Interaction between maternal and paternal parenting styles with infant temperament in emerging behavior problems

Exploring the Relationship between Maternal Gatekeeping with Paternal Parenting and Adolescent Aggression

Based on the traditional Chinese cultural belief of "male breadwinner, female homemaker", as well as the systemic and interactive characteristics of families, this study aims to explore the relationship between maternal gatekeeping behavior and the quality and quantity of paternal parenting, as well as adolescent aggressive behavior. A total of 483 seventh-grade students completed questionnaires on maternal gatekeeping behavior, paternal involvement, parenting styles, and aggressive behavior. Latent profile analysis identified four parenting combinations: positive, negative, mixed, and neglectful. Adolescents under negative parenting exhibited the highest aggression and experienced the highest maternal gatekeeping behavior, while those under positive and neglectful parenting showed the least aggression and least maternal gatekeeping behavior. Maternal gatekeeping behavior correlated with paternal negative parenting and adolescent aggression. Paternal negative parenting mediated the relationship between maternal gatekeeping and aggression, while paternal involvement moderated this relationship. These findings highlight the role of parental interaction in adolescent behavior and support family-based interventions.

Interactions between parenting styles, child anxiety, and oppositionality in selective mutism

Selective mutism (SM) is a poorly understood condition, and debate continues regarding its etiology and classification. Research suggests that a genetic vulnerability may play a role in the development of the disorder which may be compounded by anxious and over-protective parenting. While previous studies supported the role of parenting styles in the development of SM, most of them examined child and parent factors in isolation. The current study examined how the interactions between child internalizing and externalizing behaviors (anxiety and oppositionality, respectively) and parenting styles (authoritative, permissive, and authoritarian) are associated with SM diagnosis. The study included 285 children aged 3-7 years (57.2% females), and their parents (66 children with SM and 219 typically developed children). Parents completed questionnaires about child social anxiety, oppositional behavior, SM severity, and their parenting style. Results showed that parents of children with SM reported lower levels of authoritative practices than those of typically developed children. We also found that child social anxiety and oppositionality moderated the effects of authoritative and authoritarian parenting practices on SM diagnosis. Our results suggest that child anxiety and oppositionality may explain the different susceptibility of children to adaptive and maladaptive parenting styles.

Vagal flexibility to negative emotions moderates the relations between environmental risk and adjustment problems in childhood

Neurobiological and social-contextual influences shape children's adjustment, yet limited biopsychosocial studies have integrated temporal features when modeling physiological regulation of emotion. This study explored whether a common underlying pattern of non-linear change in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) across emotional scenarios characterized 4-6 year-old children's parasympathetic reactivity (N = 180). Additionally, we tested whether dynamic RSA reactivity was an index of neurobiological susceptibility or a diathesis in the association between socioeconomic status, authoritarian parenting, and the development of externalizing problems (EP) and internalizing problems over two years. There was a shared RSA pattern across all emotions, characterized by more initial RSA suppression and a subsequent return toward baseline, which we call vagal flexibility (VF). VF interacted with parenting to predict EP. More authoritarian parenting predicted increased EP two years later only when VF was low; conversely, when VF was very high, authoritarian mothers reported that their children had fewer EP. Altogether, children's patterns of dynamic RSA change to negative emotions can be characterized by a higher order factor, and the nature by which VF contributes to EP depends on maternal socialization practices, with low VF augmenting and high VF buffering children against the effects of authoritarian parenting.

Sleep ecology, objective sleep characteristics and behavior problems in preschoolers referred to child protection services: An exploratory study

BACKGROUND

Exposure to environmental risk factors increases the negative impact maltreatment has on children's development. Sleep ecology (i.e., sleep hygiene and home sleeping conditions) can be one of these factors. Poor sleep hygiene and suboptimal home sleeping conditions can alter sleep characteristics, which in turn, may lead to behavior problems (BPs), highly prevalent in maltreated preschoolers.

OBJECTIVES

Describe sleep ecology in maltreated preschoolers and explore associations between their sleep ecology, objective sleep characteristics and BPs.

METHOD

Parents (n = 22) completed the Children's Sleep Hygiene Scale (CSHS), and a sleep environment questionnaire to document sleep ecology. Children wore an actigraph to record objective sleep characteristics. Parents completed the Behavioral Assessment Scale for Children (BASC-2) to assess children's BPs. Descriptive and correlational analyses were performed.

