Parental Socialization and Development of Chinese Youths: A Multivariate and Comparative Approach

Parental psychological control and children's self-esteem: A longitudinal investigation in children with and without oppositional defiant problems

Oppositional defiant problems are among the most prevalent psychological problems among children and adolescents from China and across the world. Still little is understood about how self-esteem, in conjunction with parenting experiences, develops in children with oppositional defiant problems. We addressed this gap of knowledge in a two-year longitudinal study. Specifically, we explored how parental psychological control predicts children's self-esteem levels over time, and in turn, how children's self-esteem levels predict parental psychological control. We collected data in Chinese children (ages 8 to 13 at T1) with (N = 224) and without (N = 217) oppositional defiant problems, and tested three-wave cross-lagged panel models. Multigroup analyses showed that the associations between parental psychological control and children's self-esteem were the same for children with and without oppositional defiant problems. Results for the total sample revealed bi-directional associations between maternal psychological control and children's self-esteem. Children who perceived more psychological control from their mothers were likely to exhibit lower self-esteem over time, and vice versa, children with lower self-esteem were likely to perceive more maternal psychological control over time. Conversely, a unidirectional paternal effect was observed in father-child dyads. Our findings help understand the parent-child dynamics that shape the psychological development of children with oppositional defiant problems.

A Multi-System Approach to Investigate Different Forms of Delinquency in Female Adolescents at Risk: Family, School, and Peers

The delinquency of female adolescents at risk has increased conspicuously, much to the concern of human service and public health practitioners. Nevertheless, prior findings of pertinent research have commonly been based on samples of male or gender-mixed participants, especially general youths in the community. These cannot adequately explicate the impacts of different contextual systems on at-risk female adolescents, who are, in fact, more vulnerable to developing delinquency. Based on cross-sectional data collected from a sample of 236 at-risk female adolescents with the help of a large social work organization, the present study investigated and compared the effects of family, school, and peer systems on different forms of delinquency among at-risk female adolescents. The results show that positive family functioning, constructive school experiences, and deviant peer influence were predictive of both self-destructive and other-destructive delinquency in at-risk adolescent girls, respectively, but the effects were significantly different depending on which contextual systems influenced what forms of delinquency. Furthermore, the relationships between positive family functioning and both forms of delinquency were significantly mediated by the effects of constructive school experiences and deviant peer influence, giving support to the distal role of family and the proximal functions of school and peers in adolescence. Implications for policy prevention and interventions to strengthen the contextual supports in different social systems to help female adolescents at risk are discussed.

Unidirectional or Bidirectional? Relation between Parental Responsiveness and Emotion Regulation in Children with and without Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Parenting is crucial for emotion regulation in children. Much less is known, however, concerning the association between parenting and emotion regulation in children with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), who are known to have poor emotion regulation. The current study aimed to examine how parental responsiveness and child emotion regulation related either unidirectionally or bidirectionally to one another over time and to investigate whether the associations were different in ODD and non-ODD groups. Data were collected each year for three consecutive years from a sample of 256 parents of children with ODD and 265 parents of children without ODD in China. The results from the random intercepts cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) suggested that the directionality of the link between parental responsiveness and child emotion regulation differs according to ODD status. The non-ODD group demonstrated a unidirectional link between early emotion regulation and subsequent parental responsiveness, consistent with the "child effect". However, in the ODD group, the link between parental responsiveness and emotion regulation was transactional, in line with social coercion theory. Multiple-group comparisons found that increased parental responsiveness was more strongly associated with improved child emotion regulation in the ODD group only. The research established a dynamic and longitudinal relationship between parental responsiveness and emotion regulation and suggested that intensive interventions should aim to improve parental responsiveness to children with ODD.

Contributions of Multilevel Family Factors to Emotional and Behavioral Problems among Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder in China

Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) is one of the most prevalent childhood mental health disorders and is extremely affected by family factors. However, limited studies have addressed the issue from the perspective of family systems. The current study examines the associations between multilevel family factors (i.e., family cohesion/ adaptability at system level, mother-child and father-child attachment at a dyadic level, and child self-esteem at an individual level) and emotional and behavioral problems among children with ODD in China. The participants were 256 Chinese children with ODD and their parents and class master teachers. A multiple-informant approach and structural equation model were used. The results revealed that system level factors (family cohesion/adaptability) were associated with child emotional and behavior problems indirectly through factors at the dyadic level (mother-child attachment) and the individual level (child self-esteem) in sequence. Mother-child, but not father-child, attachment, mediated the linkage between family cohesion/adaptability and the emotional problems of children with ODD. Moreover, child self-esteem mediated the association between mother-child attachment and child emotional and behavioral problems. The findings of the present study underscored that multilevel family factors are uniquely related to emotional and behavioral problems in children with ODD.

