The Longitudinal Relationship between Parental Psychological Control and Problem Behaviors of Middle Childhood Children: The Mediating Roles of Paternal- and Maternal- Attachment

WU Wei; XIE Rui-Bei; DING Wan; YU Tie; LI Wei-Jian

PDF(702 KB)

Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2022, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (2) : 364-371.

The Longitudinal Relationship between Parental Psychological Control and Problem Behaviors of Middle Childhood Children: The Mediating Roles of Paternal- and Maternal- Attachment

Author information +

History +

Abstract

Children’s problem behaviors, which refer to behaviors that deviate from normal standards, including internalizing problems and externalizing problems, have received vast attention from the society and the academia for the past few years. Previous studies indicated that problem behaviors originating from early childhood have a continuous impact on individuals even when they are in adolescence or in adulthood, which will lead to more serious mental health problems or anti-social behaviors later. Compared with other grades, children show severer problem behaviors in middle childhood, which is a crucial period for children in elementary school to develop their self-awareness. Therefore, parental psychological control, a kind of excessive performance of parental upbringing, may greatly hinder the development of children’s independence and autonomy, resulting in children’s poor adaptation. The current study aimed to examine the association between parental psychological control and problem behaviors (internalizing and externalizing problems) of middle childhood children, and further to explore whether both paternal and maternal attachment would mediated the relations between parental psychological control and children’s problem behaviors. In addition, gender differences in the mechanisms were also discussed. 969 children (627 males, 342 female) who were in Grade 3 from three elementary schools in Anhui Province participated in the research. Among them, children aged from 9 to 10 take a large proportion. Using a longitudinal study, these children were asked to complete the Parental Control Questionnaire, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and Parent and Peer Attachment Questionnaire at two time points (spaced approximately 6 months apart). All the data were analyzed using SPSS Version 23.0 and Mplus Version 8.0. Firstly, descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted with SPSS 23.0. Based on this, then, a structural equation model was established to examine the association among the key variables by using Mplus 8.0. The main results were as following: (1) both paternal and maternal psychological control could directly predict children’s problem behaviors, but paternal psychological control had a greater impact on externalizing problems while maternal psychological control showed a greater effect on internalizing problems; (2) paternal and maternal attachment mediated the relationship between parental psychological control and children’s problem behaviors; (3) paternal attachment only mediated the association between parental psychological control and boys’ problem behaviors whereas maternal attachment played a significant role among both boys and girls. The study sheds light on the associations among parental psychological control, parent-child attachment and problem behaviors of middle childhood children, deepening our understanding of children’s social adaptation related to parental negative upbringing and the potential mechanisms of parent-child relationships. The results in the current study support the self-determination theory, the attachment theory, the family system theory, and the specificity hypothesis, which provide new perspectives for intervention in children’s problem behaviors and future family education.

Key words

parental psychological control / problem behaviors / paternal attachment / maternal attachment / middle childhood

Cite this article

EndNote

Ris (Procite)

Bibtex

Download Citations

The Longitudinal Relationship between Parental Psychological Control and Problem Behaviors of Middle Childhood Children: The Mediating Roles of Paternal- and Maternal- Attachment[J]. Journal of Psychological Science. 2022, 45(2): 364-371