RESULTS

Most of the parents (90.5 %) reported adequate sleep hygiene. However, 20 parents (95.2 %) reported suboptimal home sleeping conditions. Better physiological and overall sleep hygiene were related to earlier sleep onset. Better emotional sleep hygiene was associated with shorter nighttime awakenings and better sleep efficiency. Later sleep onset was associated with lower anxiety, and longer 24-hour sleep duration with higher somatization. Better physiological sleep hygiene was associated with less depression, and better emotional sleep hygiene with less hyperactivity.

CONCLUSION

This study showed that sleep hygiene could be associated with maltreated preschoolers' sleep characteristics and BPs, and that their home sleeping conditions may be of concern. Associations between sleep ecology, objective sleep characteristics and BPs deserve to be better understood, and further explored.

The effect of maternal empathy on infants' attachment security: Moderation by maternal emotion regulation and infant temperament

This study examined the relationship between maternal empathy and infants' attachment security and tested the moderating effects of maternal emotion regulation and infant negative emotional temperament. Participants were sampled from 215 families whose infants were 6 months old (T1) and from 170 families of the same cohort whose infants were 14 months old (T2). At T1, mothers were measured for their empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking), emotion regulation (reappraisal and suppression), and infant negative emotional temperament (sadness, falling reactivity, fear, and distress to limitations). At T2, mothers were again measured for their emotion regulation, and infant attachment was measured using the Strange Situation Procedure. Maternal empathic concern (EC) and perspective taking (PT) were found to be positively related to infant attachment security, while maternal reappraisal and infant temperamental sadness moderated the relationship between maternal PT and infant attachment security. No significant moderation effects were found between maternal EC and infant attachment security. Simple slope results showed that for infants with higher maternal reappraisal or infant sadness, maternal PT could positively predict infant attachment security. These findings highlight the importance of how the individual characteristics of mothers and infants may interact with maternal empathy during the critical period of infant attachment formation.

Prenatal maternal stress during the COVID-19 pandemic and infant regulatory capacity at 3 months: A longitudinal study

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global traumatic experience for citizens, especially during sensitive time windows of heightened plasticity such as pregnancy and neonatal life. Pandemic-related stress experienced by mothers during pregnancy may act as an early risk factor for infants' regulatory capacity development by altering maternal psychosocial well-being (e.g., increased anxiety, reduced social support) and caregiving environment (e.g., greater parenting stress, impaired mother-infant bonding). The aim of the present longitudinal study was to assess the consequences of pandemic-related prenatal stress on infants' regulatory capacity. A sample of 163 mother-infant dyads was enrolled at eight maternity units in northern Italy. They provided complete data about prenatal stress, perceived social support, postnatal anxiety symptoms, parenting stress, mother-infant bonding, and infants' regulatory capacity at 3 months of age. Women who experienced emotional stress and received partial social support during pregnancy reported higher anxious symptoms. Moreover, maternal postnatal anxiety was indirectly linked to the infants' regulatory capacity at 3 months, mediated by parenting stress and mother-infant bonding. Dedicated preventive interventions should be delivered to mothers and should be focused on protecting the mother-infant dyad from the detrimental effects of pandemic-related stress during the COVID-19 healthcare emergency.

The Effects of Chinese Parenting Belief on Preschoolers' Temperament and Secure Attachment

In the past, there were a few studies investigating the effects of parenting belief on preschoolers' temperament and secure attachment. There were some inconsistencies; some effects were also unclear. A total of 2164 parents of three-year-old preschoolers were selected for a panel study named National Longitudinal Study of Child Development and Care. At first, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to examine construct validity of Chinese parenting belief, preschoolers' temperament, and secure attachment. Consecutively, the effects of Chinese parenting belief on preschoolers' temperament and secure attachment were investigated through structural equation modeling. Results showed: (1) construct validity of Chinese parenting belief (composed of Guan, Jiao, achievement, and Chi beliefs), preschoolers' temperament (composed of extraversion, effortful control, and negative affection temperament) and secure attachment were good. (2) The Guan belief showed no effects on all temperaments and secure attachment. (3) Only Jiao belief contributed to the development of extraversion, effortful control, negative affection, and secure attachment. (4) The Achievement belief had a detrimental effect on the development of secure attachment, but it had no effects on others. (5) The Chi belief can increase the development of negative affection temperament, but it had no effects on the rest.

