Relationships between parenting practices and perceptions of child behaviour among Korean immigrant mothers and fathers

This study examined parenting styles and culturally‐specific parenting practices of Korean immigrant mothers (N = 128) and fathers (N = 79) of children (ages 6–10) in New Zealand and the parenting predictors of child behaviour. Participants completed questionnaires on parenting styles and practices, and parental perceptions of child behaviour. Both parents indicated a high degree of devotion (Mo jeong) and involvement in care and education of their child with fathers were more likely than mothers to utilise shaming/love withdrawal and modesty encouragement. Results of regression analyses showed that there were some differences between mothers and fathers in the parenting predictors of child internalising and externalising behaviour problems and prosocial behaviour. Across the whole sample, there were contrasting relationships for authoritative parenting styles, devoted/involved parenting and modesty encouragement/shaming/non‐reasoning parenting practices with child behaviour problems. Results indicated a blend of Western and Korean parenting practices were being utilised after settling in New Zealand.     

Individual and social correlates of aggressive behavior in Lebanese undergraduates: The role of trait emotional intelligence

This study investigates the relationship between Aggressive Behavior and individual factors, namely trait Emotional Intelligence, personality dimensions, emotion regulation and self-worth, as well as social factors, namely accepting/rejecting parenting styles and exposure to violence. The sample consisted of 252 university students in Lebanon (154 females), from 16 to 30 years old. Results from hierarchical regression analyses (controlling for age and gender and in the presence of social and individual predictors) showed that the Self-control and Emotionality factors of trait Emotional Intelligence were significant negative predictors of Aggressive Behavior while controlling for age and gender and in the presence of social and individual predictors). Exposure to violence and openness to experience also predicted Aggressive Behavior. Implications for future research and limitations of the present study are discussed.     

Effects of harsh parenting and positive parenting practices on youth aggressive behavior: The moderating role of early pubertal timing

Prior research indicates that early pubertal timing is associated with aggressive behavior, particularly in the context of adversity as postulated in the contextual amplification hypothesis. However, few studies have examined harsh parenting as the context for the effect of early pubertal timing. Even fewer studies have tested the interactive effect of early pubertal timing and positive parenting on aggressive behavior. In this study, we tested the proposition that early pubertal timing, contrary to the general conception of it as a vulnerability, indexed susceptibility, and thus early maturing individuals were affected more by their environment in a “for better and for worse” manner. The sample consisted of 411 community‐recruited youth aged 11–12 years (51% boys, 80% African Americans). Participants reported Tanner Stages of pubertal development, aggressive behavior and harsh parenting practice of their parents. Puberty scores were standardized with groups of the same age, sex, and ethnicity, and those that scored the top one‐third were defined as early maturing individuals. Parents reported youth's aggressive behavior and their parenting practices towards the youth, including harsh parenting and positive parenting. Early pubertal timing significantly moderated the relationship between harsh/positive parenting and aggressive behavior. Specifically, harsh parenting was positively associated with aggressive behavior to a larger degree among early maturing individuals than among on‐time/late‐maturing individuals. Positive parenting was inversely associated with aggressive behavior but only among early maturing individuals. This study is the first to document support for early pubertal timing as susceptibility to the environmental influences in relation to aggressive behavior. Theoretical and intervention implications are discussed.

     

Parenting programs during adolescence: Outcomes from universal and targeted interventions offered in real‐world settings

The aim of this naturalistic study was to explore short and long‐term outcomes of five different group‐based parenting programs offered to parents of 10 to 17‐year‐olds. Three hundred and fifteen parents (277 mothers and 38 fathers) who had enrolled in a parenting program (universal: Active Parenting, COPE ; Connect; targeted: COMET ; Leadership training for parents of teenagers [LFT ]) answered questionnaires at three measurement waves (baseline, post‐measurement, and one‐year follow‐up). The questions concerned parenting style, parental mental health, family climate and adolescent mental health. Results revealed small to moderate changes in almost all outcome variables and in all parenting programs. Overall, parents in COMET reported the largest short and long‐term changes. No substantial differences in change were seen between the other programs. The results support the general effectiveness of parenting programs for parents of adolescents.     

Implementing Family-Centered Interventions Within the Public Middle School: Linking Service Delivery to Change in Student Problem Behavior

The Adolescent Transitions Program is a family-centered intervention strategy designed to reduce problem behavior and prevent drug use within a public school environment. A parent consultant within a Family Resource Center (FRC) provided universal, selected, and indicated interventions that enhanced and supported positive parenting practices known to serve as protective factors. Implementation of the 3-year FRC model involved 584 students and their families in 4 middle schools. Analyses focused on the dynamics and effects of parent consultant activities and services. Differences in school “adoption” of the FRC services were found to be a function of both passage of time and school environment. Despite significant variation in implementation across schools, FRC services significantly reduced the growth in problem behavior over the course of the middle-school years. The implications of these findings for dissemination of empirically supported, school-based, family-centered interventions are discussed.     