References

邓林园, 方晓义, 伍明明, 张锦涛, & 刘勤学. (2013). 家庭环境、亲子依恋与青少年网络成瘾. 心理发展与教育(03), 83-89. 房超. (2019). 心理控制研究述评. 青少年学刊, 000(001), P.17-20. 高鑫, 丁碧蕾, 冯姝慧, & 邢淑芬. (2018).父母心理控制和儿童消极情绪性对学前儿童问题行为的共同作用:“素质-压力”还是“差别易感性”. 心理发展与教育(01), 28-37. 韩进之, & 魏华忠. (1985). 我国中、小学生自我意识发展调查研究. 心理发展与教育(01), 11-18. 何婷, 宋子婧, 丁菀, 刘伟, & 蔺秀云. (2018). 父母心理控制与对立违抗障碍儿童抑郁和攻击行为的关系:父子依恋和母子依恋的中介效应. 心理发展与教育, 34(02), 219-228. 金灿灿, 邹泓, 曾荣, & 窦东徽. (2010). 中学生亲子依恋的特点及其对社会适应的影响:父母亲密的调节作用. 心理发展与教育(06), 577-583. 李丹黎, 张卫, 王艳辉, & 李董平. (2013). 母亲心理控制与青少年问题性网络使用:非适应性认知的中介作用. 心理科学(02), 157-162. 李霓霓, 张卫, 李董平, 麦玉娇, 王晶晶, & 邢文利. (2009). 青少年的依恋、情绪智力与攻击性行为的关系. 心理发展与教育(02), 93-98. 林崇德. (2009). 发展心理学. 北京: 人民教育出版社. 蔺秀云, 李龙凤, 黎燕斌, 王中会, 陈琦, & 方晓义. (2014). 父母心理控制对有ODD症状儿童的抑郁、攻击的影响. 心理发展与教育, 30(6), 660-670. 刘广增, 张大均, 罗世兰, & 房立艳. (2018). 8-12岁儿童孤独感及其与父母情感温暖、问题行为的关系. 中国临床心理学杂志, 026(003), 586-589,594. 刘亚鹏, 邓慧华, 张光珍, 梁宗保, & 陆祖宏. (2015). 父母养育压力对儿童问题行为的影响:养育方式的中介作用. 心理发展与教育, 31(003), 319-326. 吕勤, 陈会昌, 王莉, & 陈欣银. (2003). 父母教养态度与儿童在2—4岁期间的问题行为. 心理学报, 35(1), 89-92. 孙丽萍, 鞠佳雯, 蒋柳青, & 边玉芳. (2018). 父母心理控制与青少年焦虑的关系:一项交叉滞后研究. 心理发展与教育, 34(06), 120-130. 温忠麟, & 叶宝娟. (2014). 中介效应分析: 方法和模型的发展. 心理科学进展, 5, 731-745. 邢淑芬, 梁熙, 岳建宏, & 王争艳. (2016). 祖辈共同养育背景下多重依恋关系及对幼儿社会-情绪性发展的影响. 心理学报, 48(05), 518-528. 邢晓沛, 孙晓丽, 王争艳, & 邵淑慧. (2017). 父母心理控制与儿童自我控制和问题行为:有中介的调节模型. 心理科学(03), 594-599. 许岩, 纪林芹, & 张文新. (2006). 城市父亲参与儿童教养的特点及其与性别角色的关系. 心理发展与教育, 022(003), 35-40. 于海琴, & 周宗奎. (2002). 小学高年级儿童亲子依恋的发展及其与同伴交往的关系. 心理发展与教育(04), 38-42. 周浩, & 龙立荣. (2004). 共同方法偏差的统计检验与控制方法. 心理科学进展, 12(6), 942-942. Armsden, G., & Greenberg, M. (1987). The inventory of parent and peer attachment: individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16(5), 427-454. Barber, B., & Harmon, E. (2002). Violating the self: parental psychological control of children and adolescents. In B. K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parenting: How psychological control affects children and adolescents (pp 15-52). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. Bowlby, J. (1973). Attachment and loss: Vol. 2. Separation. New York: Basic Books. Cai, M., Hardy, S., Olsen, J., Nelson, D., & Yamawaki, N. (2013). Adolescent–parent attachment as a mediator of relations between parenting and adolescent social behavior and wellbeing in china. International Journal of Psychology, 48(6), 1185-1190. Derya, Güng?r, & Bornstein, M. (2010). Culture-general and -specific associations of attachment avoidance and anxiety with perceived parental warmth and psychological control among turk and belgian adolescents. Journal of Adolescence, 33(5), 593-602. Doyle, A. (2005). Parenting, marital conflict and adjustment from early- to mid-adolescence: mediated by adolescent attachment style?. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 34(2), 97-110. Fung, J., & Lau, A. (2012). Tough love or hostile domination? psychological control and relational induction in cultural context. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(6), 966-975. Goodman, R. (1997). The strengths and difficulties questionnaire: a research note. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Diplines, 38(5), 581-586. Ingoglia, S., Inguglia, C., Liga, F., & Coco, A. (2016). Associations between perceived parental psychological control and internalizing difficulties in emerging adulthood: the role of identity. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. doi:10.1177/0265407516670760 Kerns, K., & Brumariu, L. (2014). Is insecure parent-child attachment a risk factor for the development of anxiety in childhood or adolescence?. Child Development Perspectives, 8(1), 12-17. León-del-Barco, B., Mendo-Lázaro, S., Polo-del-Río, M., & López-Ramos, V. (2019). Parental psychological control and emotional and behavioral disorders among Spanish adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(3), 507-520. Lewis, C., & Lamb, M. (2003). Fathers’ influences on children's development: the evidence from two-parent families. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 18(2), 211-228. Liga, F., Ingoglia, S., Inguglia, C., Lo Coco, A., Lo Cricchio, M., & Musso, P., et al. (2017). Associations among psychologically controlling parenting, autonomy, relatedness, and problem behaviors during emerging adulthood. Journal of Psychology, 151(4), 393-415. Mackler, J., Kelleher, R., Shanahan, L., Calkins, S., Keane, S., & O'Brien, M. (2015). Parenting stress, parental reactions, and externalizing behavior from ages 4 to 10. Journal of Marriage and Family, 77. Manzi, C., Regalia, C., Pelucchi, S., & Fincham, F. (2012). Documenting different domains of promotion of autonomy in families. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 289-298. Newland, R., Ciciolla, L., & Crnic, K. (2015). Crossover effects among parental hostility and parent-child relationships during the preschool period. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24 (7), 2107-2119. Pan, Y., Zhang, D., Liu, Y., Ran, G., & Teng, Z. (2016). Different effects of paternal and maternal attachment on psychological health among chinese secondary school students. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(10), 2998-3008. Rehder, P., Mills-Koonce, W., Wagner, N., Zvara, B., & Willoughby, M. (2020). Attachment quality assessed from children's family drawings links to child conduct problems and callous-unemotional behaviors. Attachment and Human Development, 1-18. Shek, D. (2005). Perceived parental control and parent-child relational qualities in Chinese adolescents in Hong Kong. Sex Roles, 53(9-10), 635-646. Soenens, B., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2010). A theoretical upgrade of the concept of parental psychological control: proposing new insights on the basis of self-determination theory. Developmental Review, 30(1), 74-99. Symeou, M., & Georgiou, S. (2017). Externalizing and internalizing behaviors in adolescence, and the importance of parental behavioral and psychological control practices. Journal of Adolescence, 60, 104-113. Teague, S., Newman, L., Tonge, B., & Gray, K. (2020). Attachment and child behavior and emotional problems in autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 33. Yan, F., Zhang, Q., Ran, G., Li, S., & Niu, X. (2020). Relationship between parental psychological control and problem behaviors in youths: a three-level meta-analysis. Children and Youth Services Review, 112. Zemp, M., Johnson, M., & Bodenmann, G. (2018). Within-family processes: Interparental and coparenting conflict and child adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 32 (3), 299-309.