The impact of children's temperament on recurrent unintentional injuries: the role of paternal parenting styles as a mediator

Background

Unintentional injuries (UIs) pose a threat to the health of children all over the world and are a major global health problem. The recurrence of UIs are influenced by the host itself or environmental factors. Children's temperament and paternal parenting styles (PPS) are important potential factors for poor health outcomes, including recurrent unintentional injuries (recurrent UIs). Therefore, exploring the relationship among these variables may help reduce the likelihood of recurrent UIs in children.

Purpose

To elucidate the mediating effect of PPS in the relationship of children's temperament characteristics and recurrent UIs among children.

Methods

By multistage random cluster sampling method, a total of 2,850 pupils in grades four and five from 10 different schools were included. The survey included the characteristics of UIs in the past year, parenting styles, and children's temperament. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the possible mediating effect of PPS between children's temperament and recurrent UIs.

Results

In this study, the incidence rate of recurrent UIs was 3.8%. In temperament, children with recurrent UIs had higher mean scores than the non-recurrent UIs group (t = -3.40, -3.52, -3.45, respectively; p < 0.001) in the activity, predictability, persistence. Meanwhile, the scores of negative PPS (punishing, over-interference, rejection, and overprotection) were higher in the recurrent UIs group than in the non-recurrent UIs group (t = -5.78, -5.05, -5.56, and -3.29; p < 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001, < 0.001, respectively). Using a stepwise binary logistic regression model, grade (OR = 0.23, 95% CI [0.12-0.41], p < 0.001), activity (OR = 1.61, 95% CI [1.14-2.26], p = 0.007) and over-interference (OR = 2.28, 95% CI [1.37-3.80], p = 0.002) had a significant independent relationship with recurrent UIs. The SEM results indicated that children's temperament was significantly related to negative PPS (β = 0.26, p < 0.001) and recurrent UIs (β = 0.11, p = 0.029). The results of the bootstrap test confirmed the significance of the mediating effect of PPS (β = 0.06, p < 0.001) between children's temperament and recurrent UIs.

Conclusions

These results suggest that negative PPS plays an important role in mediating children's temperament and recurrent UIs. It is essential to consider PPS when creating tailored intervention programs to reduce children's recurrent UIs.

Temperamental and physiological regulatory capacity in infancy: Links with toddler behavior problems

Although correlates of temperamental regulatory processes in childhood have been well established, there is considerably less work examining correlates and moderators of rudimentary forms of temperamental regulation in infancy. We examined whether infants' physiological regulation indexed via changes in respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) across phases of the Still-Face Paradigm moderated the association between maternal-reported infant regulatory capacity at 8 months (N = 50, M_age = 8.51 months, SD_age = 0.28 months, 25 girls) and behavior problems at 14 months. We found that cardiac vagal regulation from baseline to still-face moderated the relation between infant regulatory capacity at 8 months and behavior problems at 14 months. Among infants who displayed relatively high cardiac vagal regulation from baseline to still-face, regulatory capacity was negatively associated with behavior problems. There was no relation between regulatory capacity and behavior problems among infants who displayed average or relatively low cardiac vagal regulation. We speculate that high levels of regulatory capacity and cardiac vagal regulation may allow infants to focus their attention outward and cope with emotionally evocative environmental demands as they arise even in the absence of external regulation provided by their caregivers.

The Moderating Role of Surgency, Behavioral Inhibition, Negative Emotionality and Effortful Control in the Relationship between Parenting Style and Children’s Reactive and Proactive Aggression

The principal aim of this study is to explore the moderating role of temperament in the relationship between parenting style and the reactive and proactive aggressive behavior of 8-year-old children. The participants are 279 children (154 boys and 125 girls). To measure reactive and proactive aggression, children completed the reactive and proactive questionnaire (RPQ). Child temperament and parenting styles were evaluated by both parents using the temperament in middle childhood questionnaire (TMCQ) and the parenting styles and dimensions questionnaire (PSDQ). The results revealed that boys with high surgency levels and authoritarian fathers displayed more reactive aggression, whereas behaviorally inhibited boys with mothers who scored low for authoritarian parenting displayed less reactive aggression. Finally, girls with high levels of effortful control and mothers who scored low for authoritative parenting displayed more proactive aggression. The results highlight the value of studying the moderating role of temperament in the relationship between children’s aggressive behavior and both mothers’ and fathers’ parenting styles, and underscores the importance of doing so separately for boys and girls.