Analyzing when parental warmth but without parental strictness leads to more adolescent empathy and self-concept: Evidence from Spanish homes

Introduction

Classical research mainly conducted with European-American families has identified the combination of warmth and strictness (authoritative style) as the parenting always associated with the highest scores on developmental outcomes. Additionally, despite the benefits of empathy for prosocial behaviors and protection against antisocial behaviors, most research has considered the contribution of specific practices (e.g., reasoning or power assertion), but not so much the parenting styles. Similarly, family studies tend to study the relationship between parenting and global self-perceptions (self-esteem), but not so much those of each dimension (self-concept).

Methods

In the present study, 600 Spanish adolescents from 12 to 17 years old (M = 15.25, SD = 2.01) were classified within one of the four household typologies (i.e., authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian, or neglectful). Adolescent developmental outcomes were cognitive empathy (adopting perspectives and emotional understanding), emotional empathy (empathic stress and empathic happiness), and self-concept (academic, social, emotional, family and physical).

Results

The results showed that the indulgent parenting (warmth but not strictness) was related to equal or even better empathy and self-concept than the authoritative style (warmth and strictness), whereas non-warm parenting (authoritarian and neglectful) was consistently associated with poor results.

Discussion

Overall, the present findings seriously question that parental strictness combined with parental warmth (authoritative style) is always the parenting style related to the greatest outcomes. By contrast, it seems that reasoning, warmth and involvement, without strictness (indulgent parenting) help adolescents to achieve a good orientation toward others in terms of cognitive and affective empathy and a good self-evaluation in terms of self-concept.

"Be the Dream Queen": Gender Performativity, Femininity, and Transgender Sex Workers in China

An under-researched aspect of transgender sex workers in China pertains to their desires and expressions of femininity. Male-to-Female (MTF) transgender sex workers are a high-risk population prone to depression and stress regarding body image, intimate relationships marked by violence, and social stigma, rendering them vulnerable to hate crimes and discrimination. Ethnographic data from in-depth interviews with 49 MTF transgender sex workers indicate that sex, gender and feminine desire are mutable in the construction of self and subjectivity. This study uses the conceptual framework of gender performativity, that is, gender is performative and distinct from physical bodies and binary classifications. It is not only an individual's normative gender expressions which are based on the sex assigned at birth, but it also reinforces the normative gender performances of the gender binary. This article argues that the 49 MTF transgender sex workers are embodiments of gendered performances, displaying femininity to ameliorate hate crimes and discrimination as well as reinforce the masculinity and sexuality of their clients and intimate sex partners. Embracing their femininity constitutes a self-help program, enabling them to build self-confidence and develop a positive self-image in the face of overwhelming social disapproval.

Parenting and Healthy Teenage Lifestyles

How can one promote adolescent adjustment toward a healthy lifestyle? The first step is to locate the healthy habit configuration within the family environment. The hypothesis is that, if adolescent lifestyles are assumed autonomously during adolescence, then it is very likely that they will last throughout life. How does this relate to parenting styles? After reviewing the literature of the last four decades on adolescent behavioral autonomy and scientific articles that link healthy lifestyles with parenting, several conclusions have been reached, such as the relevance of recovering the biopsychosocial richness of healthy lifestyles, the need to use a dialogue strategy to resolve discrepancies between adolescents and their parents, and the adequacy of the personalistic parenting style to promote adjusted adolescent behavioral autonomy, and with it maintain healthy lifestyles in the long term.

Which Parenting Style Encourages Healthy Lifestyles in Teenage Children? Proposal for a Model of Integrative Parenting Styles

Given that we live in an environment in constant change-a liquid society, according to Bauman-we propose a versatile parenting style with the capacity to adapt to the variations of socio-temporal evolution. This is achieved by basing parenting guidelines on the permanent, executive, cognitive, and affective components of a person. Although the first reviews of parenting styles emphasized the Authoritative style, the emerging tendency in some geographical areas has been to prioritize the Indulgent style. Extracting the common factor of these two styles, the suggestion is to improve the affective aspect of the relationship characterized by warm and close parent-child interactions. It is important to respect the style of each family in order to support it in its educational task while offering guidelines to help consolidate healthy adolescent lifestyles. In this line, we present successful experiments that have helped families in this decisive task by highlighting the efficacy of promoting systemic educational plans that involve the whole society.