A cross-national study of self-evaluations and attributions in parenting: Argentina, Belgium, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the United States

Maternal Responsive Parenting Trajectories From Birth to Age 3 and Children's Self-Esteem at First Grade

This paper examines the quality and stability of the responsive parenting practices of mothers with infants and the longitudinal links between these practices and children’s self-esteem. Using data presented by the Panel Study on Korean Children, this study identified Korean mothers’ responsive parenting trajectories from birth to age three and examined their associations with children’s self-esteem at first grade. Korean mothers developed one of three responsive parenting patterns from birth to age three: low (19.0%), moderate (66.0%), or high (15.0%). Children’s self-esteem differed according to their mother’s responsive parenting trajectory. First-graders with mothers displaying the low responsive parenting trajectory were more likely to have lower self-esteem than children of mothers with the moderate responsive parenting trajectory and children of mothers with the high responsive parenting trajectory. The longitudinal link between mother-reported responsive parenting patterns during infancy and child-reported self-esteem at first grade was verified. This finding highlights the significance of early responsive parenting from mothers as a predictor of the self-esteem of children in later developmental stages.

Two Cultural Models on Infant Motor Development: Middle Class Parents in Israel and the Netherlands

Culture influences the way parents shape children's environment. Two studies examined cross-cultural differences in parental practices related to motor development in Israel and the Netherlands. In the first study, 198 Dutch and 206 Israeli parents of infants aged 1-7.5 months completed questionnaires measuring parental practices and beliefs regarding motor development. In the second study, 30 Dutch and 30 Israeli parents completed the same questionnaires when their children were 2 and 10 months old. While similarities were found across the cultures, Israeli parents practiced infant prone positioning more. Additionally, Dutch infants spent substantial more time in the playpen. Furthermore, beliefs stressing stimulation and stimulating practices (both more frequent within Israeli parents) predicted better prone skills, shown by the Israeli infants. Findings highlight the diversity of parental practices related to infant motor development.

The Association between Children's Behavior and Parenting of Caregivers: A Longitudinal Study in Japan

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the association between children’s behavior (i.e., prosocial and problematic behavior) and the parenting style (i.e., laxness and overreactivity) of their caregivers by using longitudinal data in the Japanese population. These data were collected when the children were 7.5 and 9 years. We proposed three hypotheses: children’s behavior at 7.5 years will predict their behavior at 9 years; children’s behavior at 7.5 years will predict the parenting of their caregivers; and the parenting style of caregivers will affect their children’s behavior at 9 years. We evaluated children’s behavior and parenting behavior using a strength and difficulties questionnaire and a parenting scale. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results of the SEM showed that children’s behavior at 7.5 years predicted their behavior at 9 years. Children’s problematic behavior at 7.5 years triggered overreactive parenting in their caregivers at 9 years, which increased problematic behavior and decreased prosocial behavior in the children at 9 years. These findings indicate the association between children’s behavior and the parenting style of caregivers in Japan.

The Acculturation of Parenting Cognitions: A Comparison of South Korean, Korean Immigrant, and European American Mothers

A three-culture comparison - native South Korean, Korean immigrants to the United States, and native European American mothers - of two types of parenting cognitions - attributions and self-perceptions - was undertaken to explore cultural contributions to parenting cognitions and their adaptability among immigrant mothers. Attributions and self-perceptions of parenting were chosen because they influence parenting behavior and children's development and vary cross-culturally. One hundred seventy-nine mothers of 20-month-old children participated: 73 South Korean, 50 Korean immigrant, and 56 European American. Korean mothers differed from European American mothers on four of the five types of attributions studied and on all four self-perceptions of parenting, and these differences were largely consistent with the distinct cultural values of South Korea and the United States. Generally, Korean immigrant mothers' attributions for parenting more closely resembled those of mothers in the United States, whereas their self-perceptions of parenting more closely resembled those of mothers in South Korea. This study provides insight into similarities and differences in cultural models of parenting, and information about the acculturation of parenting cognitions among immigrants from South Korea.

