoais , Itália , Jordânia , Quênia , Masculino , Grupo Associado , Filipinas , Fatores Sexuais , Suécia , Tailândia , Estados UnidosRESUMO
The goal of the current study was to investigate potential cross-cultural differences in the covariation between two of the major dimensions of parenting behavior: control and warmth. Participants included 1,421 (51% female) 7- to 10-year-old (M = 8.29, SD = .67 years) children and their mothers and fathers representing 13 cultural groups in nine countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. Children and parents completed questionnaires and interviews regarding mother and father control and warmth. Greater warmth was associated with more control, but this association varied widely between cultural groups.