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. 2013 Aug;25(3):653-67.
doi: 10.1017/S0954579413000084.

Predicting internalizing problems in Chinese children: the unique and interactive effects of parenting and child temperament

Luma Muhtadie  1 , Qing Zhou, Nancy Eisenberg, Yun Wang
Affiliations

Predicting internalizing problems in Chinese children: the unique and interactive effects of parenting and child temperament

Luma Muhtadie et al. Dev Psychopathol. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

The additive and interactive relations of parenting styles (authoritative and authoritarian parenting) and child temperament (anger/frustration, sadness, and effortful control) to children's internalizing problems were examined in a 3.8-year longitudinal study of 425 Chinese children (aged 6-9 years) from Beijing. At Wave 1, parents self-reported on their parenting styles, and parents and teachers rated child temperament. At Wave 2, parents, teachers, and children rated children's internalizing problems. Structural equation modeling indicated that the main effect of authoritative parenting and the interactions of Authoritarian Parenting × Effortful Control and Authoritative Parenting × Anger/Frustration (parents' reports only) prospectively and uniquely predicted internalizing problems. The above results did not vary by child sex and remained significant after controlling for co-occurring externalizing problems. These findings suggest that (a) children with low effortful control may be particularly susceptible to the adverse effect of authoritarian parenting and (b) the benefit of authoritative parenting may be especially important for children with high anger/frustration.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The structural equation model predicting W2 internalizing problems from W1 parenting, temperament effortful control and negative emotionality (parents’ report), and their interactions. Solid lines indicate significant paths, and dotted lines indicate nonsignficant paths. The numbers above the parentheses are unstandardized loadings or path coefficients. The numbers inside the parentheses are standardized loadings or path coefficients. + p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The structural equation model predicting W2 internalizing problems from W1 parenting, temperament effortful control and negative emotionality (teachers’ reports), and their interactions. Solid lines indicate significant paths, and dotted lines indicate nonsignficant paths. The numbers above the parentheses are unstandardized loadings or path coefficients. The numbers inside the parentheses are standardized loadings or path coefficients. + p < .10, * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Graphs of significant parenting × temperament interactions. ANG = anger/frustration, EC = effortful control. For both graphs, the criterion is the W2 Internalizing Problem factor score estimated from structural equation models. The numbers in parentheses are unstandardized simple slopes. . * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001.
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