Examining effects of mother and father warmth and control on child externalizing and internalizing problems from age 8 to 13 in nine countries.

Authors

W. Andrew Rothenberg, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillFollow
Jennifer E. Lansford, Duke UniversityFollow
Liane Peña Alampay, Ateneo de Manila UniversityFollow
Suha M. Al-Hassan, Hashemite UniversityFollow
Dario Bacchini, Second University of NaplesFollow
Marc H. Bornstein, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human DevelopmentFollow
Lei Chang, University of MacauFollow
Kirby Deater-Deckard, University of Massachusetts AmherstFollow
Laura Di Giunta, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Kenneth A. Dodge, Duke UniversityFollow
Patrick S. Malone, University of South CarolinaFollow
Paul Oburu, Maseno UniversityFollow
Concetta Pastorelli, University of Rome La SapienzaFollow
Ann T. Skinner, Duke UniversityFollow
Emma Sorbring, University West
Laurence Steinberg, Temple UniversityFollow
Sombat Tapanya, Chiang Mai UniversityFollow
Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado, Universidad San Buenaventura
Saengduean Yotanyamaneewong, Chiang Mai University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

This study used data from 12 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and United States; N = 1,315) to investigate bidirectional associations between parental warmth and control, and child externalizing and internalizing behaviors. In addition, the extent to which these associations held across mothers and fathers and across cultures with differing normative levels of parent warmth and control were examined. Mothers, fathers, and children completed measures when children were ages 8 to 13. Multiple-group autoregressive cross-lagged structural equation models revealed that evocative child-driven effects of externalizing and internalizing behavior on warmth and control are ubiquitous across development, cultures, mothers, and fathers. Results also reveal that parenting effects on child externalizing and internalizing behaviors, though rarer than child effects, extend into adolescence when examined separately in mothers and fathers. Father-based parent effects were more frequent than mother effects. Most parent- and child-driven effects appear to emerge consistently across cultures. The rare culture-specific parenting effects suggested that occasionally the effects of parenting behaviors that run counter to cultural norms may be delayed in rendering their protective effect against deleterious child outcomes.

Recommended Citation

Rothenberg, W., Lansford, J., Alampay, L., Al-Hassan, S., Bacchini, D., Bornstein, M., . . . Yotanyamaneewong, S. (2019). Examining effects of mother and father warmth and control on child externalizing and internalizing problems from age 8 to 13 in nine countries. Development and Psychopathology, 1-25. doi:10.1017/S0954579419001214