Sleep ecology, sleep characteristics and behavior problems in young maltreated children: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Behavior problems are highly prevalent in young maltreated children. Their etiology is multifactorial and has been widely documented. Lately, researchers paid increased attention to the role of sleep in non-maltreated children's behavior problems. They showed that poor sleep (e.g., short sleep duration, nocturnal awakenings) increased behavior problems. In addition, an inadequate sleep ecology (e.g., lack of sleep hygiene or bedtime routine) may lead to sleep problems.

OBJECTIVE

As maltreated children often live in disorganized environments, this study aims to map knowledge about sleep ecology and sleep characteristics, as well as their associations with behavior problems in young maltreated children from one to five years old.

METHOD

A scoping review was performed according to the PRISMA-SR checklist. Bibliographic databases were searched from 1993 to May 2020.

RESULTS

From the 650 studies screened, nine reported results about sleep ecology or sleep characteristics or their associations with behavior problems in young maltreated children. Only one study described their sleep ecology. Eight studies documented or compared sleep characteristics, showing slight differences between maltreated and non-maltreated children (e.g., longer nighttime sleep duration or shorter naps in maltreated children). Four studies revealed associations between sleep characteristics and behavior problems in young maltreated children (e.g., shorter sleep duration was associated with more externalizing behaviors).

CONCLUSION

Literature about sleep ecology, sleep characteristics, as well as with their associations with behavior problems in young maltreated children is scarce. Their sleep ecology especially deserves to be investigated. Longitudinal studies, studies with comparison groups, combining objective and subjective validated sleep measures, and taking into account maltreatment characteristics and children's developmental stage should be pursued.

Relationship between Paternal and Maternal Parenting Style with Internet Addiction Level of Adolescents

Objective: Internet addiction has become a major problem worldwide, especially for adolescents. Adolescents are considered vulnerable and at risk of internet addiction due to the immature self-control, easy access, and flexible schedule. Parenting style has a significant influence on the incidence of internet addiction in adolescents. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between paternal and maternal parenting style toward internet addiction level of adolescents at one of junior high Schools in Surabaya, Indonesia.

Method: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 114 adolescents (44 boys and 70 girls) aged ranging from 12 to 15 in a junior high school in Surabaya, Indonesia, were recruited by stratified random sampling method in November 2019. The Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) were used to measure internet addiction level, and maternal and paternal parenting style of adolescents. The data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple regression tests with IBM SPSS Statistics 25 to adjust the relationship between paternal and maternal parenting style toward internet addiction level of adolescents.

Results: a total of 77.2% of adolescents were internet addicts and the majority experienced ‘mild’ internet addiction level (52.60%). Furthermore, the Pearson correlation results indicated that paternal permissive and authoritarian parenting styles were positively correlated with internet addiction level of adolescents. The multiple regression analysis results indicated that paternal permissive parenting style significantly predicted adolescents’ internet addiction level.

Conclusion: This study highlighted the significant role of paternal permissive and authoritarian parenting styles among adolescents’ internet addiction.

Psychometric Properties of the Maternal and Paternal Parenting Styles Scale in Chilean Adolescents

Parenting style has been related to a series of positive outcomes that extend into adulthood. The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the maternal and paternal parenting styles scale (PSS-MP) in a sample of adolescents. A cross-sectional design was used, with a probability sample of 2683 adolescents (48.8% women) from 32 public, private, and subsidized schools in Chile. In total, four confirmatory factor models were contrasted, which was the best fit to support the originally proposed six-correlated factor structure. The factor invariance analysis reflected that the metric equivalence according to sex is present at the level of scale invariance. It is concluded that the abbreviated version of the PSS-MP provides sufficient evidence for use in the Chilean adolescent population.