Parental authority,nurturance, and two‐dimensional self‐esteem

Tafarodi, R. W., Wild, N. & Ho, C. (2010). Parental authority, nurturance, and two‐dimensional self‐esteem. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. This study examined the relations of parental permissiveness, authoritativeness, authoritarianism, and nurturance with two dimensions of self‐esteem – self‐liking and self‐competence. In a sample of 207 two‐parent families, university students and both their parents provided independent reports on all the above variables. Covariance structure analysis was used to eliminate reporter‐specific bias and unreliability in predicting student self‐esteem from parenting behavior. The results revealed highly redundant positive associations of mothers’ and fathers’ authoritativeness and nurturance with both self‐liking and self‐competence. The pattern of these associations suggests that the significance of parental authoritativeness for the child’s self‐esteem is due mainly to the nurturance it provides. Contrary to expectation, mothers’ and fathers’ authoritarianism was also positively associated with self‐liking. As discussed, however, this is likely to be an artifact of the specific measures and testing methods used.     

Reflections on the early stages of the Oedipus complex: The parental couple in relation to psychoanalytic work

The author refers to the parental couple as it appears in relation to the Oedipus complex at the various levels of development and psychical maturation. A 'pathological' Oedipus situation is differentiated from a 'normal' one. Accordingly the author distinguishes the primitive Oedipal fantasies about the parental couple represented in the myth by the parents of Thebes and the parents of Corinth (and the influence that these can have on the psychoanalytic work), from a couple who have reached truly creative functioning. Furthermore, it is pointed out how elements are activated in the therapist's mind: emotional qualities of a feminine maternal and masculine paternal kind that either collaborate in containing and promoting the psychoanalytic process and psychic development of the patient or else fail in this task.     

Infant perception of static two-dimensional transparency information

The present habituation – dishabituation study focused on infants' perception of static two-dimensional transparency displays. Infants 4 and 8 months of age were habituated to a transparency display. In this stimulus, each corner of a semi-transparent square surface covered a quadrant of a circle. During the posthabituation period, the infants were presented with the semi-transparent square overlay from the habituation display and a (non-transparent) square area cut out of the habituation stimulus. The 8-month-olds looked significantly longer at the non-transparent surface, meaning that they apparently recognized the other test pattern as the semi-transparent filter they had also seen during the habituation trials, and that they regarded the non-transparent test target as being novel. In contrast, the younger participants did not exhibit a novelty preference during the posthabituation trials. Control conditions tested the impact of spontaneous stimulus preferences on the results. The findings are discussed within the framework of infant pictorial depth perception. They provide further evidence for the hypothesis that infants' sensitivity to pictorial depth cues emerges between 4 – 5 and 7 – 8 months of life.     

Mothers' Impact on Daughters' Cardiovascular Reactivity in a High‐Threat Context: An Immersive Virtual Environment Study

Applying Attachment Theory, research on confirmation, the Entropy Model of Uncertainty, and the Biopsychosocial Model of Challenge and Threat, this investigation examined the role of mothers' communication on adolescents' cardiovascular response to threat. An experimental design allowed for the manipulation of maternal response to daughters experiencing a rapidly approaching wildfire in an immersive virtual environment. Results revealed complexities in the relative benefits of maternal vocalic presence during high‐threat situation, with the mother's history of confirming feedback playing an important role in daughters' cardiovascular response. Implications for knowledge are addressed and methodological possibilities of using immersive virtual environments are noted.     