A cross-cultural comparison of mothers' beliefs about their parenting very young children

Parental beliefs are relevant to child development because they shape parenting behaviors and help to determine and regulate child cognitive and socioemotional growth. Here we investigated cross-cultural variation in Italian and U.S. mothers' parental beliefs about their social and didactic interactions with their young children. To compare parental beliefs, the Parental Style Questionnaire (PSQ) was administered to samples of 273 Italian mothers and 279 U.S. mothers of 20-month-olds (55% male). To conduct substantive cross-cultural comparisons of beliefs, the measurement invariance of the PSQ was first established by hierarchical multi-group confirmatory factor analyses. The PSQ was essentially invariant across cultures. Italian mothers reported that they engaged in both social and didactic behaviors with their young children less frequently than U.S. mothers. Results of our study confirm that mothers in different cultures differentially value parental stimulation and its relevance for early child development.

The influence of maternal acculturation, neighborhood disadvantage, and parenting on Chinese American adolescents' conduct problems: testing the segmented assimilation hypothesis

Associations among neighborhood disadvantage, maternal acculturation, parenting and conduct problems were investigated in a sample of 444 Chinese American adolescents. Adolescents (54% female, 46% male) ranged from 12 to 15 years of age (mean age = 13.0 years). Multilevel modeling was employed to test the hypothesis that the association between maternal acculturation and adolescents' conduct problems could be explained by differences in mothers' reliance on monitoring and harsh discipline. In addition, guided by segmented assimilation theory, measures of neighborhood disadvantage were expected not only to be related to differences in parenting, but also to moderate the effects of maternal acculturation on parenting. Results indicated that increased maternal acculturation was related to higher levels of maternal monitoring and lower levels of harsh discipline, which, in turn, were related to lower levels of adolescents' conduct problems. Hierarchical linear modeling results revealed that neighborhood disadvantage was related to lower levels of maternal monitoring. However, neighborhood disadvantage did not moderate the link between maternal acculturation and parenting practices.

Maternal confidence in child rearing: comparing data from short-term prospective surveys among Japanese and Vietnamese mothers

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the confidence women feel about child rearing in Japan and Vietnam.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective study of 210 Japanese mothers who registered as pregnant in Sukagawa City, Fukushima, and 132 Vietnamese mothers who attended a university hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Follow-up surveys were conducted via mail approximately 6 weeks after newborn delivery among the Japanese cohort, and at the time of a one-month checkup at the hospital among the Vietnamese cohort.

RESULTS

The follow-up rate among these subjects was 67% (N = 140) in Japan and 65% (N = 86) in Vietnam. The proportion of mothers who were not confident about child rearing was 48% (N = 67) in Japan and 63% (N = 54) in Vietnam. In both countries, mothers in the unconfident group reported less happiness and relaxation time with children than mothers in the confident group. Maternal confidence was associated with child rearing experience, although the significance of this factor diminished in a multivariate analysis of the Vietnamese data. While unintended pregnancy and unemployment were related to confidence in child rearing in Japan, educational history was associated with confidence in Vietnam.

CONCLUSION

This exploratory study found a high proportion of Japanese and Vietnamese mothers are not confident in child rearing, which calls attention to this understudied issue of confidence among Asian mothers.

Mothers' Parenting Cognitions in Cultures of Origin, Acculturating Cultures, and Cultures of Destination

Japanese and South American immigrant mothers' parenting cognitions (attributions and self-perceptions) were compared with mothers from their country of origin (Japan and Argentina, respectively) and European American mothers in the United States. Participants were 231 mothers of 20-month-old children. Generally, South American immigrant mothers' parenting cognitions more closely resembled those of mothers in the United States, whereas Japanese immigrant mothers' cognitions tended to be similar to those of Japanese mothers or intermediate between Japanese and U.S. mothers. This study provides insight into the nature of parenting cognitions generally and those of immigrant mothers specifically and therefore the parenting climate in which immigrant children are reared.