Parent Behavior and Child Adjustment Across Cultures

描述(由申请人提供)：本研究旨在探讨父母的管教策略如何影响孩子的发展。第一和第二个目的是考察严厉的管教和儿童适应之间的联系是否受到以下因素的调节：1)管教方法的规范性，如文化对其使用的接受程度所表明的；2)亲子关系的情感质量。我们假设，在亲子关系中的文化规范和温暖的条件下，严厉的管教与儿童的适应困难之间的联系较弱。第三个目的是考察严厉的管教与儿童适应困难之间的联系是否受到儿童对管教的认知评价的影响。儿童解释纪律实践的方式被假设为在一定程度上解释了纪律和儿童适应之间的联系。作为理解儿童对管教实践的解释的一部分，我们将尝试将文化“拆解”成可测量的语境成分，并了解影响育儿实践和儿童对它们的解释的文化的具体特征(例如，信仰、价值观)。我们将收集和分析8个国家(即中国、印度、意大利、肯尼亚、菲律宾、瑞典、泰国、美国)和这些国家内的子组的数据。每个国家都被选中，因为它们有潜力为理解父母的管教行为如何影响孩子的适应做出独特的贡献。将对每个文化群体中的100名儿童及其父母进行结构化访谈。纵向随访将在最初评估后12个月和24个月进行。分析将通过结构方程建模和多层建模进行，在这些模型中，测量场合嵌套在族中，族嵌套在文化中。关于父母养育影响儿童适应的机制的研究结果将对公共卫生产生影响，因为它们有可能影响旨在预防适应问题的干预措施，特别是在虐待和其他高危群体中。从多个文化角度理解父母的管教实践如何与儿童的适应有关，有可能为发展心理学在法律、政策和干预方面的应用提供信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This study addresses how parents' discipline strategies affect children's development. The first and second aims are to examine whether the association between harsh discipline and child adjustment is moderated by: 1) the normativeness of the discipline method as indicated by cultural acceptance of its use, and 2) the affective quality of the parent-child relationship. We hypothesize that under conditions of cultural normativeness and warmth within the parent-child relationship, there is a weaker association between harsh discipline and children's adjustment difficulties. The third aim is to examine whether the association between harsh discipline and children's adjustment difficulties is mediated by children's cognitive appraisals regarding the discipline. The way children interpret a discipline practice is hypothesized to explain, in part, the link between discipline and children's adjustment. As part of understanding children's interpretations of discipline practices, we will try to "unpack" culture into measurable contextual components and to understand specific characteristics of culture (e.g., beliefs, values) that affect parenting practices and children's interpretations of them. We will collect and analyze data in 8 countries (i.e., China, India, Italy, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, United States) and subgroups within these countries. Each country has been selected because of its potential to provide a unique contribution to understanding how parents' discipline behaviors affect children's adjustment. Structured interviews will be conducted with 100 children and their mothers and fathers in each cultural group. Longitudinal follow-up will occur 12 months and 24 months after the initial assessment. Analyses will be conducted through structural equation modeling and multilevel modeling in which measurement occasions are nested within families, which are nested within cultures. Findings regarding mechanisms through which parenting affects children's adjustment will have public health implications because of their potential to influence interventions designed to prevent adjustment problems, especially in maltreated and other high-risk groups. Understanding how parents' discipline practices relate to children's adjustment from multiple cultural perspectives has the potential to inform applications of developmental psychology in law, policy, and intervention.