Parenting style and children emotion management skills among Chinese children aged 3-6: the chain mediation effect of self-control and peer interactions

Childhood Socioeconomic Status and Depressive Symptoms in Mid- and Late Life: Parenting Styles as Mediators

OBJECTIVES

The life course perspective on mental health suggests the link between childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and depression in later life, yet current pathway models can't fully explain the link. The present study explored the relationship between childhood SES and depressive symptoms in mid- and late life and the mediation role of parenting styles among the Chinese population.

METHODS

Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011-2020, a prospective cohort study including 7,632 participants was performed. The outcome was depressive symptoms. Parenting styles included parental responsiveness and parental demandingness. Cox regression models and the multiple mediation analysis approach were applied.

RESULTS

Lower childhood SES was associated with a higher hazard of depressive symptoms in mid‑ and late life compared to higher SES (hazard ratios, HR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.06-1.24); higher parental responsiveness was associated with a lower hazard of depressive symptoms (HR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.88-0.96), while higher parental demandingness was associated with a higher hazard (HR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04-1.12). Gender- and residence-specific associations between parental responsiveness and depressive symptoms were observed. Parenting styles explained 8.1% of the total effects of childhood SES on mid‑ and late-life depressive symptoms.

DISCUSSION

Parenting styles may be an important mediator in the association between childhood SES and depression in mid- and late life. This study suggests that depression prevention strategies should be taken from a life course perspective and that more focus should be put on the promotion of parenting, especially for those with low SES.

Raising to conformity without strictness: is it achievable?

Background

The prevailing belief that parental strictness is optimal for children is not uniformly supported by recent research. Contrary to the traditional notion that strictness is necessary to ensure children's conformity to social norms, contemporary studies question its necessity. This study aims to analyze how two main parenting dimensions, warmth and strictness, are related to the psychosocial adjustment of children.

Method

A sample of 1,224 Spanish adolescents and young adults was examined, divided into two groups: adolescents aged 12-18 years (51.14%) and young adults aged 19-35 years (48.86%). Adolescent participants were recruited from high schools while young adults were recruited from university courses. Children (i.e., adolescent and young adult offspring) responded to an online questionnaire that included all measures: parenting dimensions (warmth and strictness) and children's psychosocial adjustment criteria (emotional self-concept, self-esteem, social competence, and conformity). Power analyses (a priori and sensitivity analyses) were applied to ensure sufficient sample sizes to achieve adequate power. Cohen's d values from correlation analyses and multiple linear regression analyses were performed. Beta confidence intervals were analyzed to relate parenting dimensions, sex and age to self-concept, self-esteem, social competence, and conformity.

Results

The statistical analysis plainly indicated that parental warmth was positively associated with criteria for child psychosocial adjustment, including self-esteem, social competence, and conformity. This relationship was consistent across both adolescents and young adults. Conversely, parental strictness was either negatively related to or not significantly associated with these criteria.

Conclusion

This study clearly suggests that, completely contrary to expectations that strict parenting might be a need component to achieving psychosocial adjustment, parental warmth, rather than strictness, is more effective in promoting children's psychosocial adjustment.

Parenting styles and externalizing problem behaviors of preschoolers: mediation through self-control abilities and emotional management skills

Introduction

The detection rate of externalizing problem behaviors among Chinese children has been increasing year by year. Before the age of six, the problem behaviors that appear in children are predominantly externalizing problem behaviors. Family is the starting point for children's socialization. Although some studies have explored the impact of parenting styles on children's externalizing problem behaviors, only a few have explored the underlying mechanisms driving this relationship.

Methods

This study attempts to fill this gap by investigating how self-control abilities and emotional management skills mediate the relationship between parenting styles and preschoolers' externalizing problem behaviors. Here, teachers and parents of 799 preschoolers from China were surveyed.

Results

The findings of this investigation are 3-fold: (1) a significant association exists between the parenting styles adopted by parents and externalizing problem behaviors observed among preschoolers; (2) self-control abilities and emotional management skills independently mediate the associations between parenting styles and children's externalizing problem behaviors, highlighting their roles as mediators; and (3) sequential mediation of self-control abilities and emotional management skills elucidates a pathway through which parenting styles impact preschoolers' externalizing problem behaviors.

Discussion

This study clarified the relationship between parenting styles, externalizing problem behaviors of preschoolers, self-control abilities, and emotional management skills to provide a theoretical basis for solving the externalizing problem behaviors of preschoolers.

