Parenting and Emerging Adult Internalizing Problems: Regional Differences Suggest Southern Parenting Factor

Although the effects of parenting styles have received much consideration in the research literature, less attention has been given to outcomes in emerging adults. Also, regional differences among areas of the United States may influence parents to use varying degrees of parenting practices such as affection and discipline. The current study investigated the differences in parenting in two geographically close yet distinct regions of the United States and the associated psychological outcomes in emerging adults. The sample was derived from two datasets: one consisting of participants predominantly from Southern states and one predominantly from Florida. The participants reported on maternal and paternal perceived parenting styles and discipline tactics as well as their own internalizing problems. Most notably, authoritative style of both parents shared a direct relationship with authoritarian style in the Southern sample, whereas this was an inverse relationship in the Florida sample. Maternal authoritarian parenting shared a negative relationship with internalizing symptoms in the Mississippi sample, whereas this relationship was positive in the Florida sample. Additionally, paternal permissive parenting shared a negative relationship with internalizing symptoms in the Florida sample, whereas no relationship was found in the Mississippi sample. For both samples, paternal, not maternal, corporal punishment and maternal, not paternal, psychological aggression were related positively to emerging adult internalizing problems. Overall, it was found that both parenting characteristics as well as associated outcomes differed by region, suggesting the need for increased awareness and sensitivity to these differences.     

NEW CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF PRACTICE: Common Principles in Three Paradigms Suggest New Concepts for Training

We argue herein that typical training procedures are far from optimal. The goal of training in real-world settings is, or should be, to support two aspects of posttraining performance: (a) the level of performance in the long term and (h) the capability to transfer that training to related tasks and altered contexts. The implicit or explicit assumption of those persons responsible for training is that the procedures that enhance performance and speed improvement during training will necessarily achieve these two goals. However, a variety of experiments on motor and verbal learning indicate that this assumption is often incorrect. Manipulations that maximize performance during training can be detrimental in the long term: conversely, manipulations that degrade the speed of acquisition can support the long-term goals of training. The fact that there are parallel findings in the motor and verbal domains suggests that principles of considerable generality can be deduced to upgrade training procedures.     

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Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences -