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Positive parenting and children's prosocial behavior in eight countries
Concetta Pastorelli1, Jennifer E Lansford2, Bernadette Paula Luengo Kanacri1
1Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|October 30, 2015
Summary
Children
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Developmental Psychology
- Cross-Cultural Psychology
Background:
- Prosocial behaviors are crucial for children's adjustment and development.
- Reciprocal links between negative parenting and child maladjustment are known, but positive parenting and prosocial behavior links are less understood.
- This study investigated reciprocal relations between positive parenting and children's prosocial behavior across diverse countries.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine reciprocal relationships between the quality of the mother-child relationship and balanced positive discipline with children's prosocial behavior.
- To explore these relationships across a wide range of cultural contexts.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 1105 mother-child dyads over two years.
- Data collected in two waves from children around 9 years old.
- Analysis of reciprocal relations between parenting dimensions and children's prosocial behavior.
Main Results:
- A reciprocal model emerged between parenting dimensions, but not directly between parenting and children's prosocial behavior.
- Children exhibiting higher prosocial behavior at age 9 predicted enhanced mother-child relationship quality in the subsequent year.
Conclusions:
- Children's prosociality in late childhood positively influences the mother-child relationship quality.
- This finding holds across diverse countries, suggesting a universal developmental pathway.
- Highlights the importance of fostering prosocial behavior for positive parent-child dynamics.
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