Longitudinal relation between state-trait maternal irritability and harsh parenting

Different Instruments, Same Content? A Systematic Comparison of Child Maltreatment and Harsh Parenting Instruments

Child maltreatment and harsh parenting both include harmful actions by parents toward children that are physical (e.g., spanking, slapping) or emotional (e.g., threatening, yelling). The distinction between these two constructs, in meaning and measurement, is often unclear, leading to inconsistent research and policy. This study systematically identified, reviewed, and compared parent-reported child maltreatment (N = 7) and harsh parenting (N = 18) instruments. The overlap in parenting behaviors was 73%. All physical behaviors that were measured in harsh parenting instruments (e.g., spanking, beating up) were also measured in child maltreatment instruments. Unique physical behaviors measured in maltreatment instruments include twisting body parts and choking. All emotional behaviors in maltreatment instruments were included in harsh parenting instruments, and vice versa. Our findings suggest similar, but not identical, operationalizations of child maltreatment and harsh parenting. Our findings can help guide discussions on definitions, operationalizations, and their consequences for research on violence against children.

Mother phubbing and harsh mothering: Mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender as moderators

BACKGROUND

While extant evidence supports the link between mother phubbing (Mphubbing) and harsh mothering, the current understanding of factors that may affect this relationship is limited.

METHODS

Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the relation between Mphubbing and harsh mothering, as well as to explore whether mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender would moderate this relationship. The participants included 482 middle school students (51.7 % girls) and their mothers from China.

RESULTS

The results revealed a significant positive association between Mphubbing as reported by adolescents and their perception of harsh mothering. However, the predictive power of Mphubbing for harsh mothering varied based on mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender. Specifically, the association between Mphubbing and harsh mothering was perceived more strongly in girls than in boys, but this gender difference was only observed among adolescents whose mothers rated themselves as high in irritability.

CONCLUSIONS

The current study offers a preliminary understanding of the association between Mphubbing and harsh mothering through mothers' irritability and adolescents' gender as moderators, which has certain theoretical and practical implications for comprehending harsh mothering in the digital age.

Negative internal working models as mechanisms that link mothers' and fathers' personality with their parenting: A short-term longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE

Research on associations between parents' personality and parenting has a long history, but mechanisms that explain them remain unsettled. We examined parents' explicit and implicit negative internal working models (IWMs) of the child, assessed at toddler age, as linking parental personality and parenting.

METHOD

Mothers and fathers from 200 community families provided personality self-reports (Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Empathy, and Anger/Hostility) when their children were infants. When children were toddlers, the explicit negative IWMs included self-reported low-mentalizing reflective functioning and resentment regarding the child. The implicit negative IWMs were coded as negative relational schemas from parental interviews. Parental positive affect, responsiveness, and power-assertive control were observed in lengthy interactions. Measures were parallel for mother- and father-child dyads.

RESULTS

Mothers' implicit IWMs linked the association between low Empathy and more power-assertive control. Fathers' explicit IWMs linked the associations between high Neuroticism and low Agreeableness and lower responsiveness. Additionally, fathers' Agreeableness and Empathy directly predicted their parenting. Two paths (Agreeableness → implicit IWMs, and explicit IWMs → responsiveness) significantly differed between mothers and fathers.

CONCLUSIONS

IWMs may link parental personality with parenting. The findings integrate and inform several bodies of literature in personality, social cognition, and developmental psychology.

Intergenerational Transmission of Peer Aggression

It is plausible that peer aggression—like general forms of aggression—is transmitted from one generation to the next. As such, parental behavior in childhood and adolescence may be associated with offspring aggressive behavior against peers. This study used 1970 British Cohort Study data to test intergenerational transmission of peer aggression. The baseline sample consisted of 13,135 participants. At the first assessment that was used in this study, participants were on average 4.95 years old (SD = 0.79; 48.20% female). At the last assessment, participants were on average 33.88 years old (SD = 0.36; 52.1% female). Models were computed for early and middle childhood, and adolescence. Significant associations between parents’ and offspring peer aggression were found in most models – especially when correlating aggression in similar developmental periods for parents and children. Other transmission mechanisms such as genetic transmission may be relevant and should be taken into account in future studies.