1-070 - Exploring Links between Family Processes and Child Development in China

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The family environment (e.g., parents, siblings) plays an important role in children’s development (Otterpohl & Wild, 2013; Lamb, 2014). Although there is robust evidence that parents’ attitudes, parenting styles, and relations with siblings are key factors related to children’s social-emotional functioning during preschool and school years (Rinaldi & Howe, 2012; Wojciak, McWey, Helfrich, 2013), questions remain as to how these family processes exert their role in non-Western cultures such as China. Moreover, over the last two decades, Chinese culture has experienced considerable industrialization and Westernization (Xu et al., 2005), and the government has recently implemented a two-child policy. In this regard, it is important to examine how these social and economic changes might affect the family environment and its relation to child adjustment outcomes. This symposium includes four studies, each focusing on different aspects of the family environment and employing different methodological approaches, but all seeking to broaden our understanding of how family processes affect child development in China. The first paper explored the longitudinal links among marital conflict, parenting styles, and children's adjustment. The second paper examined reciprocals effect between insecure parent-child attachment and child anxiety. The third paper investigated connectedness-oriented behaviors during mother-child interaction and their associations with children’s later social and school adjustment. Finally, the fourth paper focused on parents’ perception of sibling relationship quality in early childhood. Findings from these studies reveal how the important aspects of family processes affect children’s adjustments in contemporary China.

Sub Unit

• Family Context & Processes

Chairs

• Yan Li, Shanghai Normal University

• Bowen Xiao, Carleton University

Individual Presentations

• Marital Conflict and Children's Adjustments in Chinese Culture: Explore the Role of Maternal Parenting - Presenting Author: Bowen Xiao, Carleton University; Non-Presenting Author: Junsheng Liu, East China Normal University; Non-Presenting Author: Robert J Coplan, Carleton University; Non-Presenting Author: Xinyin Chen, University of Pennsylvania; Non-Presenting Author: Dan Li, Shanghai Normal University

• Bidirectional Influences of Insecure Parent-child Attachment and Anxiety Symptoms in Chinese Preschoolers - Presenting Author: Yan Li, Shanghai Normal University; Non-Presenting Author: Jingjing Zhu, Shanghai Normal University; Non-Presenting Author: Yun Zhang, The Second People’s Hospital Jiangning

• The Role of Maternal Connectedness-oriented Behaviors in Predicting Adjustment in Chinese Children: a Longitudinal Study - Presenting Author: Mowei Liu, Trent University; Non-Presenting Author: Ruixin Cao, Renmin University of China; Non-Presenting Author: Shujie Zheng, LuDong University

• The Development of an Early Childhood Sibling Relationship Quality Questionnaire in China: from Parents’ Perspective - Presenting Author: Yan Wang, Endicott College; Non-Presenting Author: Yan Li, Shanghai Normal University; Non-Presenting Author: Tiantian Liu, Shanghai Normal University