Relations of Cultural Values and Parenting to Child Self-Regulation in Chinese American Families

• In Event: Chinese Parenting and Parent-Child Interactions: Roles of Cultural Context

Abstract

Self-regulation refers to the ability to take in information, weigh different consequences, and make adaptive choice(s) to achieve goal-related behaviors. Differences in children’s contexts – particularly those associated with parenting and cultural factors – have been shown to contribute to the early development of self-regulation (Valcan et al., 2018). Despite research demonstrating differences in self-regulatory skills of children from Chinese and Caucasian families and relating these differences to variations in parental behaviors, conceptual ambiguity has led to conflicting evidence regarding the influence of two types of mother-initiated behaviors, maternal structure and maternal control (Lee et al., 2018.). Moreover, much of this work employs ethnicity or country of origin as a proxy for culture without measuring cultural beliefs directly. Previous work also largely ignores variation in family cultural values as a function of important factors including generational and socioeconomic status (SES). Applying a mixed-method approach, this study aimed to investigate the relations among mothers’ cultural values, parenting practices, and child self-regulation in Chinese American families.
Data for this presentation were collected from 97 mothers (Mage=33.80 years, SD=6.42 ) who self-identified as Chinese American and reported to have one child between 4 to 8 years old (Mage=5.89 years, SD=1.16, Nmale=49). Mothers completed a 40min online survey consisting of measures of family background and SES status, collectivistic values, acculturation levels, maternal practices, and child self-regulation. In addition, nineteen Chinese American mothers participated in semi-structured interviews that lasted from 45min to 1.5 hr. The interviews focused on factors and components that influence maternal beliefs and practices of Chinese American mothers and the potential connection to child self-regulation.
93.82% of participating mothers reported to having a college degree or higher, with 64.95% of them being first-generation Chinese Americans. Results indicated that family income (r(69)=-0.10, p=.05) and mothers’ family education levels (r(69)=-0.24, p=.01) negatively predicted mothers’ reported familism values, and mothers who reported to be 2nd-generation or higher had significantly lower collectivistic values than first-generation Chinese American mothers (r(69)=-.71, p=.02). Moreover, path analysis revealed that higher collectivistic value was associated with higher maternal structure and lower maternal control, while higher familism value was linked to lower maternal structure and more controlling behaviors. Additionally, maternal structure, but not maternal control was associated with fewer self-regulatory problems in children (see Figure 1). Preliminary analysis of the interviews showed both similarities and variations in parenting in Chinese American families, with the following key themes emerging: 1) mothers’ expectations of respect and being independent; 2) parenting strategies and family rules; 3) generational changes in parenting.
Combined, these findings indicate that some mother-initiated behaviors, such as maternal structure, may positively impact self-regulation skills in Chinese American children. Both maternal structure and control are influenced by the mothers’ cultural value, which differed significantly based on the mothers’ generation and family background. Overall, these findings underscore the importance of understanding certain parental practices within their cultural context and may provide insights for further studies identifying culturally relevant moderators between maternal behaviors and child self-regulation.


 

Authors

• Keye Xu, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Jennie K Grammer, University of Virginia - Charlottesville