Parental Harsh Discipline and Migrant Children's Anxiety in China: The Moderating Role of Parental Warmth and Gender

Mechanisms in the intergenerational effect of maternal childhood maltreatment on offspring externalizing symptoms: The role of maternal and paternal parenting

BACKGROUND

Although maternal childhood maltreatment has been associated with offspring externalizing symptoms, little is known about the potential mechanisms that contribute to breaking the intergenerational effect of maternal childhood maltreatment.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to (a) investigate the intergenerational effect between maternal childhood maltreatment and offspring externalizing symptoms in the Chinese family; (b) examine maternal supportive and harsh parenting as potential mediators of this intergenerational effect; and (c) explore the moderating roles of paternal support parenting, as well as paternal harsh parenting, in this mediation process of maternal supportive and harsh parenting.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

The sample consisted of 1111 mother-father-child triads from Beijing, recruited when the children were one and three years old.

METHODS

Mothers completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, and both parents completed the Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment and Comprehensive Early Childhood Parenting Scale.

RESULTS

Our results showed that maternal childhood maltreatment was a risk factor for offspring externalizing symptoms at T2 (β = 0.24, t = 6.51, p < .001), and this effect was mediated by maternal supportive (indirect effect = 0.03, 95%CI = [0.02, 0.05]) and harsh parenting (indirect effect = 0.03, 95%CI = [0.02, 0.07]) at T1. Furthermore, paternal harsh parenting moderated the indirect effect of maternal childhood maltreatment on child externalizing symptoms through maternal supportive parenting.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings contribute to our understanding and provide valuable information for disrupting the intergenerational effect of maternal childhood maltreatment.

The Healthy Context Paradox Between Bullying and Emotional Adaptation: A Moderated Mediating Effect

Introduction

Bullying is a significant concern for young people, with studies consistently showing a link between bullying and negative emotional consequences. However, the mechanisms that underlie this association remain unclear, particularly in terms of the classroom environment. This study aimed to explore the paradoxical phenomenon between bullying victimization and emotional adaptation among junior high school students in China, using the hypothesis of the healthy context paradox.

Methods

The study involved 880 students (565 girls; Mage=14.69; SD=1.407 years), and data were collected using self-reported surveys. The findings of the study, utilizing multilevel structural equation modeling (MSEM) techniques, demonstrated a cross-level moderated effect of classroom-level bullying victimization on the relationship between individual bullying victimization and emotional adaptation.

Results

Specifically, the results indicated that in classrooms with higher levels of victimization, the association between individual bullying victimization and increased depressive symptoms and State&Trait anxiety was more pronounced. These findings support the "Healthy context paradox" hypothesis in the Chinese context and provide insight into the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon.

Discussion

The results suggest that the classroom environment plays a crucial role in shaping the emotional consequences of bullying and that addressing classroom victimization is crucial for promoting emotional health among young people. By understanding the mechanisms that underlie the association between bullying and emotional consequences, interventions can be developed to target the underlying factors that contribute to this paradoxical phenomenon. Overall, the study provides new insights into the complex relationship between bullying and emotional health among young people, highlighting the importance of considering the classroom environment in addressing this issue.

Parental burnout and adolescents' academic burnout: Roles of parental harsh discipline, psychological distress, and gender

Parental burnout is an emerging hot issue in discussions about children's mental health and development. However, little is known about the underlying psychological mechanisms of parental burnout on children's academic burnout. To fill in this gap, we aim to examine the relationship between parental burnout and adolescents' academic burnout, as well as the mediating effects of harsh discipline, adolescents' psychological distress, and the moderating effect of gender. A sample of 871 junior high school students (477 boys and 394 girls) and their primary caregivers from Eastern China participated in this study. The results showed a direct relationship between parental burnout and academic burnout as well as an indirect relationship through the mediating role of psychological distress and the chain-mediating roles of parental harsh discipline and psychological distress. Furthermore, we discovered that fathers' parental burnout had a stronger effect on children's psychological distress than mothers. These findings contribute to our understanding of how parental burnout relates to children's academic burnout and underline the significance of fathers' parental burnout.

Parental Psychological Aggression and Phubbing in Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model

OBJECTIVE

The present study aimed to examine the mediated moderation effect underlying the association between parental psychological aggression and phubbing, as well as the mediating role of anxiety and moderating role of sex and grade.

METHODS

Based on a cross-sectional study, a total of 758 Chinese junior high school students had completed measures on socio-demographic characteristics, parental psychological aggression, anxiety and phubbing. Structural equation modeling was adopted to examine the mediating effect of anxiety on the association between parental psychological aggression and phubbing. Multigroup analyses were conducted to explore whether the path coefficients differed by sex and grade.

RESULTS

Mediation analysis indicated that anxiety could mediate the association between parental psychological aggression and phubbing. The indirect effect of parental psychological aggression on phubbing via anxiety was 0.12. Multigroup analyses revealed that the higher mediation effect of anxiety was more likely to be reported by boys and students from grade eight.

CONCLUSION

Findings of the present study may inform prevention and intervention programs for phubbing in adolescents exposed to parental psychological aggression, by decreasing the anxiety and adopting selective strategies for different sex and grade groups.