Curvilinear Association Between Parental Control and Externalizing Problems in Early Childhood

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that higher parental control is associated with increased externalizing and internalizing problems during the early school-age years (Bayer et al. 2011). Prior studies have examined primarily linear associations between parental control and externalizing and internalizing problem outcomes. Limited research has explored the shape of the association between parental control and outcomes. Harris-McKoy (2016) found a curvilinear association between parental control and externalizing problems for adolescents, suggesting that there may be an “optimal range” of parental control, where both very high and very low parental control could be ineffective. However, it is still unclear how internalizing problems are associated with parental control as well as a more fine-grained correlation between the externalizing/internalizing problems and the different components of parental control, such as physical control, restrictiveness, and lax control (relatively low parental control). In addition, it is not known whether the association between parental control and developmental reported in adolescents can be generalized to early elementary school-age children. Thus, the current study examined whether there is a curvilinear association of parental control with externalizing and internalizing problems in 3—7-year-old children. We hypothesized that there would be a U-shaped association between parental control and externalizing problems based on Harris-McKoy (2016). We hypothesized that there would be a linear association between parental control and internalizing problems previous studies have found, whereby higher parental control is associated with more internalizing problems (Parent et al, 2016; Gorostiaga et al, 2019).
Participants were 68 parent-child dyads from a community sample, with children ages 3 to 7 years (M = 4.27, SD =1.03) from the Midwestern U.S. Parents reported on questionnaires. The questionnaires assessed children's externalizing and internalizing problems (Rescorla, 2005), and aspects of parental control (Rohner, 2005), including lax and physical control (Parent & Forehand, 2017), and restrictiveness (Rickel & Biasatti, 1982). We found that either very high or very low parental physical control, but not general parental control, was associated with an increased risk of externalizing problems as rated by mothers (b= .224, F (2, 225) = 5.982, p < .01. R2= .050) and fathers (b=. 225, F (2, 104) = 7.168, p < .01. R2= .121). We did not find a significant association between parental control and internalizing problems in the two-tailed test. The results suggest that moderate parental physical control is related to a lower risk for children developing externalizing problems. The finding infers a stronger effect of physical control by contrasting restrictiveness and lax control with parental control. Overall, the study replicates Harris-McKoy's (2016) finding with early school-age children and furthers our understanding of the complex role that parental controls play in the course of development in general.

Authors

• Zeya Han, University of Iowa
  Presenting Author

• Isaac T. Petersen, University of Iowa
  Non-Presenting Author