Factor Structure of the Parenting Scale in a Low-Income African American Sample

We evaluated the relative goodness-of-fit of two factor structures of the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O'Leary, Wolf, {&} Acker, 1993) among two samples of low-income African American families. Participants included 271 mother-child dyads from urban and rural areas in the southern and southeastern US, who completed the Parenting Scale along with other measures of parenting style and dyadic relationship. Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) indicated that a two-factor solution, comprising Laxness and Overreactivity dimensions, was the better fit to the data. Some direct evidence for convergent validity was provided by a correlation between the Laxness factor of the Parenting Scale and the Firm/Lax Control subscale of the Children's Report of Parenting Behavior Inventory (CRPBI). Results are discussed in term of Brody and Flor's (1998) “no nonsense” parenting style.     

Parenting Competency Across Pregnancy and Postpartum Among Urban Minority Women

Taking a life-course perspective, we explored the sense of parenting efficacy during the pregnancy-postpartum transition among a group under-represented in much of adult developmental research, minority women. Our intent was to describe the women's report of parenting competency in a major life transition occurring within the context of an impoverished urban environment. We also explored associations with depression, social support, and life events. One hundred and eighty-two African-American and Hispanic mothers at community health centers in low-income urban areas completed measures early in the third trimester and again at 3 months postpartum. Across time, the levels of reported parental efficacy and satisfaction increased while depressive symptoms decreased. Negative life events and levels of depressive symptomatology differentially influenced women's experience of parenting satisfaction and efficacy feelings before and after their babies were born.     

The Role of Witnessing Violence,Peer Provocation,Family Support,and Parenting Practices in the Aggressive Behavior of Rural Adolescents

This study examined the influence of witnessing violence, peer provocation, family support, and parenting practices (monitoring and discipline) on aggression. Participants were 1,196 ninth graders at nine schools in poor, predominantly agricultural, rural communities who completed measures of these variables. Witnessing violence, peer provocation, low levels of family support, and poor parenting practices were each related to higher frequencies of aggression. Witnessing violence and peer provocation partially mediated relations between parenting and aggression, such that students who reported high levels of appropriate parenting reported lower levels of witnessing violence and peer provocation. These were, in turn, related to lower levels of aggression. The relation between family support and aggression was also mediated by peer provocation, though the Degrees of mediation was not as strong as for parenting. Both parenting and family support moderated the relation between witnessing violence and aggression such that this relation was stronger among adolescents who reported low family support or high levels of poor parenting. Neither parenting nor family support moderated the relation between peer provocation and aggression. Overall, parenting practices had a stronger influence on aggression than did family support. Results were generally consistent across gender. These findings have important implications for intervention efforts.     

Correlates of African American and Latino parents' messages to children about ethnicity and race: a comparative study of racial socialization

Recently, social scientists have become increasingly interested in the nature of communications from parents to children regarding ethnicity and race. Termed racial socialization, race-related messages to children may have important consequences for children's identity development and well-being. This study examined the frequency and correlates of two dimensions of racial socialization—messages about ethnic pride, history, and heritage (Cultural Socialization) and messages about discrimination and racial bias (Preparation for Bias)—among 273 urban African American, Puerto Rican, and Dominican parents. Parents reported more frequent Cultural Socialization than Preparation for Bias. There were no significant ethnic group differences in the frequency of Cultural Socialization. However, African American parents reported more frequent Preparation for Bias than did Dominican parents who, in turn, reported more frequent messages of this sort than did Puerto Rican parents. Ethnic identity was a stronger predictor of Cultural Socialization among Puerto Rican and Dominican parents than among their African American counterparts. In contrast, perceived discrimination experiences was a stronger predictor of Preparation for Bias among African American and Dominican parents than among Puerto Rican parents. Finally, race-related phenomenon accounted for more variance in both Cultural Socialization and Preparation for Bias among parents reporting on their behaviors with children 10–17 years old as compared to parents reporting on their behaviors with children 6–9 years old.     

Introduction to special section on three-generation studies

Interest in lifespan research and cross-generational associations in parenting practices and child behaviors has grown rapidly in recent years. The four papers presented in this journal test three key intergenerational research questions regarding intergenerational continuities for externalizing behaviors, using different 3-generational samples.