Maternal parenting behaviors and child coping in African American families

The purpose of the current study was to examine the impact of three parental influences (i.e., socialization of coping, modeling of coping, and the parent-child relationship) on coping strategies of African American children, as well as child gender as a moderator of these associations. Participants were 83 African American children (mean age = 11.2, SD = 1.44) and their maternal caregivers (mean age = 40.45, SD = 9.55). Both children and parents completed measures of coping behaviors, parental socialization of coping, and maternal support. Regression analyses demonstrated that child reports of their mothers' behavior were better predictors of child coping than mothers' self-reports, with child reports of maternal support and socialization of coping predicting child coping. Results also revealed that child gender moderated the association between maternal parenting behavior and child coping. Specifically, maternal parenting behaviors were more important for girls' coping strategies than for boys' coping strategies. Our results add to the literature on the effects of parent-child relationships on children's responses to stress.