神经症患者的人格特征与父母教养方式的关系

本文采用父母教养方式评价量表 (EMBU)和艾森克人格问卷 (EPQ)对 40名住院神经症患者进行了测查 ,结果发现艾森克人格问卷所测查的四种人格维度 E(内、外向 )、L (掩饰或社会性幼稚水平 )、N(神经质 )和 P(精神质或倔强、讲求实际 )得分分别与不良的父母教养方式如严厉惩罚、过度干涉和过分保护、拒绝与否认以及偏爱被试等因子分呈显著的相关关系。     

The role of traditionality in the relationships among parental support,career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability

Integrating career construction (Savickas, 2013) and cognitive evaluation (Ryan & Deci, 2002) theories, we examined the moderating role of traditionality beliefs in the indirect relationships among parental support, career decision-making self-efficacy and career adaptability among Chinese university students. Data were collected from 731 undergraduate students in China at two measurement periods, 18 months apart. Results showed that Time 1 parental support was associated positively with Time 1 career decision-making self-efficacy and Time 2 career adaptability. In addition, the conditional indirect effects of Time 1 parental support in predicting Time 2 career adaptability via Time 1 career decision making self-efficacy were stronger among students with low as opposed to high traditionality beliefs. The implications of the results in terms of theory and practice are discussed.     

Mothers', fathers' and children's perceptions of parents' expectations about children's family obligations in nine countries

Children's family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children's family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children's family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children's family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children's family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries.     

Parental Monitoring,Association with Externalized Behavior,and Academic Outcomes in Urban African‐American Youth: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

African‐American adolescents exposed to neighborhood disadvantage are at increased risk for engaging in problem behavior and academic underachievement. It is critical to identify the mechanisms that reduce problem behavior and promote better academic outcomes in this population. Based on social disorganization and socioecological theories, the current prospective study examined pathways from parental monitoring to academic outcomes via externalizing behavior at different levels of neighborhood disadvantage. A moderated mediation model employing maximum likelihood was conducted on 339 African‐American students from 9th to 11th grade (49.3% females) with a mean age of 14.8 years (SD ± 0.35). The results indicated that parental monitoring predicted low externalizing behavior, and low externalizing behavior predicted better academic outcomes after controlling for externalizing behavior in 9th grade, intervention status, and gender. Mediation was supported, as the index of mediation was significant. Conversely, neighborhood disadvantage did not moderate the path from parental monitoring to externalizing behavior. Implications for intervention at both community and individual levels and study limitations are discussed.     

School Substance Use Norms and Racial Composition Moderate Parental and Peer Influences on Adolescent Substance Use

Parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use have been well demonstrated. However, limited research has examined how parental and peer influences vary across school contexts. This study used a multilevel approach to examine the effects of school substance use norms and school racial composition in predicting adolescent substance use (a composite measure of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use) and in moderating parental and peer influences on adolescent substance use. A total of 14,346 adolescents from 34 schools in a mid‐western county completed surveys electronically at school. Analyses were conducted using hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that school‐level disapproval against substance use and percentage of minority students at school were negatively associated with adolescent substance use. School‐level disapproval moderated the association between peer substance use and adolescent substance use, with the association being stronger when school‐level disapproval was lower. School racial composition moderated the influence of parental disapproval and peer substance use on adolescent substance use. Specifically, both the association between parental disapproval and adolescent substance use and the association between peer substance use and adolescent substance use were weaker for adolescents who attended schools with higher percentages of minority students. Findings highlighted the importance of considering the role of school contexts, in conjunction with parental and peer influences, in understanding adolescent substance use.     

Parental practices of Italian mothers and fathers during early infancy: The role of knowledge about parenting and child development

Our contribution aims to verify whether parental knowledge about child development and parenting constitutes a protective factor in the application of dysfunctional educational practices. Numerous studies have found that parental knowledge has a great influence on parenting, however it remains unclear whether both are casually linked in a direct and linear way. Data currently available on parental knowledge almost exclusively refers to mothers and subjects at risk. Furthermore, there are almost no studies which take into consideration subjects who are Italian citizens.In contrast our work takes into consideration a normative sample of 157 Italian couples who are the parents of children aged between 16 and 36 months and who completed the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory (KIDI; MacPhee, 1981) and the Parenting Scale (Arnold, O’Leary, Wolff, & Acker, 1993). The results highlight differences between mothers and fathers, both in terms of knowledge levels (higher for mothers) and educational practices (maternal practices are more frequently dysfunctional); knowledge influences educational practices above all in the case of fathers, although said effect is slight, which supports the idea that interaction between knowledge and parental practices is not linear but rather mediated by other factors.