Positive parenting and children’s prosocial behavior in eight countriesShow others and affiliations
2016 (English)In: Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, ISSN 0021-9630, E-ISSN 1469-7610, Vol. 57, no 7, p. 824-834Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Background Research supports the beneficial role of prosocial behaviors on children’s adjustment and successful youth development. Empirical studies point to reciprocal relations between negative parenting and children’s maladjustment, but reciprocal relations between positive parenting and children’s prosocial behavior are understudied. In this study reciprocal relations between two different dimensions of positive parenting (quality of the mother–child relationship and the use of balanced positive discipline) and children’s prosocial behavior were examined in Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. Methods Mother–child dyads (N = 1105) provided data over 2 years in two waves (Mage of child in wave 1 = 9.31 years, SD = 0.73; 50% female). Results A model of reciprocal relations between parenting dimensions, but not among parenting and children’s prosocial behavior, emerged. In particular, children with higher levels of prosocial behavior at age 9 elicited higher levels of mother–child relationship quality in the following year. Conclusions Findings yielded similar relations across countries, evidencing that being prosocial in late childhood contributes to some degree to the enhancement of a nurturing and involved mother–child relationship in countries that vary widely on sociodemographic profiles and psychological characteristics. Policy and intervention implications of this study are discussed.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2016. Vol. 57, no 7, p. 824-834
Keywords [en]
Prosocial behavior, parenting, cross-national, late childhood
National Category
Psychology
Research subject
SOCIAL SCIENCE, Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hv:diva-8707DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.12477ISI: 000379940700007PubMedID: 6511201Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84949255445OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hv-8707DiVA, id: diva2:875292
Note
Article first published online: 28 OCT 2015
Funders: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, RO1-HD054805; Fogarty International Center,, RO3-TW008141; National Institute on Drug Abuse, K01DA024116, 2K05 DA015226; Interdisciplinary Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies, CESOC, CONICYT/FONDAP/15130009.
2015-12-012015-11-242023-08-28Bibliographically approved