Effects of parental bedtime involvement during children's bedtime

Abundant research has shown that parents' parenting stress adversely affects their children's well-being. However, limited attention has been provided to parental bedtime involvement as a moderating mechanism linking parents' parenting stress to children's happiness. This study examined the moderating effect of parent bedtime soothing and parent-child bed-sharing on the relationship between parents' parenting stress and children's subjective happiness. Data were extracted from the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC). The study participants included 1,360 7-year-old first-graders from South Korea who experienced a transition from preschool to formal schooling. The results demonstrated (a) a negative effect of parents' parenting stress on children's happiness and (b) a moderating effect of parental bedtime soothing, which included maternal and paternal bedtime soothing, on the relationship between mothers' parenting stress and children's happiness. Conversely, parent-child bed-sharing did not moderate the relationship between mothers' parenting stress and children's happiness. In addition, neither parent bedtime soothing nor parent-child bed-sharing moderated the relationship between fathers' parenting stress and children's happiness. The findings of the study indicate that parental presence intended to soothe children at bedtime, as a family routine, buffers the adverse effect of mothers' parenting stress on their children's subjective happiness, regardless of the parents' gender. Our findings challenge the recommendations of parenting in Western cultures that children do not depend on a parental presence to fall asleep. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Relationships Between Children's Shyness, Play Disconnection, and Loneliness: Moderating Effect of Children's Perceived Child-Teacher Intimate Relationship

Loneliness is a significant problem that predicts immediate and long-term negative outcomes for young children. This study examines the mediating effect of children's play disconnection on the relationship between their shyness and loneliness, as well as the moderating effect of children's perceived child-teacher intimate relationship on the relationships between child shyness, play disconnection, and loneliness. Participants include 171 4 to 6 year old South Korean children and their teachers and mothers. Children's teachers were asked to respond to the questions measuring child shyness and play disconnection, and the mothers assisted their children to answer the questions measuring child loneliness and child-teacher intimate relationship. The results of the study are as follows. First, child shyness affected loneliness via play disconnection. Second, child-teacher intimate relationship moderated the relationships between child shyness and loneliness and between child shyness and play disconnection. However, the association between play disconnection and loneliness was not moderated by child-teacher intimate relationship. The findings of the study suggest that teachers not only provide shy children with emotional support but also build affectionate and intimate relationships with them to support their peer play and to reduce their feelings of loneliness.

South Korean mothers' childhood abuse experience and their abuse of their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Moderating effect of parenting self-efficacy

BACKGROUND

A history of childhood abuse has been found to adversely affect the transition to motherhood. Compared to other children, children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are at higher risk of being maltreated at home. However, maternal parenting self-efficacy has been found to improve mothers' positive interactions with their children.

OBJECTIVE

Given that, this study examined the moderating effect of maternal parenting self-efficacy on the relationship between mothers' childhood abuse experience and their abuse of their children with IDDs.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Participants include 134 South Korean mothers with children between 2 and 8 years of age with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

METHOD

Mothers' childhood abuse experience was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which measures the extent of mothers' exposure to parental abuse in their childhood. Parenting self-efficacy was measured using the Echelle Globle du Sentiment de Competence Parentale (EGSCP). The Abusive Parenting scale was used to assess mothers' abusive parenting; it measured the degree to which mothers had ever either physically or emotionally abused their children.

RESULTS

The moderating effects of parenting self-efficacy on the relationships between childhood emotional abuse and abusive parenting (B = -.06, t(126) = -2.33, p = .022, 95 % CI[-.1142, -.0092]) and between childhood physical abuse and abusive parenting (B = -.07, t(126) = -2.64, p = .009, 95 % CI[-.1283, -.0184]) were significant.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings emphasize the importance of helping mothers with a history of abuse alleviate parental stress arising from raising children with IDDs by enhancing their parenting self-efficacy.

College Students’ Adult Attachment and Career Adaptability: Mediation by Maladaptive Perfectionism and Moderation by Gender

Career adaptability is a prerequisite for ensuring college students’ career development and effectively solving career-related problems. Given that secure attachment positively contributes to adaptive functioning, this study examined the mediating effect of South Korean college students’ maladaptive perfectionism on the relation between adult attachment insecurity and career adaptability. Further, gender differences in the mediational pathways from attachment insecurity to career adaptability were investigated. Participants include 212 college students (male = 49.1%, female = 50.9%) aged between 19 and 31 years ( M age = 22.50, SD = 2.15) living in South Korea. Results indicated that for male and female students, the relation between attachment insecurity and career adaptability is mediated by maladaptive perfectionism. The multigroup analysis revealed that the relations between attachment insecurity, maladaptive perfectionism, and career adaptability differed by gender. These results emphasize the importance of understanding college students’ personality profiles and supporting their career adaptability based on their personality traits.