How parenting styles affect the development of language skills and reading comprehension in primary school students

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

This study examined how parenting styles influence children's language skills and reading comprehension.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Six hundred and eighty-five Chinese-speaking third graders (Mage = 9.23 years, SD = .66; 341 girls) were randomly recruited from eight primary schools. We measured students' primary caregivers' parenting styles, parental education, family income, migration status, number of children's extracurricular books in the home and family cohesion at Wave 1 (i.e. grade 3). We also assessed students' reading motivation, language skills (i.e. vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness) and reading comprehension at Wave 2 (i.e. grade 4).

RESULTS

The structural equation model analysis revealed that parenting styles indirectly affect language and reading comprehension development, with authoritative and authoritarian parenting exerting different influences on the two outcomes. Specifically, authoritative parenting was positively related to the number of children's books, which in turn was directly, or indirectly through reading motivation, associated with children's language skills and reading comprehension. In contrast, authoritarian parenting was negatively related to family cohesion, which was associated with children's reading motivation, and consequently, their language skills and reading comprehension. The multigroup analysis showed that the indirect pathways varied slightly across parental migration statuses.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

These findings enhance the global understanding of the pathways linking parenting styles to children's language skills and reading comprehension, suggesting that educators and researchers should not overly emphasize the direct role of parenting styles in children's academic performance.

Parents' rearing styles and adolescents' math achievement: the multiple mediating effect of self-control and math anxiety

Introduction

This cross-sectional study examined the mechanisms underlying adolescent math achievement by investigating the relationship between parents' rearing styles (including different dimensions of rearing style) and adolescent self-control, math anxiety, and math achievement based on the ecological systems theory.

Method

A total of 584 junior high school students (M age = 12.52) completed the Parenting Style Questionnaire, Self-control Scale, and Math Anxiety Rating Scale and provided their math test scores.

Results

The rearing styles of both fathers and mothers directly predicted adolescents' math achievement. Maternal rearing style indirectly predicted adolescents' math achievement through their self-control and math anxiety; however, the indirect effect of paternal rearing style on adolescents' math achievement was not significant. After distinguishing the three dimensions of rearing styles, we found that paternal emotional warmth can increase adolescents' self-control, while maternal emotional warmth can reduce adolescents' self-control. Further, paternal overprotectiveness can directly and positively predict adolescents' math achievement, while maternal rejection and overprotectiveness can positively predict adolescents' math achievement. None of the three dimensions of rearing styles can predict math achievement through adolescents' self-control; however, they can predict math achievement indirectly through adolescents' math anxiety and the chain-mediation of adolescents' self-control and math anxiety.

Discussion

Our results suggest both commonalities and differences in how paternal and maternal rearing styles, along with their three dimensions (emotional warmth, rejection, overprotection), predict adolescent math achievement. These findings highlight the importance of paternal and maternal rearing styles on adolescents' math achievement and underscore the need to examine them separately to better understand their impact.

The Relationship Between Stressful Life Events and Depressive Symptoms in College Students: mediation by Parenting Style and Gender's Moderating Effect

Aim

Stressful life events have a significant impact on the mental health of college students. Depression, as a prevalent psychological issue, has garnered attention in the field of college student mental health and is closely linked to it. Additionally, parenting style is identified as an important factor influencing the development of college students' mental health. Therefore, this study aims to explore the relationship between these three factors.

Methods

A total of 8079 first-year college students from two medical universities in Shandong Province, China were surveyed. The Beck Depression Inventory was utilized to evaluate depressive symptoms among the college students, while the Adolescent Self-rating Life Events Checklist and the Egna Minnen Beträfande Uppfostran were employed to gather data. Subsequently, the SPSS macro program PROCESS was utilized to analyze both the mediating and moderating effects. All statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 26.0.

Results

The study found a detection rate of 6.3% for depressive symptoms among college students. The correlation analysis of this study showed that the stressful life events of college students were significantly positively correlated with depressive symptoms (r=0.261, p< 0.01). Each dimension of parenting style was associated with depressive symptoms in different degrees and directions. At the same time, parenting styles of all sizes play a partial mediating role between stressful life events and depressive symptoms in college students, gender plays a crucial regulatory role in this mediation.

Conclusion

Stressful life events experienced by college students have a significant impact on their mental health. Early intervention through positive parenting styles from parents may prove to be beneficial in promoting the development of good mental health among college students.