Effects of Parental Acceptance-Rejection on Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Behaviors: A Longitudinal, Multicultural StudyShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Journal of Child and Family Studies, ISSN 1062-1024, E-ISSN 1573-2843, Vol. 31, no 1, p. 29-47Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Grounded in Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection Theory, this study assessed children's (N = 1315) perceptions of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection in nine countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States) as predictors of children's externalizing and internalizing behaviors across ages 7-14 years. Parenting behaviors were measured using children's reports on the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire. Child externalizing and internalizing behaviors were measured using mother, father, and child reports on the Achenbach System of Empirically-Based Assessment. Using a multilevel modeling framework, we found that in cultures where both maternal and paternal indifference/neglect scores were higher than average-compared to other cultures-children's internalizing problems were more persistent. At the within-culture level, all four forms of maternal and paternal rejection (i.e., coldness/lack of affection, hostility/aggression, indifference/neglect, and undifferentiated rejection) were independently associated with either externalizing and internalizing problems across ages 7-14 even after controlling for child gender, parent education, and each of the four forms of parental rejection. Results demonstrate that the effects of perceived parental acceptance-rejection are panculturally similar.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2021. Vol. 31, no 1, p. 29-47
Keywords [en]
parental acceptance-rejection, children, internalizing, externalizing, behavior, interpersonal acceptance-rejection, within culture
National Category
Psychology (excluding Applied Psychology) Psychiatry
Research subject
Child and Youth studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-17446DOI: 10.1007/s10826-021-02072-5ISI: 000688363800001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85113395050OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-17446DiVA, id: diva2:1603966
2021-10-182021-10-182022-04-04Bibliographically approved