Longitudinal Bidirectional Associations between Chinese American Mothers’ Overprotective Parenting and Children’s Reticence and Peer Rejection

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Abstract

Reticence reflects children’s social anxiety and fearfulness and is characterized by children’s onlooking and unoccupied behaviors in familiar and unfamiliar peer interaction contexts (Rubin et al., 2011). Behavioral reticence tends to be perceived by peers as deviant from social norms and is associated with peer rejection in mainland China and in other cultures (e.g., Hart et al., 2000). Maternal overprotection is encouraged in traditional Chinese culture (Wu et al., 2002), but has been found to contribute to Chinese children’s reticence due to its constraints on children’s social activities, which deprives them of opportunities to learn and become confident in practicing social skills (Nelson et al., 2006). Mothers’ overprotective parenting may also promote children’s excessive compliance to others’ demands, and thereby lends itself to peer rejection due to the lack of adherence to peer-valued characteristics, such as independence and assertiveness in Western societal contexts.
In addition to parent effects, child characteristics may in turn shape overprotective parenting behaviors. However, a transactional model on reciprocal influences between children and their parents (e.g., Kiff et al., 2011) has rarely been examined in Chinese American families with young children. Specifically, children’s demonstration of reticent behavior may elicit more overprotective behaviors from their mothers who are attempting to reduce their children’s social anxiety. Moreover, mothers may react to peer rejection with more overprotective behaviors to prevent their children from potential anxious/fearful emotional distress associated with their perceptions of other children not accepting their child. Accordingly, we examined bidirectional associations between: (1) mothers’ overprotective practices, (2) children’s reticence, (3) and Chinese American children’s peer rejection six months later.
Chinese American mothers (N=222, Mage=37.65) of preschoolers (Mage=4.40; 53% boys) reported on their use of overprotective parenting practices (Nelson et al., 2006) at Time 1 (T1; ω=.62) and at Time 2 (T2; ω=.64), 6 months apart. Teachers also rated children’s reticent behaviors (ω=.87 at T1; ω=.85 at T2) and peer rejection (Hart et al., 1996; ω=.88 at T1; ω=.87 at T2) at both time points.
Results revealed that T1 maternal overprotection significantly predicted more child reticence (b=.12, p<.05) and peer rejection (b=.11, p<.05) at T2. However, T1 child reticence (b=-.15, p=.32) and T1 peer rejection (b=.13, p=.41) did not significantly predict T2 maternal overprotective parenting.
We found more parent effects than child effects over time, likely because of the young age of the children (Yu et al., 2019). Although a traditionally valued childrearing practice (Wu et al., 2002), Chinese American mothers’ engagement in overprotection was associated with their children’s greater display of reticent behavior and rejection by peers six months later. Chinese American mothers’ overprotective behavior may constrain children’s participation in social interactions, undermine their confidence, and subsequently enhance their tendencies to display fearful and reticent behavior with peers. Such over-involvement and extensive supervision of children’s activities may foster peer rejection due to its undermining of children’s development of independence and assertiveness, values that are emphasized in Western individualistic social contexts. These findings will be discussed considering the fit between Chinese immigrant families’ parenting and Western cultural norms.

Authors

• Xiaofang Xue, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Presenting Author

• Jing Yu, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD/NIH)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Craig H Hart, Brigham Young University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Charissa S. L. Cheah, University of Maryland - Baltimore County
  Non-Presenting Author