Abstract:
Children\'s temperamental surgency is associated with later child behavioral problems. However, the underlying mechanisms linking child surgency and child aggression, such as negative parental control, are relatively understudied. Moreover, the potential protective effect of a close parent-child relationship on these associations remains untested, particularly among non-White families. Participants included 259 Chinese American preschoolers (Mage = 4.5 years, SD = 0.9 years, 50% girls) and their mothers (Mage = 37.9 years, SD = 4.7 years), the present study examined the moderating effects of parent-child relationship quality on the association between mother-rated child surgency and teacher-rated child aggression as mediated by maternal psychological control. Overall, results showed that child surgency was linked positively to maternal psychological control, which, in turn led to higher levels of child aggression six months later, but only when the parent-child relationship quality was less optimal. These findings indicate that psychological control is one underlying mechanism linking child temperament and child maladjustment, and that parent-child relationship quality is an important protective factor. Findings also expand an existing theoretical framework by explicating how these variables are applicable to an Asian American population, suggesting the critical buffering role that parent-child relationship quality plays. The study findings inform efforts to mitigate the potential negative effect of psychological control in reducing childhood aggression.
摘要:
儿童的脾气暴躁与后来的儿童行为问题有关。然而,将儿童摄政和儿童侵略联系起来的潜在机制,例如消极的父母控制,研究相对不足。此外,亲子关系对这些关联的潜在保护作用尚未得到检验,特别是在非白人家庭中。参与者包括259名美籍华人学龄前儿童(Mage=4.5岁,SD=0.9年,50%的女孩)和他们的母亲(法师=37.9岁,SD=4.7年),本研究考察了亲子关系质量对母亲心理控制介导的母亲评估的儿童摄动和教师评估的儿童侵略之间的关系的调节作用。总的来说,结果表明,儿童摄政与母亲的心理控制呈正相关,which,反过来又导致了六个月后更高水平的儿童攻击性,但只有当亲子关系质量不太理想时。这些发现表明,心理控制是将儿童气质与儿童适应不良联系起来的一种潜在机制,亲子关系质量是一个重要的保护因素。研究结果还通过解释这些变量如何适用于亚裔美国人人口来扩展现有的理论框架,表明亲子关系质量所起的关键缓冲作用。研究结果为减轻心理控制在减少儿童攻击性方面的潜在负面影响提供了帮助。