Parental Rejection and Chinese Children’s Behavior Problems across the Transition to Siblinghood

• In Event: Becoming an Older Sibling: The Role of Parents Across Cultures

Abstract

Introduction: After China’s implementation of the two-child policy in 2016 and the more recent three-child policy in 2021, the number of families in China with two or more children has rapidly increased. According to the report of the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, more than 14.7 million infants were born in 2019, and 59.5% were second-borns (or higher birth ranks). This rising trend indicates that millions of Chinese families are now experiencing the birth of a second child after many decades of single-child families, with little to no research on how this transition is experienced or managed by parents and children. Against this background, this study was conducted in Shanghai, China and provides some of the first longitudinal data on the transition after the birth of a baby sibling since the one-child policy was lifted in 2016.
Methods: This longitudinal study examined the reciprocal associations between paternal and maternal rejection and firstborn children’s (M age = 49.9 months; 55% boys) behavior problems across the transition to siblinghood in a sample of 120 families recruited from 2016 to 2018 from Shanghai, China. Mothers’ and fathers’ reports of parental rejection and children’s behavior problems were assessed before (prenatal) and 1, 6, and 12 months after the birth of a baby sibling.
Results: Random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed positive relations between internalizing problems and both maternal and paternal rejection, and between externalizing problems and paternal rejection at the between-person level. The findings from the within-family effects showed that children with more behavior problems than usual before the infant sibling’s birth received increased mothers' rejection at 1 month following the birth. Similarly, children with more behavior problems than usual at 6 months received increased mothers' rejection at 12 months. These child-driven effects coincide with the timing of the additional stresses experienced by mothers and children during e two sub-transitions— the postpartum recovery period (or literally “doing the month”; a traditional Chinese custom of having a mother rest for about one month after delivery at home), and the transition back to work after maternity leave.
Discussion and conclusion: The results underscore the importance of “child-driven effects” and how Chinese parents react to their children’s problematic behaviors across the transition to siblinghood, as well as how mothers and fathers work together to parent their children within a family system. Children’s problem behavior appeared to have greater effects on maternal rejection when there were additional stresses coinciding with sub-transitions in the first year. The current findings have potential implications for intervention and prevention by improving positive parental practices in response to children’s problematic behaviors in order to assist Chinese parents having a second child.

Authors

• Bin-Bin Chen, Fudan University
  Presenting Author

• Brenda L Volling, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor